Flashback: Siskel and Ebert Spar Over Back to the Future Part II

Most people seem to accept that Back to the Future Part II is one of the greatest sequels of the 1980s. Its pretty much impossible for anything to live up to the original, but by broadening the story and taking it forward to 2015, back to 1955 and an alternative version of 1985, they created an unforgettable movie that even 15,000 showings on TBS cant diminish.

Back when it came out, however, critics were a little torn. Check out this Siskel and Ebert clip from the week it arrived in multiplexes. Neither of them were blown away, but Roger Ebert was significantly more impressed than his partner. It is a goofy and screwball movie and I enjoyed it for what it is, he said. The charm of the movie is its zaniness. Siskel wasnt having any of that. I dont see any reason why a screwball comedy couldnt have taken time out to have heart, he said. I found this to be very gadget-filled and really noisy in an unpleasant way.

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Siskel was particularly botheredby the amount of screen time given to Biff. Hes really the star of the picture, he said. I think the movie could have been called Biff in a way. He dominated the whole action. And the Michael J. Fox character and the relation to his parents, thats really just not there. The father isnt even there. I really found it kind of unpleasant to watch, in a way. I was looking forward to watching it, but I didnt enjoy it at all.

Ebert enjoyed the films time travel aspect, a major component of the movie that Siskel didnt even touch upon. One of the things I liked was Christopher Lloyd racing around, back and forth through time, he said. He changes something here and it comes out different there. Michael J. Fox steals the almanac in the future. Biff gets it from Michael J. Fox and goes back to 1955. That changes 1985.

The public sided with Ebert and the film grossed $332 million, bested only by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Batman that year. Its also spawned all sorts of fake stories on Twitter and Facebook about the actual date Marty and Doc traveled to in the future. For the record, its October 21st, 2015. Hopefully itll be a day of celebration all across the globe, but until then dont believe anything youread onlinethat says its some other day.