Back to the Future (franchise) Back to the Future (franchise) The "Back to the Future" franchise is an American science fiction–adventure comedy film series written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Bob Gale and Neil Canton for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), and an eccentric scientist, Dr. Emmett L. Brown (Christopher Lloyd), as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of Hill Valley, California. The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international
Back to the Future a rousing time-travel adventure with an unforgettable spirit." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" felt "Back to the Future" had similar themes to the films of Frank Capra, especially "It's a Wonderful Life". Ebert commented "[Producer] Steven Spielberg is emulating the great authentic past of Classical Hollywood cinema, who specialized in matching the right director (Robert Zemeckis) with the right project." He gave the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" believed the film had a balanced storyline: "It's a cinematic inventing of humor and whimsical tall tales for a long time to