The third part of the trilogy was filmed concurrently with Part II, allowing Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale to better meld the final two parts (as well as economising). It's odd, then, that this film feels so starkly different from its immediate predecessor. Part II was a ramshackle, uneven construction, overflowing with plot and with widely varying tones and levels of enjoyment in its different sequences. Part III is more even, light on plot, with a pleasant but ultimately dull tone.

This time, after a few scenes in the 1950s (where Part II left off), Marty travels back to 1885 to track down Doc, who was accidentally transported there by a bolt of lightning. And there things stay really, as Marty attempts to recover the Doc and get them both back to 1985. Things are padded out by a romantic subplot involving the Doc falling for a local schoolteacher played by Mary Steenburgen. This whole plot weighs the film down and could - should - have been excised: one might say the film is labouring under something of a Steenburden. (Particularly annoying is the way the plot tips its hand: since Steenburgen was originally fated to have died in the ravine, it's obvious that she should return to the future with Doc and Marty. Zemeckis studiously ignores this point, since it would render Doc's big plight instantly soluble).

In a way the plot structure more closely resembles the first film, as most of the film plays out in a single time period (it's obvious Zemeckis and Gale wanted to get back to basics for this one). However, in the first film the links between the events in the fifties and eighties were complex and tightly wound. This time, the impact upon the future really boils down to one point: whether or not Marty and Doc can "escape" the time period before either is killed by Buford Tannen. This not only loosens the links with the other two films, but it also takes away the fun of the whole time travel conceit. Instead of the film's humour deriving from the characters' influence on their futures, we're left with just the usual jokes about contemporary characters caught in the wrong time period. It is kind of fun seeing western cliches blending with the time travel sci-fi comedy, and its the sort of postmodern generic crossover a certain sub-class of academics get very excited about (have a look at Jim Collins' book Architectures of Excess if you don't believe me) but it makes for a pretty mild experience all up.

There are other irritations. It becomes even more annoying here than in Part II that relations of the central characters are played by the same actors. Thomas F. Wilson is fun in all his incarnations of Biff (across the three films he's played the part as an old man, a teenager, and three versions of middle aged, plus descendants and relations Griff and Buford), but it's just distracting to see Michael J. Fox turn up here as his forefather Seamus McFly. And why does a distant relation on his father's side look like his mother? (Skeletons in the McFly family closet, perhaps?) These scenes give Zemeckis a chance to play with his admittedly very nifty split-screen effects, but their gimmickiness is distracting. They're illogical too, especially given that Marty looks so unlike his father. (The character of Seamus would actually have been much more effective and convincing on all levels if Crispin Glover had played it - was this Zemeckis' original intention?)

ZZ Top (of all people) turn up in a cameo, much as Huey Lewis did in the original.

The thing you notice when you've watched it a few too many times: Most of the film is spent trying to find a way to get the time machine up to 88mph after it incurs some mild damage and runs out of petrol. What the film forgets (deliberately, I'm sure) is that Doc and Marty actually have two time machines (well, the same one twice): there's the one Marty turned up in, but also the one Doc arrived in and then buried in the mine. That one is still fully intact and still has gas in the tank. Since the petrol is the crucial issue (but won't be in 1955), why can't Marty and Doc just repair the fuel line of Marty's, siphon the petrol out of Doc's, and then hit the road?

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For my review of Part I click here.