When it
comes to a pop cultural touchstone as celebrated and dissected as the Back to the Future trilogy has been for
the last 30 years, you might think that all of the behind-the-scenes stories
and apocryphal anecdotes would have been told by now. According to We Don’t Need Roads: The Making of the Back
to the Future Trilogy from author Caseen Gaines, this is nowhere near the
case. While masterfully deconstructing the iconic trilogy’s filmmaking process
and its lasting cultural impact – as well as looking at the property’s various
offshoots (a theme park ride, an animated series, two video games, a musical,
etc.) – Gaines has effectively found a way to cast new light on a franchise
that wasn’t exactly in danger of dimming any time soon. Crafting a read that is
equal parts educational, emotional, analytical, and – perhaps, most importantly
– enjoyable, Gaines takes his audience on a journey that examines both the
logistical nuts-and-bolts involved in bringing the films to life and also the
enduring heart of the beloved franchise that has resonated with audiences since
the first film’s release in the summer of 1985.
To
accomplish his task, Gaines embarked on an exhaustive interview process that
enlisted the first-person accounts of over 50 cast and crew members, including
brand new original interviews with Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Huey Lewis,
and “the two Bobs” – co-writer/producer Bob Gale and co-writer/director Robert
Zemeckis. With the insights gleaned from these interviews, Gaines pieces
together a riveting oral history that is woven together with the many-layered
strands of his own perceptive narrative thread. Whether discussing the visual
effects process of what goes into the on-screen portrayal of a time-traveling
Delorean with animator Wes Takahashi, the three film poster’s conceptual
continuity design with illustrator Drew Struzan, or the harrowing hoverboard
stunt-gone-awry with stuntwoman Cheryl Wheeler, Gaines manages to outline the
mechanics of everything that goes into making a major motion picture in a way
that perpetually highlights the grandiose magic of movie-making, while
simultaneously getting amazing peaks behind the curtain.
Along the
way, Gaines adds volumes of context to well-known stories and even uncovers new
ones that have previously never seen the light of day. It doesn’t matter if
he’s outlining Michael J. Fox’s unbelievably tireless regimen (the young actor simultaneously
filmed Family Ties during the day and
the first Back to the Future film at
night and on the weekends) or piecing together the multi-perspective debacle
surrounding Crispin Glover’s strange impact over the entire trilogy, Gaines
equally handles stories of praise and puzzlement with a balanced voice, an
ingratiating wit, and a refreshing posture towards journalistic integrity.
Overall, We Don’t Need Roads proves to
be an engaging and informative read for new converts and devoted fan boys alike,
a feat not easily achieved in today’s hyper-obsessive pop cultural landscape.
Along with We Don’t Need Roads, Gaines has also
written two other critically acclaimed pop culture-based books, Inside Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Untold,
Unauthorized, and Unpredictable Story of a Pop Phenomenon and A Christmas Story: Behind the Scenes of a
Holiday Classic. With these three books, Gaines has not only touched on
three of the most nostalgic nuggets of my own 1980s childhood, but he also
continues to greatly contribute to the larger pop cultural conversation as to
what makes for entertainment that endures long past its initial period of
prominence. In a year filled to the brim with Back to the Future ephemera, We
Don’t Need Roads may just be the most meaningful bit of the bunch.
You can found out more about Caseen Gaines at www.caseengaines.com
You can found out more about Caseen Gaines at www.caseengaines.com
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