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©1995-99, To Be Continued...
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More on the 'Total Film' article
Magazine article continues to puzzle fans with their latest scoop
Our good friend 'Weston2000' over in the U.K. once again came through in lightning speed with the full story in the latest issue of Total Film magazine. On page 40 of Issue #32 (September 1999), we find the following report:
BACK TO BACK TO THE FUTURE
More Dirt on Doc's fourth installment...
Really. You lot. Sometimes. When your lovely local Rough Cut emptied its Straight From The Horses column into your peepers in Issue 29, something must have cracked your eggs. Because ever since, we've had countless space-mails and Earth Calls blabbering for more info on the script for Back To The Future 4. So, under guidance to Meet The Stomach Of Your Needs And Feed It (and to stop you phoning us), this is the score.
Having contacted a source deep at the heart of Amblin Entertainment, we can tell you thus. Apparently, Steven Spielberg himself came up with the idea that Doc Brown's time-traveling flying train — seen in the closing moments of Part III — causing the legendary Roswell UFO crash in 1947. Taking that plot spin and running with it, the fourth installment of the Back To The Future series revolves around Doc's attempts to rescue the aliens and — more importantly — the ship, which has a vital component from his train, dating back to the Wild West, lodged in its hull.
Without giving too much of the script away, when the UFO hit him, it rendered his vehicle incapable of time travel. Due to an engine malfunction, he has to get back to the proverbial future and stop the nuclear fusion core of the engine imploding — an event which would wipe out New Mexico. Help is at hand in the shape of two of Marty McFly's relatives and Doc's long-lost sister, who's even more eccentric. Word has it that the aliens would be entirely CG-creatures and rely heavily on technology created for The Phantom Menace, while both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are keen to return...
Well, the magazine continues to build on their original report of BTTF4 involving the 1947 Roswell incident, although there's no mention of Sarah Michelle Gellar nor a female science assistant this time out. However, based on conversations with our inside sources, I must refute their claims of the new film's storyline being about aliens, spaceships, and New Mexico.
The biggest problem with this storyline is the fact that we're no longer in Hill Valley. The whole Roswell thing makes huge lapses in logic and errors in established storyline facts. First and foremost, we've never been given much information on Doc's family other than they were formally known as the Von Brauns and when they first settled into Hill Valley. That does indeed leave interpretation open as to hereunto unmentioned siblings, but the fact that she's way out in Roswell, New Mexico and that Doc would go back in time to visit her seems quite bizarre. Furthermore, what are the chances that Marty would just happen to also have relatives in that area too? Come on!
Now the deal with the spacecraft and time train collision sounds like an interesting plot twist, as I can see the urgency of trying to repair that situation before disaster really strikes. But having the whole thing take place outside of Hill Valley just doesn't make sense to me. Afterall, we still know that in order for Doc to travel back (or forward) in time to 1947 and end up in Roswell, he would have had to travel from Hill Valley, California to Roswell, New Mexico in whatever time period his reality begins the story in, and then travel in time. Unless of course, we're going to give the time train even more functionality by saying that the time circuits can also take you through time and space. That's just too far off base from where the series began, and way too much for me to accept. Take it from me — the Roswell story isn't happening, and these are just a few reasons why. As for Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox being keen on
returning, see the July 29 report for the actual truth on that portion of the report.
However, Total Film's above report isn't unfounded though. Actually, I believe that they indeed have correct information, albeit, their information is old information. You see, the script treatments written by Ed Solomon which were turned in this past Memorial Day weekend to Universal & Amblin were DRAFT #2. Based on what I've been told, the contents of those treatments did not contain anything related to this Roswell storyline, and are more true to the roots of the entire BTTF saga. However, there were some small elements from the above report that were carried over to the new storyline in Solomon's second draft, which may or may not make it into the scripts currently being written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. In the coming weeks ahead, we should have a better feel and understanding where the series is headed next. And remember, we're no longer talking about just one movie, but rather two that would once again, be
filmed back-to-back. Total Film has yet to report that Back to the Future 5 is also in the works.
I do tip my hat to the editors at Total Film for continuing their coverage of these reports. Their counterparts and competition here in the U.S. have yet to print anything based on the rumors; I'm guessing they're waiting for an official announcement from Universal before they start looking into all of this. Meanwhile, the magazine honored our series by naming the first two installments among "The 50 Biggest Blockbusters in the World...Ever!", their feature story in the same issue of the magazine. Back to the Future was named #8, while Back to the Future Part II came in at #41. Good to see that the magazine knows a popular series when they see one, and I hope they'll continue to publish whatever information they learn in the "future"!
— Stephen Clark
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