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Troy and David talk about three movies in this two-part episode:

Gremlins (1984)
Back to the Future (1985)
Howard the Duck (1986)

PT. 1 looks at Gremlins, and begins the discussion on Back to the Future.

PT. 2 finishes the discussion on Back to the Future, and then moves on to Howard the Duck.

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PART 2: Back to the Future & Howard the Duck
Our second episode continues our discussion about Back to the Future, and concludes with Howard the Duck.

Troy talks about his love/hate relationship with Back to the Future. He described it as having “a glorified Brady Bunch plot but with some weird incest running through it.” Marty has a weird family, with a pervy dad, and he likes to hang out with an older, eccentric man. There are also musical nitpicks that are concerning, especially the Johnny B. Good scene and its cultural appropriation.

David goes into how the opening 5-10 minutes sets up the entire film, where things mentioned or shown are then referred to later, like the term, “Chekhov’s Gun” which means if a gun is shown in act one, it must be used by act three. David also refers to this as “Sulu’s Phaser” and “Peltzer’s Sword.”

David shares his favorite quote from the movie, where Doc Brown lets Marty know how important he has been to him:

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• Dr. Emmett Brown: You know, Marty, I’m gonna be very sad to see you go. You’ve really made a difference in my life. You’ve given me something to shoot for. Just knowing that I’m going to be around to see 1985. That I’m gonna succeed in this!
• [gestures at time machine]
• Dr. Emmett Brown: That I’m gonna have a chance to travel through time!

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Troy and David then move on to Howard the Duck.
Many consider this a terrible movie. There was an episode on it by the webcast: TMS: This Movie Sucks. It did horribly at the box office, mainly through word of mouth and reviews. Troy mentions that one of the people working in the theatre warned Troy not to watch it.

Howard the Duck was #54 in the box office in 1986. But there were notable films that did worse that year!: 57 = Legend; 63 = Little Shop of Horrors; 68 = Labyrinth; 72 = Big Trouble in Little China; 75 = Brazil; 80 = Blue Velvet; 92 = Maximum Overdrive.

Troy and David go into the many reasons why the film failed, but also at its endearing qualities. They also summarize the triple bill, the connections between the three films they looked at in this two-episode show.

We hope you enjoyed the two shows!

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Troy and David talk about three movies in this two-part episode:

Gremlins (1984)
Back to the Future (1985)
Howard the Duck (1986)

PT. 1 looks at Gremlins, and begins the discussion on Back to the Future.

PT. 2 finishes the discussion on Back to the Future, and then moves on to Howard the Duck.

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PART 1: Gremlins & Back to the Future
Our first episode does cover how the three films are connected, in both screen talent, locations, producers, and directors. Each of the three films were expected to be box office smashes, following on the success of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, E.T. in 1982, and The Return of the Jedi in 1983.

Amblin Entertainment produced Gremlins & Back to the Future.

In Gremlins, we see Mogwai playing mini-Donkey Kong. The films do not take themselves too seriously.

We know, when the rules are mentioned, that these will be broken, and in imaginative, funny ways…

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Chinese Boy: Look Mister, there’s three rules you’ve got to follow.

Rand Peltzer: Yeah, what kind of rules?

Chinese Boy: Keep him out of the light, he hates bright light, especially sunlight, it’ll kill him. And, keep him away from water, don’t get him wet. But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never, never feed him after midnight. You got it?

Rand Peltzer: Sure kid, whatever you say. Hey, listen, thanks! And have a Merry Christmas!

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Troy and David then move on to Back to the Future, which was originally cast with Eric Stoltz in the lead, and had a working title: Spaceman from Pluto. Stoltz was removed, and the title changed.

A connection between the two films, is that both Back to the Future and Gremlins used the “Universal Studios Courthouse Square” backlot.

Troy recommends the book Future Boy, penned by Michael J. Fox. In it, Fox mentions that his replacing Stoltz was not welcomed by everyone, especially by Lea Thompson, but that changed.

More discussion in part 2