3 Act Structure: Back to the Future

Once again, I am going to use my absolute favorite movie as an example for a blog post. Back to the Future fits the 3 act structure perfectly.

The first act starts with Marty arriving at Doc's lab, to find that Doc isn't there. He then gets a call from Doc about the multitude of clocks in the lab, checking to see what time they said and hinting at the time travel experiments he has been running. Marty then realizes he's late for school and makes way to class via the awesome power of a skateboard, well timed cars to grab onto and Huey Lewis. He is late for class and is told by the vice principal that he will never amount to anything "just like his father." He gets home to find that the family car has been wrecked, ruining his chances of going on his big planned date with his girlfriend. The car was wrecked by Biff, his father's constant bully. Doc calls Marty to meet him at 1:15 AM at Twin Pines Mall, where Doc then unveils the DeLorean time machine and explains how it works. The first act's mini-climax then occurs when Libyan terrorists shoot Doc and Marty escapes in the DeLorean, accidentally travelling back to 1955 in the process.

The second act then begins, with Marty crashing into a family-owned barn. The family believes he is an alien and the DeLorean his spaceship, Marty then flees with the DeLorean. He later runs into his father, George McFly, in a diner and watches as Biff bullies him, just as he had seen in 1985. He follows George home, but on the way there, George almost gets hit by a car. Marty pushes him out of the way, putting himself in the path of the car. The car hits him, and the driver takes him into his house, where he is cared for by his daughter. The daughter turns out to be Lorraine Banes, Marty's mother. She falls in love with Marty, setting forth a series of attempts to get Lorraine to fall in love with George as it should be. Marty enlists 1955 Doc to help him. The second act's mini-climax occurs when George punches Biff and kisses Lorraine at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. Marty then plays a killer version of Johnny B. Goode.

The third act is the shortest one of the film, and almost all of it's short duration is devoted to Marty and Doc's efforts to get Marty back to 1985 in the DeLorean, now rigged to be powered by lightning. In the film's climax, Marty narrowly makes it back to 1985 to find the Libyan terrorists have shot Doc. He was ineffective in stopping it from happening. But it turns out Doc was wearing a bulletproof vest. He had heeded Marty's warning. Marty goes home to find that George now has a spine. Marty also now has his own Toyota pick up truck to take his girlfriend out in. But before the end, Doc shows up in a flying DeLorean, wearing futuristic clothing and drags Marty to another adventure.