The Movie: This is probably the most anticipated (and postponed!) DVD releases of all time. For years they've been telling us that this set was coming out, with promises of all kinds of different special features and whatnot. Well, it's finally here, and in fine form!

The original Back to the Future ranks in my top 5 favorite movies of all time. It's fun, it's funny, it's interesting, it's stimulating, and it's got an amazing level of attention to detail. You can watch it 30 times and still see something new every single time. In fact, as I was going through and watching it again for this review, I noticed a couple of details I'd never seen before. And I'm sure I've seen it at least 30 times because during my freshman year in college there was a period of about one month where we had a VHS copy of this movie in the VCR, and any time the TV was on, it was playing this movie... and it just never gets old!

Anyway, if you've never seen these movies before, I'm not even gonna sit here and make a plot synopsis for you, I'm just going to demand that you go out and find some way to see this movie, whether you buy it, rent it, or find it on VHS somewhere.

The DVD: Everyone wants to know about the special features, so I'll actually talk about those first. Rather than creating a 4th disc for special features, this trilogy spreads them across all three discs, so just because a specific feature is on disc 2, it doesn't mean that it only pertains to Part 2.

First, I'll talk about special features that appear on each of the 3 discs. Each movie has its original "making of" featurette, as well as a brand new "Making the Trilogy" featurette. Each movie also has deleted/extended scenes, a gag reel, and a trailer. There are two commentary tracks for each movie, one is with writer Bob Gale and producer Neil Canton, the other is taken from an interview with Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis in front of a live audience. Finally, each movie has "Animated Anecdotes" -- where they used a subtitle track to display little trivia bits and factoids about the movies.

And now a breakdown of the other features that may or may not be specific to the specific disc it is on.

Disc 1 - Disc 1 has an "Enhanced Conversation with Michael J. Fox" which is kinda like a commentary track, except instead of it being a running audio thing, an icon periodically appears, and you have to hit enter on your remote to see a video clip of Fox talking about something or other. It was pretty clunky, actually. There's also a reel of the original makeup tests, exerpts from the original screenplay, and a handful of Parkinsons Disease public service announcements.

Disc 2 - Disc 2 has featurettes on: Production design, storyboarding, designing the DeLorean, designing time travel and evolution of visual effects shots, as well as a neat little test reel of them testing the hoverboard effect. Oh, and don't forget the music video for "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News.

Disc 3 - You get featurettes on designing Hill Valley, and designing the ad campaign, as well as a still image gallery from the production. You also get a music video for "Doubleback" by ZZ Top, and finally, you get Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy which was available on a very limited basis on VHS. I'd heard of it a long time ago, and have wanted to see it, but I never got the opportunity -- until now.

Produced in 1990, "Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy" included some deleted footage and other insights long before anyone ever thought of including this type of stuff on DVDs. It's full, and I mean full of late-80's cheesiness. I mean, it's hosted by Kirk Cameron at the peak of his popularity... very, very, very cheesy.

Lots, and lots of extras, it will take me quite some time to go through and explore them in their entirety.

Now on to some more of the technical stuff. There are two versions, a full screen and widescreen version. I am, of course, reviewing the widescreen version which has a beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer made from a brand, brand, brand, brand, brand new print. As a result, the video transfer is completely devoid of any kind of dirt or dust or scratches or anything -- perfectly clean. The image (especially on the original movie) shows the film with incredible detail, including the color and grain structure inherent in a cropped 1.85:1 film, especially one from 1985. This is not "reference quality" video... but it is, I'm sure, the best this film has ever looked. The two sequels have slightly improved color and clarity, probably representative of improvements in film technology in the years between the original and the sequels.

The audio (especially in the original) also exhibits the limitations of the technology of the day. Particularly in the dialog and some sound effects, there is a noticeable lack of dynamic range when compared to the movies of today -- but there's nothing wrong with the transfer itself. The surround mix is kind of a mixed bag. Sometimes it seems like the panning effects were not too smooth, yet on the other hand, sometimes (particularly at the climax of the film at the clock tower) it can be totally enveloping and quite impressive.

So what's the verdict? Well, while the video and audio aren't the best I've ever seen on DVD, I am 100% sure that they are completely faithful to the original film, and are basically as good as they could possibly ever be. And the features... oh the features. Also, there is a limited supply of collectable watches (which actually look pretty flimsy) that come with some copies of the DVD set, so you might want to try and snag one of those. As a huge fan of these films, I am quite satisfied with what was released, and I've found it well worth the wait.