Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen
Synopsis:
After learning the Doc gets killed shortly after he sends his letter to 1955, Marty travels to the Old West to save him.
Impressions:
There seems to be some debate among fans of the series over whether the second or third film is the better one. I would wager that people who aren't fans of Westerns don't take to the setting that well, but as I actually do like Westerns, it's no problem for me. As I said in my review of Part II, the fact that these two were filmed back-to-back ensures very tight connections in terms of setup and payoff. While Marty's response to being called chicken wasn't established in the first film, the throughline is clearly drawn across these two movies with a pretty good character arc for him. You may or may not be so keen on the romantic subplot for Doc, but I see what they were trying to do with his character and I did rather like Mary Steenburgen as Clara. While I did make note of Thomas F Wilson in my review of the first film, I want to go farther her to praise his work across the trilogy as five different versions of Biff as well as Griff in Part II and Buford here as being distinct while maintaining a clear continuity. There are a lot of little subtleties in the performances that are rather rewarding if you're looking for it. I also want to praise all the work that went into making 1885 Hill Valley, but set design has always been particularly strong in the series. Also, I really like the cameo appearance of Pat Buttram, Harry Carey Jr. and Dub Taylor as saloon patrons and the sequence in Monument Valley as little extra treats for Western fans. In its own right and doing its part to cap off the trilogy, this is a fine film well worth a place in your collection, so don't miss out on it.
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