New to Blu: October 27-November 2

Great Scott!

The stars of Back to the Future have just got back together to promote the franchise’s 25^th anniversary re-issue on Blu-ray.

Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Huey Lewis and Mary Steenburgen reunited with filmmakers Bob Gale, Neil Canton and Robert Zemeckis for a “time-travelling panel discussion and Q&A” in New York on Monday.

It culminated in the cast unveiling a 2.5 metre-high DeLorean cake, complete with red-hot flaming tracks replicating one of the most iconic scenes from the original movie.

The triple-disc Blu-ray boasts more than two hours of new extras, including a six-part retrospective documentary featuring new interviews with the cast, crew and filmmakers.

Said Zemeckis at the launch: “If I had to describe Back to the Future in one word, it is ‘impossible’ … The first Back to the Future film was the hardest film I ever made.

“Back to the Future II was actually the first time I’d ever used computer generated effects. Its success boils down to a few things – it’s a universal story about kids and parents, a young guy and his mentor and it’s a love story.”

“Your decision to upgrade to this Blu-ray set … or not … will obviously depend on just how much you love these films,” The Digital Bits predicted.

“But there’s no doubt that Universal’s upgrade – both to the A/V quality and extras – is significant.

“The quality isn’t perfect, but I suspect that serious fans of these films will be very pleased, and all but the most picky A/V enthusiasts should really enjoy and appreciate this presentation.”

Blu-ray.com was more accommodating about the presentation: “Let’s state for the record that these new VC-1 encoded 1080p 1.85:1 Blu-rays present all three films with the best image quality they have ever had on home video.

“That probably still won’t stop the brickbats from being thrown by some who either never saw these films theatrically, don’t remember what films looked like in the 1980s, or who have unrealistic expectations of what restoration can achieve, especially in films this laden with optical effects …

“Filled with amazing supplemental content, this is a fantastic package which any lover of any of the three, let alone all of them, will want to have in their personal collection.”

The BTTF trilogy goes on sale Wednesday, along with Blu-rays of The A-Team, Micmacs, Legion and Charlie’s Angels.