Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Ron: Hi everyone! Welcome to a special episode of Stereo Geeks. Today, we’re celebrating the Back to the Future trilogy! I’m Ron.

Mon: And I’m Mon. BTTF turns 40 this year, and we had to do a special episode for the anniversary.

Ron: Before we start our episode, we would like to acknowledge that the land we are recording on is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Mon: While we are making this land acknowledgement, we understand that this is not enough and that positive action is required by the people of Canada to make substantive change for the Indigenous nations and communities whose lands we now reside on.

[Music]

Mon: So, BTTF. We’ve got a long history with this film.

Ron: Yes, we knew about the film but this was back in the day when you couldn’t just watch a film when you wanted to.

Mon: I think our Dad had told us about it, but we didn’t get to see the films till we were in our teens. The films finally hit our TV screens and we got to watch the trilogy back-to-back. Was it love at first sight?

Ron: Absolutely. We’ve always loved time travel so this movie was up our alley. More than that, Michael J Fox’s enthusiastic and hilarious Marty McFly completely captivated us. It’s a fun film from the very moment it begins and stays that way till the credits roll in the third film.

Mon: I can’t believe, years later, these films are still so much fun. I was really apprehensive about watching them again – it’s been a minute since I saw them. 

Ron: And we probably wouldn’t have done a rewatch if it wasn’t for the BTTF trivia night at The Pilot pub. Shoutout to Quizmaster Hazel for a very insightful quiz. And to Quizmaster Jess for organizing the special prizes. 

Mon: Yeah! The parents were so excited to attend the trivia, we couldn’t skip it. 

Ron: And more importantly, we couldn’t lose. Our parents are very avid quizzers, and they get competitive.

Mon: The trivia night got super-hairy for a bit. We ended up tying for first place, with three other teams. We would have had an easy win but we messed up a couple of answers – we should have listened to you on that Biff one. 

Ron: I told all of you it was Biff’s Pleasure Paradise, but somehow all three of you thought it was Palace. You redeemed yourself in the end, though.

Mon: You have no idea how hard my heart was beating during the buzzer round! So, there we were, four teams, all tied for first place. One representative from each team was called up to answer a round of questions in a speed-buzzer round. Fastest person gets the win. Dude, I whacked the table so hard I got a blister on my palm.

Ron: You did not!

Mon: I did too! The win was on me, and I didn’t wanna lose. 

Ron: When you got the winning answer, I literally leapt out of my seat and screeched.

Mon: No way! I can’t believe I missed that!

Ron: It was so thrilling. I couldn’t believe we won. And you knew all three answers. You got the first and last — October 26, 1955 and Stella, Lorraine’s mom. But another team got George’s chocolate milk answer before you did. And you won!

Mon: Yeah, we never win anything. And better still, Mom then beat all three of us and clinched two free tickets to the Back to the Future: Musical. 

Ron: Yes! And you went with her. Tell me all about it.

Mon: Ok, I was definitely quite apprehensive about the show. Especially since we’d just rewatched all the films. I’ll confess, the songs… they weren’t great. When they say it’s a musical, they mean it’s a musical musical. 

Ron: Ohhhh! So, it wasn’t a jukebox musical.

Mon: That would have made sense right? But they didn’t go that route. I was unsure about the musical for the first bit. But then…

Ron: But then?

Mon: Then the DeLorean arrived. I am not kidding. It was incredible. There was a literal life-sized DeLorean on the stage. We were all stupefied!

Ron: Wow. How did they do that? We’ve seen the DeLorean at conventions. It’s gorgeous.

Mon: It was gorgeous on stage too. After that, I definitely couldn’t help but take notice. The songs kept boring me, but the sets, the props, the way they mixed media to tell this complex sci-fi story, it was great to watch. I have to hand it to the show creators – I could never have imagined BTTF on stage, and yet they made it possible. 

Ron: That sounds like a hell of an experience.

Mon: Oh it got better. The ending! I kept wondering how they would end on a high. They can’t move away from the main story, so how are they going to wow us? Well, they found a way. I don’t want to spoil it for our listeners. But let me just tell you, the songs may be lackluster, but the denouement will leave you aghast. 

Ron: Gosh, I can’t even imagine. Maybe I’ll catch it some day. 

Mon: It could be worth it. 

Mon: BTTF creator Bob Gale spoke at Fan Expo Canada 2025 about how the musical came to be. The other creator, Robert Zemeckis, his wife saw a musical and said BTTF would make a good one. And the two creators got on board with the idea and it happened. I mean, there were more steps than that, but the creators figured this was the best and only way for the BTTF franchise to continue, because there can never be a BTTF 4, keeping in mind Michael J. Fox’s medical condition. But in a play, anyone can be Marty and Doc, and we’d still watch it. 

Ron: Gosh, that is an interesting take on things. 

Ron: Now on to the main meal. The films!

Mon: I had so much fun rewatching the films. I really wasn’t sure they were going to hold up. 

Ron: I’m not sure why you were so worried. I knew we would still love them. There’s some odd moments – Marty and his mother, Lorraine, that’s just weird. But most of the film is so funny, so well-paced, and so exciting, you can’t help but love it.

Mon: From the very first scene, the musical notes, the set, Marty. It was absolutely magical. I couldn’t stop watching. 

Ron: That opening scene is so unexpected and incredibly detailed. The varied clocks. Doc Brown’s set up for making breakfast and feeding his dog. The set team had to put all that together somehow!

Mon: The details in the first film are what make it such a great watch, but also so immensely rewatchable. Every time we watch this film, we discover a new connection and Easter Egg.

Mon: I think we’re able to appreciate the films even more after we got to see some of the cast at the 2018 Fan Expo Canada.  

Ron: Yeah, we got to see the four leads, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Thomas F. Wilson at a panel discussion that year. It was wonderful. Lea Thompson was crying as she recalled the love the fans had shown them over the years. Fox talked about how he never saw the appeal of conventions until Thompson explained that the conventions weren’t for him, they were for the fans.

Mon: But Wilson was the highlight. He makes watching the films a lot easier, because even though Biff is such a horrible, problematic character, actor Thomas F. Wilson, seems like a really nice fellow. And he’s so funny. 

Ron: He’s hilarious! I mean, Wilson was the most memorable part of the 2018 panel. He really knows how to craft a joke. He had us in splits. 

Mon: I can’t recommend BTTF enough. It’s so exciting and unpredictable, and yet it all makes so much sense. 88 thumbs up. 

Mon: At this year’s Fan Expo Canada, our parents went to attend An Evening with Marty and Doc. I’m delighted to hear that Fox and Lloyd were joined by creator Bob Gale, and BTTF 3 star Mary Steenburgen. 

Ron: And, the Doc and Marty from the musical showed up! And Marty sang The Power of Love.

Mon: I’m glad they made the event a bit bigger than initially advertised. The best part of the musical were the songs from the film, so Mom got to enjoy that twice. And, get this — Mom has now seen three Marty McFlys live in-action. The OG, the musical lead at this Fan Expo event, and we caught the understudy when we saw the musical. 

Ron: Oh wow. What a trifecta. 

Ron: The first film ends on a cliffhanger and we go right into the sequel. 

Mon: At Fan Expo, Bob Gale said that the film was such a huge success, he got asked by the studio whether they had a plan for a sequel. And both Bobs said no. But the execs said, oh a sequel is happening with you guys or not. So obviously, the creators got to work, but only once they knew that Fox and Lloyd would both be on board. The actors signed on; and Lea Thompson and Thomas F Wilson also said yes. But Crispin Glover didn’t. 

Ron: This was when Crispin Glover sued the BTTF creators for using his likeness in two films without paying him. He won and the rules in Hollywood changed.

Mon: Good for him. I understand he’s a bit of an… let’s say, interesting character. But always fight for your rights. I will say that the creative team worked magic on making sure Glover’s absence was not felt by the viewer. 

Ron: Claudia Wells also didn’t return as Jennifer, but this was due to family reasons. Elizabeth Shue took on the role and she’s got a more manic energy to Jennifer. I liked both actors, honestly. For us, seeing Shue so young was a surprise. We’d been watching her through the early aughts and her acting style had definitely changed.

Mon: So true. I agree on Shue bringing a slightly different energy to Jennifer. It worked really well with her storyline in this film, though. The two Bobs didn’t know what to do with Jennifer, hence she’s unconscious for the majority of the film. But you know what, there’s no personal weight to Marty’s disastrous future without Jennifer. So, they may not have liked that they had to have Jennifer in the film because of the first film’s cliffhanger. But I think it worked in the end. 

Ron: I’ve always loved the second film because it revisits moments from the first. Every time there are two Martys or two Docs on screen, I get giddy with excitement. It’s a technical feat to pull off, but more than that, there’s something so surreal about it. I’ve realized this is a visual trope that I particularly enjoy. Insidious 2 does it, as well. That film isn’t as good as the first one but I absolutely love it because it revisits scenes from Insidious. 

Mon: But BTTF 2 is also a much darker film. The alternate timeline is awful for everyone. Hill Valley is lawless and dangerous. There’s no school. No library. Strickland lives by his gun. Doc is in an asylum. George is dead. Shot by Biff. And Biff becomes so horrendously corrupt. Lorraine’s living her worst life. And her kids are spoilt brats at the mercy of Biff. Talk about increasing the stakes. 

Ron: As an aside, at Fan Expo Canada 2025, James Tolkan, who played Strickland, said his favourite scene in the trilogy was in BTTF 2. Which elicited quite the laugh from the crowd. That’s the scene with him shooting people, and almost shooting Marty. 

Ron: But yes, the tonal shift is tough. Especially from the very blase 2015 section. But the seeds are laid there. Marty and Jennifer don’t have the life they wanted. Marty’s accident and his subsequent drudge of a life. His kids are apathetic. Even Lorraine says Jennifer stayed with Marty out of sympathy. It’s all quite sad. Yet creative!

Mon: That’s fair. But I didn’t feel it was too stark. I mean, I think about our other extremely favourite trilogy, the Original Star Wars films, and the shift in tone and style from A New Hope to The Empire Strikes Back is really dramatic. I really struggle to love ESB as much as I love ANH. Not so with BTTF 2 though. 

Mon: It’s a film in three parts, so that way the dark middle section is sandwiched between two really fun parts. 

Ron: We can’t talk about tonal shifts without talking about the third film. Who would’ve thought this franchise would turn into a Western? But everybody looks like they’re having the time of their lives in the threequel. 

Mon: But again, they sow the seeds for this in the films before. Doc is upset he’ll never get to go to the Old West, the era he’s always wanted to visit. And they have a trailer to whet the appetite. I understand Michael J. Fox was keen to visit the Old West, so I’m not surprised everyone is having a right gala time in this film. 

Ron: Oh, I didn’t know Fox wanted to have the Old West in the movies. That’s great. 

Mon: The stakes are pretty high in this film as well. Not only is Doc’s life at stake, but Marty and Doc could ostensibly be trapped in 1885. What amazes me is that the third film plays with a lot of the tropes of the previous two, and still comes out looking and feeling different. And unpredictable. 

Mon: Apparently Mary Steenburgen was offered the role of Clara Clayton. She mentioned at Fan Expo Canada that she loved the first movie and jumped at the opportunity to star in the third. And, in her first ever film role, she’d worked with Christopher Lloyd. He was very kind to her, and she said she was more than happy to star opposite him in BTTF. 

Mon: Oh, and lest I forget, apparently ZZ Top were wonderful on set. They’d jam with the film’s musicians, and entertained the cast and crew so much, that Zemeckis would actually let them finish up their songs before rolling. 

Mon: And here’s a fun tidbit that Bob Gale shared. Apparently the guitar Marty plays in the very first film of the trilogy was co-created by one of the ZZ Top band members. 

Ron: Ohhh ok. Sounds like ZZ Top being in the franchise was… destiny. 

Mon: Do you have a favourite?

Ron: BTTF 2. The first one will always be special but the sequel is so darn creative. The multiple timelines, the alternate universe. The high stakes. The doubles. Everything’s dialled to 100 and I love it. 

Mon: I actually can’t decide among the three of them. It’s gobsmacking to me that all three of them are still so fun. The first one probably has a special place because it’s so tightly written and edited. But the second one – when we first watched it, 2015 seemed far away – and it was so exciting. BTTF 2 really packs in a lot, and it all works. 

Ron: Absolutely. But that first film, when Mr Sandman starts playing and Marty realizes that he truly is in 1955. It’s so eerie and uncanny. 

Mon: I thought I wouldn’t like the third one that much, but the change of scenery makes things exciting.

Ron: It does, doesn’t it? And Doc and Clara’s love story. I didn’t think it could still make me smile so many years later but it does. They’re so sweet together!

Mon: The creative team purposely decided to make three different characters the leads in each film. The first film is obviously Marty’s film. The second turned into Biff’s film (I believe they had intended to make it a George film, but couldn’t with Crispin Glover leaving). And the third is a Doc film. 

Ron: It’s great that you have all these behind the scenes insights. Makes watching these movies so much richer. 

Mon: I’m so glad we get to celebrate BTTF with each other, with our parents, and with all the fans at trivia night, the musical, and at Fan Expo Canada. I absolutely love this trilogy. 40 years on, and it’s still amazing. 

Ron: And that’s all for our retrospective on Back to the Future. Let us know how much you love BTTF.