Customer Reviews

Back To The Future III: Original Motion Picture Score

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The final soundtrack for the Back to the Future Trilogy doesn't disapoint and at the same time it lacks the familiarity we have come to love with the Back to the Future music.

The third sequal takes on a whole old west flavor as our heroes wind up in 1885 and take on the founding of the town of Hill valley as well as other old west situations like gun fights, horses and huge trains. The soundtrack and score that Alan puts together is pretty good overall and the quality we have come to expect. It does seem very out of place though when compared to the two previous soundtracks of the movie series.

Something to note of this sound track, unlike the other two, the songs are in a weird random order. They aren't in the order that the songs show up in the movie. The last part of the train shows up before the other two for example. Why they did this I don't know but it can make things confusing when you are listening and trying to place where it was in the movie . I would definitely say get this but just to complete the set and for a differnet flavor of what Alan Silvistri can accomplish. Its not great like the other two are , but it is pretty good still.

The familiar Back to the Future theme is missing and only shows up at undertones in the score if at all. The music also takes on a totaly new sound to it , an old west type of feel with a lot of horns and classic sounds to it. Again not the best of approaches as the previous Back to the Future films never altered the music to fit the time period and there was really no need to do that here as well. A good mixture of old with new would have worked nicely, but with that all said the soundtrack is still enjoyable and I would recomend this as well as the other two movie soundtracks as they are a real thril to listen to everytime , even if the music will seem unfamiliar compared to the other two albums.

Some songs to take note of are the Train scores. All done well and will sorta remind you of the long climax at the end of the first movie that both had similar situations going on (Having to get back to the future by some means of luck and good planning) . Other songs like Indians and We are Out of Gas are intersting western sounding scores that are short but do have a Back to the Future feel to them and work nicely. Some songs are just not as powerful as his previous ones were and compared to the other 2 albums can even seem out of place.

Bottom line is: Its good for originality but not for continuity for the trilogy but still a good album on its own right. Just not a great one like the other two were.

The Back to the Future trilogy was greatly augmented by Alan Silvestri's moving score. It is not often that a film comes out with such a memorable soundtrack that both fits the movie like a glove and stands on its own as a recorded masterpiece. I have listened to this soundtrack countless times and it still moves me. All the emotions brought out by watching the film are right there in the CD. There are various themes each of which have an appropriate distinctive mood. Particularly notable is the love theme with pianos, a harp, and a flute. Just like in an opera, the different themes are all put together in one final grand overture which is the perfect way to end a trilogy which has delighted us on so many different levels.

Its a great soundtrack, It really brought out the emotion from the movie. Best sound track I have ever listened to. I give it 2 thumbs up.

Of the three scores for the "Back to the Future" films, I would say this one is the best, if only because of the score for the climactic train sequence. These three tracks, listened to in the right order, instantly conjure up images from that memorable sequence in the movie and all the emotions that go with it. But this score has more going for it than that. It features the classic theme music that Silvestri gave us in the first two films, while also introducing new themes to the world of "Back to the Future", such as the western theme and the love theme that is associated with Doc and Clara. It is a great listening experience from beginning to end, especially if you take the time to listen to the tracks in the order they appeared in the film (as opposed to the CDs strange random order which other reviewers have mentioned). I highly recommend this score to all fans of the BTTF trilogy.

This is the order in which I prefer to listen to the tracks. I believe it is very close to score order, though "Doubleback" could go in one of two positions in the order:


1. Main Title
2. Indians - Marty appears in 1885
3. Hill Valley - Marty sees Hill Valley 1885
4. The Hanging - Buford's gang tries to hang Marty
5. We're Out of Gas - Doc & Marty realize they are stuck in 1885
6. Doc to the Rescue - Doc rescues Clara
7. At First Sight - Doc & Clara fall in love "at first sight"
8. The Kiss - Doc & Clara kiss for the first time
9. The Future Isn't Written - Doc & Marty move the DeLorean onto the train tracks
10. Goodbye Clara - Doc says goodbye to Clara
11. Wake Up Juice - Marty tries to sober up Doc in the saloon
12. The Showdown - Marty's showdown with Buford
13. A Science Experiment (The Train, Part 1)
14. It's Clara (The Train, Part 2)
15. Point of No Return (The Train, Part 3)
16. Doc Returns - Doc & Clara return to 1985 in the time train
17. End Credits
18. Doubleback

The instrumental version of "Doubleback" could be track 18 (because it is source music, not necessarily part of the score) or it could be placed after track 8 instead, since that is where that piece of music comes in the film (during at the town festival scene).

I really like this soundtrack. While it is a bit divergent from the other two, it is appropriate in it's style and delivery. One beef that other have mentioned is the out of order tracks. I tried to figure out the best linear track and it could go:

Main Title
Indians
Hill Valley
The Hanging
Doc to the Rescue
The Future Isn't Written
We're Out of Gas
The Science Experiment (Train Part 1)
At First Sight
It's Clara (The Train Part 2)
The Kiss
Doubleback
Goodbye Clara
Wake-up juice
The Showdown
Point of No Return (The Train Part 3)
Doc Returns
End Credits

While not perfectly correct, I think it's pretty close to being in chronological order this way. Great soundtrack!

Alan Silvestri's score for "Back to the Future Part III" is a great little score, that reflects the fun, relaxed tone of the third film. He does an excellent job of reworking the traditional BTTF themes into a Old West style. I think it's very effective and there are a lot of tracks that are fun. The End Credits track is a great sampler of all the themes Silvestri touches upon.

Great CD! Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. (Ha ha ha!)

TRACK 1: Good song; Good rhythm; Sums up the whole CD; Beginning used at the very first scenes of Back to the Future 3 (the scene where 1955 Doc sees 1985 Marty and faints). TRACK 2: Good song; Second part of the song used during the train scenes. TRACK 3: Good song; Slow at times; Song used when Marty first views Hill Valley in 1885 (now like the wild west). TRACK 4: Good, quick song; Used during the hanging scene; I picture Marty getting dragged on and on by Biff and the other bad guys. TRACK 5: Ok song; Extremely slow; Not adventurous and thrilling like the rest; It still paints pictures of Doc in love with Clara in my mind. TRACK 6: Great, short, song with an excellent rhythm and beat; Song used when Marty is escaping from the Indians. TRACK 7: Ok song; A little slow and boring; Song used when Doc fails while desperately trying to explain to Clara that he is leaving her; TRACK 8: Great song; Used when Doc comes back in the train with Clara, Jules, and Verne; I picture the train blasting away; I see poor Marty saying goodbye. TRACK 9: Good song; Third and last part of the song used during the train scenes; Gets a little boring over time; Still good. TRACK 10: Ok song; Used when Marty and Doc find the gravestone with Doc's death outside the Mine Shaft. TRACK 11: Strange song; Percussion and drums; All I can do is imagine Marty with Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen in the showdown; Marty-"I thought we could talk." Buford-"Thought wrong, kid!" (Then he shoots Marty.) TRACK 12: Very short; Song used when Doc rescues Clara from the Ravine. TRACK 13: Ok song; Not great; Slow and boring; Scene with Doc and Clara looking up at the sky. TRACK 14: Great song; Song used when the DeLorean is out of gas, so Doc and Marty pull it by horses; Great picture in my mind. TRACK 15: Ok song; Song used when the bartender is making the wake-up juice. TRACK 16: Good song; First part of the song used in the train scenes. TRACK 17: EXCELLENT SONG; Doubleback is the best song on this CD; ZZ Top plays it; Song used at the Hill Valley Festival where the clock starts ticking for the first time; Great song with excellent pictures painted in my mind. TRACK 18: Great song; Sums up the whole CD in a different way; Great song to end a great soundtrack of a great movie.

Hope you buy this CD! It's wonderful! You'll love it!

"Doc! If I drive towards that screen I'm gonna crash into those Indians" lol... the soudtrack is awesome! :D with the exception of it not having ZZ Top's "Double Back" :(

Tracks 17 and 18 are awesome, double back is great ! The cd is excellent !

The Western themes really pick up the pace in this 3rd BTTF movie and are truly rousing. The main Back To The Future is abundant thru-out and is well used to evoke different moods and feelings.

ZZ-Top does a real cool track called "Double Back" and it sure is rootin' tootin'. Other tracks echo the style of Ennio Morricone's scores to older westerns and it's a nice touch. I would appreciate more themes as there are only 2 new ones in this film, which are Doc's love theme and the main Western cue.

The tracks are out of order and it would have been more intelligent to place them in the same sequence as they appeared in the film. The "Train" is spilt into 3 tracks and at 3 totally different places of the CD. They are the best tracks, especially the ending of "Point of No Return", which gets the pulse going big time, but not for long enough.

It's all worthwhile, but for a series of 3 films there are not many themes to go round other than the main Back To The Future theme and a couple of other minor ones. Most tracks are empty and lifeless but the rest make the CD a worthy purchase.