Back to the Future Part III(1990)
Universal Pictures May 25, 1990
Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
Release Details
Original Release | May 25, 1990 | Wide
Back To The Future Day | Oct 21, 2015 | Wide (Universal Home Video)
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Box Office Results
2026-01-16T12:44:15.245Z
All Releases (2)
$88,277,583
$156,800,000
$245,077,583
$82,990,725
$82,990,725
Current Showtimes
orround
- Mon Sep 7
- Tue Sep 8
- Wed Sep 9
- Thu Sep 10
- Fri Sep 11
- Sat Sep 12
- Sun Sep 13
Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos,Dolby Digital
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Summaries
Plot Summary
- On November 12, 1955, Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) discovers that his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd) has become trapped in the year 1885. Doc had sent Marty a letter from 1885 and Marty contacts Doc at the clock tower in 1955 (who had just sent Marty to the 1985 future using the lightning strike). Marty had returned to 1955 with the floating hover-board from 2015. Doc faints after seeing Marty and Marty has to carry him home.In the letter Doc explained how the lightning bolt that hit the Dalorean caused a Gigawatt overload, scrambled the time circuits, activated the flux capacitor, and sent him to 1885. The car's circuits were destroyed and so he stored in a secure location in 1885, from where he wanted Marty and 1955 Doc to retrieve it and fix it. Doc wanted Marty to use the time machine to go to 1985 and then destroy the time machine. Doc says that he is very happy in 1885 and does not want Marty to come back to rescue him.Marty, with Doc's 1955 self, uses the information in Doc's 1885 letter to locate and repair the DeLorean. While retrieving the car, Marty spots a tombstone with Doc's name, dated six days after the letter. Learning that Doc was killed by Biff Tannen's (Thomas F. Wilson) great-grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), Marty decides to go back to 1885 to save Doc.Marty arrives on September 2, 1885, in the middle of a United States Cavalry pursuit of Indians. While evading the pursuit, the DeLorean's fuel line is torn, forcing Marty to hide the car in a cave and walk to Hill Valley. Chased by a bear, he is knocked out and meets his Irish-born great-great-grandparents, Seamus (Michael J. Fox) and Maggie McFly (Lea Thompson), who allow him to stay for the night. The next morning, under the alias Clint Eastwood, Marty arrives in a newly founded Hill Valley. Marty runs afoul of Buford and his gang. Buford tries to hang Marty, but Doc saves him. Doc agrees to leave 1885, but with the DeLorean out of gasoline and no more available, there is no way to accelerate the car to 88 miles per hour.After some experimentation, Doc devises a scheme to use a steam locomotive to push the DeLorean up to speed. As Doc and Marty explore the rail spur they intend to use, they spot an out-of-control horse-drawn wagon. Doc saves the passenger, Clara Clayton (Mary Steenburgen). Clara is the town's new schoolteacher and Doc saves her from falling into the ravine, averting her death from the original time-line.Doc and Clara two fall in love. Buford tries killing Doc at a town festival, but Marty intervenes. Buford then challenges him to a showdown in two days by calling him "yellow"; an angry Marty accepts, believing that he and Doc would have left by then. Consulting the photograph of Doc's tombstone, Marty and Doc note that Doc's name has disappeared, but the date on the tombstone remains unchanged. Doc urges Marty not to react to provocation, letting slip that Marty has a life changing accident in the future.The night before their departure, Marty and Doc place the DeLorean onto the rail spur. At Clara's house, Doc tells Clara he is from the future, but Clara believes it is an excuse to end their relationship and angrily dismisses him. Distraught, Doc returns to the town saloon to get drunk, but Marty rides to the saloon and convinces Doc to leave with him.However, Doc drinks a single shot of whiskey and (due to extreme alcohol intolerance) passes out instantly. Buford arrives early and calls out Marty, but Marty has finally realized his reputation is unimportant and refuses to fight. Doc revives after drinking the bartender's special "Wake-Up Juice" and tries fleeing with Marty, but Buford's gang captures Doc, forcing Marty to duel. Marty uses a firebox door from a stove as a bullet-proof vest. Marty fools Buford into believing that he was fatally shot and knocks him into a wagon of manure. During the fistfight that follows, Buford destroys the tombstone, is knocked unconscious and arrested for an earlier robbery. Marty and Doc depart to "borrow" the locomotive.Clara is leaving on the train when she overhears a salesman discussing a man he met in the saloon, despondent about his lost love. Realizing the man is Doc, Clara triggers the emergency brake and runs back to town. She discovers Doc's model of the time machine and rides after him. Doc and Marty, having stolen the train at gunpoint, begin pushing the DeLorean along the spur line, attempting to get it up to 88 miles per hour. Clara boards the locomotive while Doc is climbing towards the DeLorean. Doc encourages Clara to join him, intending to bring her to 1985. As she climbs to Doc, Clara falls and is left hanging by her dress. Marty, in the DeLorean, passes his hover-board to Doc, and he uses it to save Clara and carry her to safety. Marty hits 88 mph and vanishes as the overheated locomotive falls off the unfinished bridge.Marty arrives on October 27, 1985. He escapes the powerless DeLorean before it is hit by a freight train and destroyed. Marty discovers that everything has returned to the improved time line. Marty finds Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue) sleeping on her front porch. Later, he uses the lessons he learned in 1885 to avoid being goaded into a street race with Needles (Flea), avoiding a potential automobile accident. Jennifer opens the fax message she kept from 2015 and finds that the message regarding Marty being fired has been erased.Marty takes Jennifer to the time machine wreckage. As they survey the remains, a locomotive equipped with a flux capacitor appears, manned by Doc, Clara, and their two children Jules and Verne. Doc gives Marty a photo of the two of them by the clockworks at the 1885 festival. Jennifer inquires about the fax, and Doc tells them it means that the future has not been written yet. After the Browns bid farewell to their friends, Doc's train converts into an aerial craft and roars off into an unknown time.
Storyline
- In 1955, Marty McFly receives written word from his friend, Doctor Emmett Brown, as to where can be found the DeLorean time machine. However, an unfortunate discovery prompts Marty to go to his friend's aid. Using the time machine, Marty travels to the old west where his friend has run afoul of a gang of thugs and has fallen in love with a local schoolteacher. Using the technology from the time, Marty and Emmett devise one last chance to save the future. — Vampire Sharpshooter Hill Valley Courthouse, November 12, 1955. Startled by Marty's improbable arrival after the severe electrical thunderstorm in Back to the Future Part II (1989) , Doc is in for another surprise when he discovers that the violent electromagnetic blast has accidentally sent 1985 Emmett back to January 1, 1885. As a result, with the DeLorean time machine in terrible shape, Marty leaps seven decades back to save Doc from a fatal encounter with trigger-happy outlaw Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. But no one died of old age in the Wild West. And as Doc and the flamboyant stranger from the sky struggle to restore the delicate time/space continuum, sweet romantic entanglements further complicate things. However, the plan is to patch up the dusty DeLorean and return to 1985 in one piece. But using only 1885 Hill Valley's primitive means, how can the intrepid time-travellers get back to the future one last time? — Nick Riganas Marty McFly travels to 1885 to rescue Doc Brown, who is trapped in the Old West. Facing outlaw threats, limited technology, and cultural differences, they devise a plan to return to 1985. The film combines adventure, comedy, and romance, exploring loyalty, ingenuity, and the challenges of navigating unfamiliar eras. Themes of friendship, perseverance, and the consequences of time travel are central to the narrative. — chera_khalid Stranded in 1955 after a freak burst of lightning, Marty must travel to 1885 to rescue Doc Brown from a premature end. Surviving an Indian attack and unfriendly townsfolk, Marty finds Doc Brown the blacksmith. But with the Doc under the spell of the charming Clara Clayton, it's up to Marty to get them out of the wild west and back to the future. — Official Synopsis
