Back to the Future (PG, 1985)
common sense media says
'80s time-travel favorite has laughs, romance, action.
parents & educators say
- 54% say language is an issue
- 26% say sexual content is an issue
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this family time-travel favorite includes sequences that place the hero and his friends in physical jeopardy: a gunfight in which a sympathetic character is thought to be killed, a van chasing a teen on a skateboard, several episodes of bullying, and more. The violence is exaggerated and closer in tone to cartoon jeopardy than real danger, but some kids will no doubt find it tense. Several scenes show the hero's discomfort when the girl who will eventually be his mother tries to entice him with kisses and embraces; there's also implied unwanted sex, but nothing serious happens. Strong language includes a couple memorable uses of "s--t," as well as "bastards," "damn," "a--hole," and a couple of racial slurs in the 1950s-set scenes. It's worth noting that this is the movie that alerted the public to the concept of product placement, with controversy arising from the near-constant visuals of Pepsi products and other brands.
Educational value:
Kids will learn a bit about culture in both 1955 and 1985.
Positive role models:
Marty is smart, likeable, courageous, and a terrific problem-solver (despite periodic self-confidence issues). Faced with seeming insurmountable obstacles, he rises to every occasion. His scientist mentor is shown to be ingenious as well as eccentric. A weak-willed, put-upon high school student (and later father) is shown the way to self-respect, courage, and success. The bad guys are clearly in the wrong.
Violence & scariness:
In an early scene, an attack by a squad of terrorists includes automatic weapon fire and what appears to be a significant fatal shooting. Other sequences include suspenseful car and skateboard chases, a character threatened by a shotgun, some perilous scenes involving a tall clock tower, and punches thrown between high school kids. Bullying, a significant theme, occurs on numerous occasions. The bully initiates an exaggerated, off-camera assault on a high school girl, but she is never really in danger.
Sexy stuff:
A few kisses and embraces; some flirting. Teenage crushes are a key part of the story, with hero Marty becoming the object of affection of the girl who will grow up to become his mother. While perched in a tree, a boy spies through a girl’s window.
Language:
Occasional swearing includes "damn," "butthead," "s--t," "ass," "a--hole," "son-of-a-bitch," "hell," "bastards," and "Jesus Christ" (as an exclamation). In the 1950s-set scenes, a few racial epithets are used by the bad guys, including "Irish bug" and "spook," and a mayor is referred to as "colored."
Consumerism:
Many products are prominently displayed and mentioned in dialogue. Pepsi products are featured throughout. Other brands identified include Toyota, Calvin Klein, Texaco, Burger King, Bud Light, Miller beer, JVC, Panasonic, KalKan and Milkbone dogfood, Zale's, Yamaha, Popov, Maxwell House, J.C. Penney, and dozens more. A DeLorean car plays a very significant role.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
In one scene, two underage teens briefly experiment with a small bottle of whiskey and a cigarette. Adults drink beer and vodka at dinner. A drunk man sleeps on a park bench. Reference to "reefer."
More on Back to the Future
Review It
Based on 46 parent & educator reviews:
- 54% say language is an issue
- 26% say sexual content is an issue
Most useful reviews by all members
Amymom
adult
adult
Your ratings were misleading. As to sexual content, there were scenes involving a boy looking through binoculars at a girl while she was undressing in her room!, a scene where a boy was about to sexually assault a girl in a car and numerous allusions to sex. This should have rated at least a 3 on your little icons. The violence that was most disturbing involved a boy shoving the girl (hard) who he had attempted to sexually assault. That is not "flirting and kissing". The language was also much worse than your review lead me to believe.
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kurtray
educator and parent of 9 year old
educator and parent of 9 year old
PG-13, definitely
I agree whole-heartedly with other recent reviewers who were caught off-guard by the language, violence and adult themes. This was one of my favorite movies when it was released in the 80's. I was cringing as I watched it with my 6 and 9 year-olds... and my disapproving wife! We had to turn it off.
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HTPaul
parent of 12 year old
parent of 12 year old
Warning if language is important
Although they don't drop the f-bomb, there is near constant swearing. From the humorous "D**n, where is that boy. D**n! D**n Damn." To several bastards, a car full of "S---" (prior to slaming into a manure truck), you're going to see some serious sh*t (prior to going 88 miles per hour), to "Not where the hell is it - when the hell is it" to "Do you think I should swear? Yes, damnit, George, swear" Great movie, but I just don't understand how this was rated "Not an issue" under language for eight-year-olds. The reliability of this site is in question.
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Jayhoff
parent of 18 year old
parent of 18 year old
Humor for children, content more mature. Funny for adults too.
In this case csm grossly understated the sex (Teenage boy in underware in a girls bedroom, attempted molestation in car, multiple cleavege shots...) Children should be old enough to handle this. It would have been nice to know this before we saw the film.
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shadowfc
parent of and 7 , 12 , 14 year old
parent of and 7 , 12 , 14 year old
Parent Guidance DEFINITELY suggested!
Firstly - this movie is a childhood favorite of mine. I thought my kids might enjoy it.
WARNING: I do not agree at all with the Common Sense review of this movie. Be wary of movies that came out before the PG-13 rating. This movie definitely would have gotten one due to the language alone. An occasional light swear word I can deal with, but I counted at least half a dozen "S" words, the Lord's name was taken in vain throughout, not to mention the frequent use of "b4st4rd" and "son-of-a-b". I watched with my 12 year old daughter and just cringed because I'd forgotten how loose the language is!
Other parental items to note: the main character (who is 17) and his girlfriend plan to sneak away together on a camping trip, which the main character's parents approve of at the end. The main character also swears and drinks.
PLEASE do yourself a favor and re-watch this movie before you allow your children to watch. NOT for kids under 13!
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quickbuild2345
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Perfect movie...except for the language
This is a great, fun, movie, and besides a brief shooting at the start, the violence is fine, the inappropriate content is mostly okay except for a brief scene at the end, but the main problem is the language: there's a LOT of it. Otherwise, it's a great movie.
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LA mom
parent of 10 and 12 year old
parent of 10 and 12 year old
Good movie for older kids
We watched this movie with our 8 and 10 year olds because we remembered it as a fun movie. We were shocked by the language - my kids learned lots of new words. It is a great movie that unfortunately has inappropriate language and sexual inuendos (going away with your girlfriend for the weekend and lying to your parents about it?) I should have waited until my kids were a little older to show them this movie.
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OrlandoMom66
parent of 7 year old
parent of 7 year old
This movie has way too much bad language for young kids. Also, the scene where Biff is sexually attacking Lorraine in a parked car is not something you want to have to explain to your young child. There is also drinking and smoking (cigs and pot) in this film. Having said all that, it is a great movie for older children and adults.
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Mom and movie ...
parent of 11 and 13 year old
parent of 11 and 13 year old
Bad writers use bad language in what could've been a good flick!
It could have been a really good movie -- too much unneeded bad language. Every single swear word there is was used prominently in the movie. What a waste.
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kat_marie
teen, 18 years old
teen, 18 years old
Not for 8 year olds
I love this movie, but 8? Just ... no. This may have a PG rating, but if it had been released today, it would have gotten a PG-13 rating. There are multiple uses of the word s**t, as well as multiple uses of b**ches, ba**ards, d**n, hell and uses of Jesus and Christ as swear words.
There is also the fact that Marty's mother falls in love with him, something I'm sure parents don't really want to have to explain, as well as a girl almost getting date raped.
Older teens will love it, but don't let an 8 year old watch it.
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maximus.anders ...
parent of 6 and 8 year old
parent of 6 and 8 year old
Good movie but lots of swearing compared to kid movies
This was a good movie but concepts a little over my kids heads sometimes (ages 5 &7) with the whole time travelling concept. Lots of swearing compared to kid movies.
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Critical-Dad
adult
adult
Shocked from a family man director like Spielberg
The story is great, the acting is enjoyable -but the foul language and sexual attack scene in the car was difficult to explain to my daughters. This film introduced my kids to the words: sh--, dam, Goddammit, b***ard, and son-of-b**ch -sorry, but these do not clasify as "mild lauguage" words to me. Have the mute button in hand if you decide to rent it with your kids.
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soccer lover229
teen, 15 years old
teen, 15 years old
good movie
good movie but a lot of language
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dramaqueen@hot ...
parent of 11 year old
parent of 11 year old
a great 80's classic! love Bttf!
so basiaclly the movie proves that time travel is possible? and if so its true okay this is the best movie uh maybe not for the younger kids i say the right age would probably be 13 yrs old a teenager can watch it its and awesome movie there should be more movie like this like Back To The Future this use to be one of my fav movies hey still is a classic hit 1985 the same year i was born man why oh why don't they make more movies like this? tell me w hy cause i so love this movie its great just great! Doc Brown the crazy inventor Marty Mcfly the cute teenage boy the parents Strickland the mean prinicpal calling everyone slackers lol now thats funny i can't help but to laugh at that moment when he calls Marty or his dad or anyone a slacker oh and Biff make like a tree and getta outta here lol what the heck does that mean? wow love this movie its like Marty says whoa this is heavey and Great Scott
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Andrew Haxley
adult
adult
Cool Movie Especially For Kids And Has Positive Messages Are Family Relationships!
But The Violence Is Over The Top There Is A Scene Where Bullies Terrorize And Attack Marty Mcfly And He Screams And Runs From Them And They Run After Him And Then Try To Kill Him Not Bad! And There Is A Scene Where A Man Slaps Another Man In The Face And He Gets Hurt And A Man Bullies Another Man For Money And He Does Not Give Him Any!
And Some Langauge Is Heard Including D--- And Son Of A B--- And Other Words!
Some Stuff In This Movie Would Be Scary And Not Good For Young Kids to see Don't See This Unless You Can't Handle It!
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M. Brown
parent of and 9 , 11 , 14 year old
parent of and 9 , 11 , 14 year old
You should think twice before letting young kids view this
After reading that there were "bits of language," I was shocked at how often the language was objectionable. They used the Lord's name in vain frequently, and they used other profanities quite regularly throughout the movie. It was much worse than I had anticipated.
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volvomom
parent of 10 and 15 year old
parent of 10 and 15 year old
I remember watching this movie multiple times as a teenager and loving it, however it was only after watching it with my girls that I was surprised by all the bad language. While I know those words are out there, we don't allow them in our home. I read the reviews and thought there would be two or three, but instead found them sprinkled throughout the film. It's a great movie with a fun plot and some funny scenes, but beware of the
car scene where Biff makes unwanted advances toward Lorraine in the car. We did fast-forward through that part based on other reviews. If your kids are a little older, this might be okay, but if your kids are young you may want to wait with this one.
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Joe Marranca
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Perfect for 8+
Love it Best movie ever violence is not to when you watch it on cable .
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phredphredison
teen, 14 years old
teen, 14 years old
Quirky movie, keep it out of the hands of 8 year olds.
Back to the Future was simply hilarious. It had quirky characters, funny dialogue, and the message that bullies must be triumphed over, and friendship will help you through the toughest of situations. However, the characters swear profusely in some scenes. The film also contains a scene with a bully (Biff) unwantedly kissing a girl (Lorraine) with his hand seemingly up her skirt. A movie poster in the backround in one scene reads "XXX Rated : Sex Orgy, American Style.
Overall, this movie is great, but I would suggest you either prevent more immature younger children from watching it entirely, or censor a couple scenes out.
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