Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly, who accidentally travels back in time from 1985 to 1955, where he meets his future parents and becomes his mother's romantic interest. Christopher Lloyd portrays the eccentric scientist Doctor Emmett "Doc" Brown, his friend and the inventor of the time-traveling DeLorean automobile, who helps Marty repair history and return to 1985. The cast also includes Lea Thompson as Marty's mother Lorraine, Crispin Glover as his father George, and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen, Marty and George's arch-nemesis.
Zemeckis and Gale wrote the script after Gale wondered whether he would have befriended his father if they had attended school together. Film studios rejected it until the financial success of Zemeckis' Romancing the Stone. Zemeckis approached Steven Spielberg, who agreed to produce the project at Amblin Entertainment, with Universal Pictures as distributor. Fox was the first choice to play Marty, but he was busy filming his television series Family Ties, and Eric Stoltz was cast; after the filmmakers decided he was wrong for the role, a deal was struck to allow Fox to film Back to the Future without interrupting his television schedule.
Back to the Future was released on July 3, 1985. It grossed over $381 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1985. It won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, and the Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing. It received three Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, and four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy). In 2007, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, and in June 2008 the American Film Institute's special AFI's 10 Top 10 designated it the 10th-best science fiction film. The film began a franchise including two sequels, Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Back to the Future Part III (1990), an animated series, a theme park ride, several video games, a series of comic books, and a stage musical.
In 1985, Hill Valley, California, Marty McFly visits the home and lab of his friend, Emmett "Doc" Brown, an eccentric scientist. Though missing for several days, Doc calls the lab and asks Marty to pick up some equipment for a special experiment later that night.
At school, Marty meets his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, and after being berated by the principal and failing his audition for the Battle of the Bands, he confides in Jennifer about fears of becoming like his parents despite his ambitions. At home, Marty's cowardly father George is bullied by his supervisor, Biff Tannen, while his mother Lorraine is an overweight, depressed alcoholic. Lorraine recalls how she met George when her father hit him with his car and she subsequently nursed him back to health.
Marty meets Doc at a shopping mall parking lot at 1:18 A.M. on October 26. Doc unveils a time machine built from a modified DeLorean and powered by plutonium obtained from Libyan terrorists with the promise of building them a nuclear bomb. While showing Marty the controls, Doc sets the date to November 5, 1955 – the day he conceived a time travel device. The terrorists arrive unexpectedly and open fire on them, eventually shooting Doc when he surrenders. Marty escapes in the DeLorean and inadvertently activates the time machine in the process.
Marty finds himself transported to November 5, 1955, without any plutonium to return. He encounters the teenage George and discovers that Biff has been bullying him since high school. After Marty saves George from an oncoming car, he is knocked unconscious and awakens to find himself tended to by Lorraine, who becomes infatuated with him.
Marty tracks down Doc's younger self for help. Doc is unimpressed with Marty's knowledge of the future but finally believes him when he accurately recounts how Doc invented time travel. With no plutonium, Doc explains that the only power source capable of generating the required 1.21 GW of electricity for the time machine is a bolt of lightning. Marty shows Doc a fundraising flyer from the future that documents an upcoming lightning strike at the town's courthouse. Doc instructs Marty to avoid leaving his house and interacting with others, as he could inadvertently alter the future, but they realize he may already have. Saving George earlier prevented his parents from meeting. Doc warns that Marty may fail to exist if Lorraine doesn't fall in love with George. Early attempts to introduce his parents fail, and Lorraine's infatuation with Marty only deepens during a confrontation with Biff. Marty also hides a handwritten note telling Doc about his future.
After Lorraine asks Marty to the school dance, Marty devises a plan with George: he will feign inappropriate advances on Lorraine, allowing George to step in and "rescue" her. The plan goes awry when a drunken Biff gets rid of Marty, and his gang locks him in the trunk of the performing band's car. The band frees Marty and drives away Biff's gang. Meanwhile, Biff attempts to force himself onto Lorraine, and an enraged George knocks him out. He wins over Lorraine who accompanies him to the dance floor. They kiss while Marty performs with the band, restoring his future existence.
As the storm arrives, Marty returns to the clock tower. Doc finds the hidden note and tears it up, saying no one should know too much about their own destiny. The lightning strikes, sending Marty back to 1985 moments before his original departure. After watching Doc get shot again, he grieves until Doc sits up and reveals that he wore a bulletproof vest; Doc had taped Marty's note back together. He takes Marty home and departs to the future. Marty awakens the next morning to find that his father is now a successful author full of self-confidence, his mother is fit and happy, and Biff is now an obsequious auto valet. As Marty reunites with Jennifer, Doc suddenly reappears with the DeLorean, insisting that they return with him to aid their future children. The trio boards the DeLorean, which now flies, and travels into the future.
