Five weeks into filming, the studio looked at the footage, panicked, and fired their leading man. Eric Stoltz was out, Michael J. Fox was in, and he ended up shooting a hit sitcom by day and a classic by night.

That near-disaster became Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future (1985), the time-travel comedy Steven Spielberg produced and a DeLorean made immortal. Fox and Christopher Lloyd's Doc Brown anchor it, the script is a masterclass in setup and payoff, and the whole thing essentially got made twice. John, Luke and Matt run through the recast, the science, the standout sequences and their final marks out of 10. Roads optional.

Connect with ATRM: To join our fantastic community of film fans, support what we do, access our archive, listen to exclusive episodes, and a whole lot more, become an ATRM patron:

⁠⁠Join the ATRM Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

We're available on any podcast platform:

Listen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Listen on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠We're across all major social channels too:

Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@ATRightMovies⁠⁠⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@allthe_rightmovies ⁠⁠⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our movie group⁠⁠⁠⁠

Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@alltherightmovies.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@alltherightmovies⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠alltherightmovies.com