Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered. (from IMDb)

One, three, two. It's probably an unpopular opinion, but that's my official ranking of the Back to the Future trilogy. I have a beef with the heightened, more goofy tone of the sequels (and the over usage of characters saying the film's title as often as possible), but it's just nice to see Marty and Doc back together again, zooming through time in the Delorean and fighting to keep from messing up history -- too badly.

So, after the surprisingly dark entry that was Back to the Future, Part II, the third and final film, Back to the Future, Part III wraps things up in a much different way. While there's a little bit of romance between Marty and Jennifer, there isn't a big romantic storyline in the first two films. If anything, it's more of a buddy story between Marty and Doc. But for Part III, Doc finds a love interest while stuck in 1885. As it turns out, his very presence in the past saves school teacher Clara Clayton from an untimely death where her horse otherwise tossed her into a ravine, which was even named after her (Clayton Ravine) in 1985. He instead escorts the teacher from the train station to the town and it's love at first sight for the inventor. While it's weird to see Doc in love, it's a twist on his beliefs and character because love is such a foreign idea to the scientist, who mostly knows how to think with his head, not his heart. This time, Marty becomes the level-headed one who has to remind Doc of the dangers of messing with history and the impact their time traveling has on it. While Part II shook up the present, imagined the future and revisited 1955, Part III shakes up the characters of Doc and Marty a bit more, giving them both different - and arguably satisfying - character arcs.

One such arc is Marty being provoked by being called a coward. It's a character trait introduced suddenly in Part II (which was absent entirely in the original film), and it clearly got him in trouble each time. By the conclusion of Part III, Marty realizes what someone else says about him isn't important and isn't worth losing his senses over -- and that's a valuable lesson for us all. (Honestly? It's something that has helped me not argue with petty Internet trolls over the years.)

Sadly, while I do like Part III, it suffers from a handful of the problems that Part II also has. The acting and performances are sillier at times (ugh, the visual magnifying glass gag is cringy - both times, as well as Doc's horrified reaction at realizing Marty is back in 1955 - coupled with the dramatic piano music Doc accidentally creates as he recoils in fear). It's like Zemeckis was catering more to the younger audiences this time -- but in the wrong way (dialing up the silly and not dialing back enough on, say, profanity). Fox and Lloyd seem to be a bit more grounded with their performances this time, though, and their on-screen friendship feels warmer this time around. However, the fact they them say variations of "We have to go back to the future!" not once, not twice, but several times, is terribly corny. But, alas, these are rather minor gripes.

Seeing Hill Valley in 1885 is a lot of fun. Part II does tease events and characters from Part III, like introducing outlaw Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, and dressing Doc in a train-themed shirt (which also becomes part of his mask when they steal the train in Part III), or having Biff watching a Clint Eastwood film (where he fashions a makeshift bulletproof vest, too), which all make the sequels feel more cohesive. But the fact that Marty's ancestor Seamus is not only Fox in disguise again, but Seamus' wife happens to be another version of Lorraine (Lea Thompson) makes very little sense (or it's just gross when you think that Lorraine Baines could actually be related to the McFly's. Ha!). In truth, I think it's just an effort to keep Lea Thompson involved in the third film, and I suppose, in that case, it's fine. Seeing Marty and Doc both as fish out-of-water in a time where characters practically live in saloons and settle disputes with gun duels is a fun treat. If you like westerns, Back to the Future, Part III is a blast, and serves as both homage and spoof to the genre.

The content for Back to the Future III is probably the most family friendly of all three movies. There's still a handful of cussing, mostly from Marty, including 5 uses of the "S" word, 2 of "S.O.B," 8 "h*ll," 9 "d*mn," and 2 "*ssh*le." Surprisingly, there's only one use of God's name as an exclamation, making this the only movie of the three that doesn't take Jesus' name in vain multiple times. There's some violence, but it's never lethal, while the villain, Mad Dog, threatens to shoot Marty and Doc several times. The climactic duel between Marty and Mad Dog has Marty getting shot, but he ends up being fine. There isn't really any sexual content, but a gag shows part of Marty's bare butt when the flap of his long johns is partially hanging open.

While the first Back to the Future movie is a near-perfect film, the sequels are messy follow-ups at best. They're charming for the most part, and offer fans more of what they loved from the first movie, but they never quite rise up to the quality of the first adventure. Again, Back to the Future, Part III is easily my second-favorite of the three, and while that's an unpopular opinion among much of the fanbase, I personally stand by it.

Regarding its 4K transfer- I wasn't too impressed with the 4K digital copy, but the 4K disc looks sharper and more vibrant. I'd say that this isn't the most dazzling 4K transfer you can find, but it's a nice little update for this 35-year-old film.