Back to the Future in Concert, Royal Albert Hall Review
Written by Franco Milazzo for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
Presented as part of the Royal Albert Hall’s Films In Concert series, Robert Zemecki’s Back To The Future is given the live orchestra treatment along with a surprise appearance.
Having people intimately connected with the film fly in from the US is nothing new for these events. James Cameron was interviewed before Avatar was shown; the score for Ghostbusters was conducted by Peter Bernstein, son of the late original composer Leonard; and, ahead of the opening credits rolling for Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise popped up to give a speech before retiring to the comfort of his own box.
Another winning feature is the use of realistic props. For Ghostbusters, a replica of ECTO-1 was parked up outside the venue before the film started. This time around, a model of the famous winged DeLorean – complete with flux capacitor and other features — was a key attraction for many coming to see the 1985 classic.
This time around, the special guest was Alan Silvestri. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, the roster of screen classics he has worked on will. As well as scoring all three movies in the Back To The Future trilogy, his music can be heard in other Eighties and Nineties classics like Predator, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forrest Gump. In this millennium, he has been called in for the Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel Endgame (which between them pulled in almost five billion dollars, more than double the amount grossed by Cameron’s Titanic) and is currently working on the next two Avengers flicks.
Even with all that, Silvestri (now in his seventies) cuts a humble figure when he is called to the stage by conductor Stefan Geiger. He seems genuinely amazed by the number of people in the room and does some cute call-and-response with the audience, testing us on some of our favourite quotes (the ending to “When this baby hits 88mph…” receives the loudest response). Before he leaves, he takes a couple of snaps and a selfie. “Well, this is the Royal Albert Hall,” he quips. Quite.
So how much do the sterling efforts of the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra add to the live viewing experience? More than you’d think. Silvestri’s fantastic theme is as epic as anything written for a superhero blockbuster. The bold and brassy bursts of horn smash through to announce that, even if this film was initially promoted as a big budget kids adventure, there is something here for everyone to watch and enjoy. By the time the violins swoosh in, we’re already falling hook, line, and sinker for this incredibly well-written tale and its cast of lovable characters, not least Michael J Fox’s winsome Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd’s bug-eyed Emmett "Doc" Brown.
There’s no rock band present to deliver Huey Lewis and The News’ immortal “The Power Of Love” but, look carefully, and Lewis himself appears in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo. As a judge at Hill Valley High’s Battle of the Bands, he stops McFly partway through a guitar-heavy rendition of that very same song, telling the young guitarist that he and his band are ”just too darn loud". This meta-joke is one of several treats that a re-watch like this on a giant screen makes possible. Easter eggs that were likely missed the first time around in the local fleapit or on VHS become more obvious: right after Marty speeds off from the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall into 1955, he demolishes a tree; on his return to 1985, the shopping centre has been renamed Lone Pine Mall.
There’s something to be said for seeing a much-loved vintage gem like this in the company of a few thousand people. We laugh together at the silly slapstick, smirk at the ridiculous fashions of the time, point and giggle when Biff and his crew end up completely covered in manure right before the intermission, sigh as one when George finally gets his girl and then whoop and holler at the end when an apparently dead Doc opens one eye and reveals he wasn’t quite as worried about time-bending consequences as his Fifties self seemed to be. There’s a time and place for Netflix and chilling on a sofa but shared experiences like this are what can make a weekend really special, now and in the Eighties.
The Royal Albert Hall’s Films In Concert series continues with the entire Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Matilda, Black Panther, Brassed Off and more. See https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/series/films-in-concert for full details.
★★★★★
