Back to the Future is a popular science-fiction comedy motion picture that was released in 1985. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Crispin Glover, and was directed by Robert Zemeckis, with Steven Spielberg as an executive producer. On its release, the film brought in $210 million US Dollars (USD) in the United States alone, and was the highest grossing movie of 1985. The film was later followed by two sequels.
The movie is about a young man named Marty McFly, who goes back in time to meet his parents when they were teenagers, with the help of a time-traveling DeLorean car created by Doc Brown. In the film, Marty's teenage mother, Lorraine, becomes attracted to him, and Marty must help his nerdy father win her over — if he doesn't, the course of history will be changed, and Marty and his siblings will cease to exist. Fortunately, Marty manages to get his teenage parents together, so the world's order is restored. He then travels back to present day by harnessing electricity from a lightning bolt during a storm to power the time-traveling car.
The original Back to the Future movie was so popular that director Robert Zemeckis decided to film two sequels, even though it was originally envisioned as a stand-alone film. In the first sequel, Marty goes into the future to help his family, while in the final chapter of the trilogy, Marty and Doc Brown go back to the Wild West. Though the sequels were popular, they did not reach the box office success of the original film, with respective box office sales of $118 million USD and $88 million USD. In 2002, all three movies were released together in a box set from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
Back to the Future is considered a classic film, and appears frequently on cable and network television. It has also inspired a ride at Universal Studios theme park, and an animated TV series. It was also instrumental in launching the film career of its star, Michael J. Fox.