Seeing as how so many movies are being re-imagined or re-booted, I can’t help but think that sooner or later there will be a Back to the Future reboot.
If it were to be made today, who would play the main characters?
I have to admit, there are a lot of actors and actresses I’m unfamiliar with, so I’m having a hard time coming up with anybody. There are only three I can think of, but I know that other dopers can come up with something better.
Anyway, my choices:
Marty McFly - The only actor I’m aware of who’s the right age to play him is Michael Cera.
Doc Brown - Hugh Jackman - I can totally see this working.
Lorraine Baines - Juliette Lewis
But like I said, I’m sure some of you could do better. Also, who do you see playing George Mcfly, Biff Tannen, and Jennifer Parker?
You realize that they’ll be jumping back to the bygone year of 1980, don’t you?
Anyway, Michael Cera is completely berefit of charisma, and has none of Fox’s energy: remember, Marty was a scrapper - a fast talking, fast moving little fighter who wasn’t afraid to take on a gang of goons with nothing but a skateboard. He is in no way, shape or form a geek; Cera, OTOH, can’t play anything *but *a geek.
Juliette Lewis is 37 years old (and is an awful actress). A bit too old to be playing a teenager.
Don’t know - I’m not familiar with many young actors. Maybe some kid from some TV show I don’t watch? Remember, Fox made the film while he was still “that kid from Family Ties.”
Jackman, incidentally, is an interesting idea. Johnny Depp could also pull it off.
Josh Hutcherson has been in a few big family movies in the last few years, like Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, and Bridge to Terabithia. He auditioned for the Spider-Man reboot with this video.
The problem is setting. In 1985, 30 years ago was in the heart of the '50s, the period baby boomers were most nostalgic about. And in 1985, the computer/digital info boom was getting up steam, and we were expecting a cyberpunk “Japan Inc.” future. IOW, a reboot would have to successfully engage both our nostalgia for the past and our hopes/fears for the future. As mentioned upthread, who longs for the bygone era of 1980? And as for the future, it’s more or less here; no one is really expecting 2040 to be much more than a refined version of today.
I can’t see any need whatsoever to remake (or reimage or whatever) the Back To The Future films. Reimaging implies that there is improvement or sophistication to be added, i.e. taking a short-run cheesy sci fi show and recreating it with long story arcs and dark undertones that are relevant to the then-current paranoia about hidden terrorist cells. Back To The Future is not only a 'Fifties nostalgia piece, it is now an 'Eighties nostalgia work, one of those films that is solidly an icon of its time, and that has aged surprisingly well from the pre-CGI era. Remaking these films would be as foolish as trying to remake Rear Window or On The Waterfront.
Speak for yourself. While we probably won’t have colonies on Mars or have backpack Mr. Fusion generators in the next thirty years, I expect advancements in medical and nanomanufacturing to pretty dramatically change the state of technology. The idea that the future will just be a bigger and slightly more shiny version of today is an old meme, but if you examine the technology that we consider prosaic today with expectations of twenty years ago, it is apparent that, while we don’t have flying cars and personal directed energy weapons, in many ways computing and communication technology has exceeded any reasonable extrapolations and projected limitations. What won’t change is us–people–who will still be the same grubby, greedy, glutenous, goofy, grotesque, and gauche organisms that we are today.
I think the big culture shock would be how analog everything was back in 1985. I mean, even if people were starting to buy CDs, videogame consoles and personal computers, they were still very different from today. (I was storing programs from my Commodore 64 on audio tape.)
And as for who you’d get to play the Marty McFly role, I can’t think of anyone from any broadcast network sitcom who would be the right age. I think you’d have to get someone from a Disney Channel or Nickelodeon series (which would make sense if one of those companies produced the movie).
But most of the power and humor of the film comes from social changes, not technological changes. In a way, it’s a film about an era it doesn’t portray - the 1960’s-1970’s, and all the changes that came with it. I’d say that from a purely cultural standpoint, 2010 is much closer to 1980 than 1985 is to 1955.
I pray that they never try to remake Back to the Future. I don’t think that any duo can recreate the chemistry that Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd had.
That’s another problem. What type of car would they use. Obviously you’d want something “with some style” and even a little exotic looking, but not overly sporty or glamorous. The Delorean fit that bill perfectly in the '80s. The Prius, while I’m sure it’s a good drive, is an ugly, bloated looking machine. It has no style. In fact I’m hard pressed to think of any care made in the last few years that you swap in for the Delorean without prompting too many :dubious: or :rolleyes:.