It’s been known for years that he was the original pick to play Marty McFly but not until now has the footage surfaced, as part of the 25th anniversary DVD release. (Alternate headline: “Blogger feeling suicidal at fact that ‘Back to the Future’ came out 25 years ago.”) What’s trippy about the clip is how it jibes so well with the movie’s theme of how radically different history might have been if just a few tiny things had gone differently. Zemeckis and Spielberg say they had to make the switch because Stoltz’s comic timing wasn’t quite right, but I think it’s probably more the case that they needed a bigger personality for the role. And personality isn’t Stoltz’s strong suit: He’s a classic example of a guy whose name I know but can’t think of a single movie he’s been in. You don’t have that problem with Michael J. Fox. And when you’re making a movie where the main character’s onscreen 95 percent of the time, you can’t afford to have that problem.
Catch me on the right day and I’ll tell you that “Back to the Future” was the best Hollywood feature of the 80s. Not always — sometimes I’ll say “Aliens” or “The Untouchables” or a few others — but on some days. It really can’t be improved upon. Pitch perfect from the first scene to the last.
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