Back to the future remake?

I think it would be cool if they remade Back To The Future but had it take place in modern times and he goes back to 1985 when the first movie was made. Anyone else think so? Also would song from the future would he play in 1985 instead of Johnny Be Good? I think something iconic to The '90s like Nirvana maybe?

I am honestly a bit surprised that a reboot hasn't already been green-lit and scheduled for a 2015 release.

But I don't think updating the story to make Marty travel back to 1985 would be such a good idea. We already have too damn much 80s nostalgia (that 80s retro cafe from BTTF 2 totally came true!) so rebooting the series to be more 80s would just cause it to get lost in the background noise.

I just don't see the point in remaking it. The original is such a classic and, though its firmly grounded in the 80s, I feel like that's very much to its advantage and part of its charm.

The only thing I can think of that a remake might improve is that they could update Jennifer Parker to have more of an identity instead of being a passive object of a character. But that's really it.

What if they turned the time machine into a... hot tub?

I don't know, it could be worthwhile if they flipped around the plot a bit. Maybe made George into an ex Wall-Street wiz who burned out after a busted deal and that was the only way he met Lorraine, and Marty going back in time causes events to change where George ends up rich but Marty's existence is threatened.

Could change around all the personality dynamics that way too. Keep only the time-travel and "threatening your existence through interference in your parents' lives" plot, change all the characters and how they relate to each other.

I was gonna say something along the lines of "Didn't Hot Tub Time Machine already do that?"

Go the meta route; a teenager has to ensure his parents meet on the set of the original Back to the Future as interns/assistants or else he won't exist. Throw in a cameo of Sam Michael Fox playing his dad, contemporary Eric Stoltz as the villain trying to sabotage Michael J Fox so his past self will keep the role, the teenager constantly mistaking Claudia Wells for Elizabeth Shue, and you're made in the shade.

I really think it is one of those movies that works best in the time it was made. Truth is, the base script of Back To The Future was merely okay, it was a real struggle to get made because, in part, the whole "teenage mom falls in love with her time traveling teenage son" element really turned people off. It was the performances of Fox and Lloyd and the direction of Zemeckis that made it a classic. I can see other movies that can take the core idea in different directions, but then it really wouldn't be a Back To The Future remake and is just another Time Travel movie.

I dunno how I'd feel about a Back to the Future remake.

I do. Hate.

Lotsa hate.

If only because almost all of Hollywood's remakes of 80s ish movies have been spectacularly shit and unnecessary. I'd have no reason to believe a remake would do anything meaningful with the plot, other than cash grab for the title and nostalgia factor. Thank god they haven't decided to remake this yet.

For better or worse, I think it's only a matter of time. I believe, eventually, every well known movie franchise will be remade sooner or later. In BTTF's case it might take quite a while since Zemeckis' name doesn't have the same pull it used to have.

That is a very bleak prospect for the future.

Good or shit characterization is always what makes or breaks a movie, that's why it would be easy enough to play around with the idea if you have solid writers and good character actors to interpret them.

IF they ever remade BTTF, the thing would stand or fall in its choices for Doc Brown and Marty Mc Fly. That's fairly obvious. Question is, who is this generation's Doc Brown? Who would you cast for that role? Would you go for a straight up comedy actor, or as the creators of Airport, and Police Squad, which led to the Naked Gun films, go for someone primarily previously known as a straight dramatic actor. Which, by the way, was exactly what Leslie Nielsen was known for, for much of his early and middle career.

Christopher Lloyd was most known for his comedy work before Btt F. He was Reverend Jim on Taxi.

Marty is the one who worries me the most, because in today's Hollywood, they'd just cast a flash-in-the-pan shallow pretty boy instead of a solid actor. They seem to put more thougth on roles for older people.

My thoughts as well.

Somehow, I have the feeling that a remake of this will tarnish its legacy. Also, it's shown regularly on television and is fairly well popular, even among some young ones nowadays, so, it feels kinda pointless. Making a quick buck won't help anyone in the long run.

I remember when everyone feared that Shia LaBeouf would be the new Marty.

And when everyone thought one was in the works starring Justin Bieber.

On the condition that we name it Back to Back to the Future.

I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to the Star Wars Prequels getting remade.

I really don't see the point in most remakes, unless the original is just old as dirt, like King Kong and can actually be made better with new technology.

IMO, a remake of BTTF would be nothing but a lame cash grab.

For a given definition of "better" of course.

There are a lot of stories that I think could be told again pretty well as remakes with different takes or mentalities going into making it, but BTTF isn't one of them. At it's core it's a really straightforward (though still very solid) whose key events are all important, which means updating it would likely just end up with basically the same exact story with more modern pop-culture references. And a lot of what makes it distinctive and what it is is due to the actors even moreso than the writing - which you wouldn't be able to recapture.

So you'd end up with a new movie that would probably be better off as a remastered rerelease.

The general concept, though, is really cool and probably a lot more open for new tellings than BTTF itself.

edited 23rd Oct '14 7:01:24 PM by KnownUnknown

Joseph Gordon Levitt could reasonably do well as Mc Fly, if looking at movie actors. You'd probably find more choices from TV though.

Doc Brown though, that'd be difficult. No one zany enough to fit the bill, really.