Back to the Future is one of those franchises that almost anyone has seen and if you’re a new generation that hasn’t seen it well it’s a must. The franchise finished after the trilogy and hasn’t really seen much besides that but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some expanded universe that you can’t check out. So here is a quick review of most of the available stuff for Back to the Future in video form as well as extra video content sequels to the original movies thanks to the Back to the Future The Ride and The Game projects which gave us these official yet unofficial spin-off content material.
I do have to quickly talk about the original trilogy, the first is awesome and a true classic, it’s so good that if you really haven’t seen it then you must. The second film is a lot of fun and crafted very well, and while it mostly recreates stuff from the original, the way it’s done is really creative and a worthy sequel. The third one still hasn’t won me over, I don’t like it no matter how many fans of it it has. I’ve tried watching it with a new understanding but it just feels off.
The actual animated show is alright, I guess. It’s a generic early 90s cartoon with a lot of slapstick. It’s not particularly bad but nothing really special either to win you over. It’s a bit hard to find a way to watch it though which is a shame since even if it’s not great, it’s part of the franchise. We do get to see the real Doc in live action segments before the show which is great. I also like that it actually fits in continuity with the movies since it explains why they are in the present again and actually ends up giving the Doc a better ending than the one the third film did.
Back to the Future also got a game movie sequel which is a bit on the long side and at nearly 6 hours and a half, it’s as long as the whole original trilogy. The story has its ups and downs, it’s actually somewhat interesting and has some nice near paradox moments and small twists like the trilogy has but since it is a game it tends to be on the slow side so it can be a bit of a chore to play through even if it’s not a bad alternate sequel to what happens after the trilogy. Go ahead and watch it below it’s basically a the closest to a new Back to the Future movie we’ll ever get. Definitely better than the cartoon and hey, I guess it can live in continuity with the show as well, no big flubs if you do.
Finally we have Back to the Future the Ride which was a ride in Universal Studios but sadly got taken down. I was lucky to ride it a few times and it was fun. I don’t remember much of it but I guess it wasn’t anything too special, you’re in a cabinet and travel through different eras as the cabinet moves which is in the shape of the Delorian.
You can watch the “ride” on below, which is nice that some parts were archived. Of course part of the experience was oddly enough waiting in line and seeing all the Back to the Future props and references which set up the story of the video and ride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QmAAftCRWg
While sad I guess it also makes sense they’d remove it since no kid would even know what that movie is, when we went to universal as kids that movie was still hot. Too bad there’s no way to “archive” these things outside of the video montages, there should be a retired amusement park for all these old rides. I’m still sad I never got to ride many of the classics like the original Star Tours one last time or even King Kong.
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