It’s been 40 years since Back to the Future first hit theaters, and the beloved sci-fi adventure continues to captivate audiences worldwide. In a recent interview with Empire, stars Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd who portrayed Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown in the trilogy reflected on why the film remains so relevant decades later.
“It continues to amaze me how deeply the Back to the Future films affected young people. It still comes up all the time,” Lloyd said about the enduring popularity of the time-travel franchise directed by Robert Zemeckis and co-written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale.
Fox shared that the movie’s enduring message is especially significant in today’s world. “We live in a bully culture right now. We have bullies everywhere – you don’t need me to point the finger at who, but there are all these bullies,” he said. “In this movie, Biff is a bully,” Fox added, referencing Tom Wilson’s iconic Biff Tannen. “Time is a bully. For me personally, Parkinson’s is a bully. And it’s all about how you stand up to them and the resolve that you take into the fight with them.”
“It’s about your resilience and your courage. I think there’s a lot to that right now. I think a lot of people are responding to the movie because it strikes chords they wouldn’t otherwise recognize,” Fox concluded.
Throughout the trilogy, Marty McFly faces multiple incarnations of Biff including his Old West ancestor, Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen, in Back to the Future Part III.
Back to the Future Returns to Theaters for 40th Anniversary
To celebrate the milestone, Universal Pictures has confirmed that Back to the Future will return to cinemas on October 31. The 1985 classic follows teenager Marty McFly, who is accidentally sent back to the 1950s in a DeLorean after one of Doc Brown’s experiments goes wrong. He must ensure his young parents meet and fall in love to preserve his own existence.
The film grossed over $385 million worldwide during its original run and won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing. It went on to spawn two successful sequels Back to the Future: Part II (1989) and Back to the Future: Part III (1990).
As fans continue to celebrate, many still wonder if a fourth film could ever happen. In April 2025, co-writer Bob Gale dismissed the idea once again. “I don’t know why they keep talking about that! I mean, do they think that if they say it enough times, we’re going to actually do it?” Gale said. “I mean, it’s like they know in every interview people say, ‘Oh Bob, when is there going to be a Back to the Future 4?’ Never. It’s just the way it is. It’s not perfect, but as Bob Zemeckis used to say, ‘It’s perfect enough.’”
Fans can relive the magic when Back to the Future hits theaters again on October 31.
Source: CBR
