Back to the Future: 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Gift Set (4K UHD Review)
Director
Robert ZemeckisRelease Date(s)
1985/1989/1990 (November 4, 2025)Studio(s)
Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: See Below
- Video Grade: See Below
- Audio Grade: See Below
- Extras Grade: A-
Review
[Editor’s Note: The majority of this review was originally written by Bill Hunt for the previous release of the Back to the Future trilogy on 4K Ultra HD. In this review, coverage of the new extras, packaging, and bonus swag was written by Tim Salmons.]
Time travel is a subject that Hollywood has depicted many times on the big screen, particularly in recent years. But up until the mid-1980s, the most notable examples included George Pal’s The Time Machine (1960), Franklin Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes (1968), Nicholas Meyer’s Time After Time (1979), Don Taylor’s The Final Countdown (1980), and of course James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984). But few time travel films have had as great an impact on popular culture as Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future.
Michael J. Fox—at the very height of his popularity as Alex P. Keaton on TV’s Family Ties—stars as Marty McFly, a young man who lives with his family in Hill Valley, California in 1985. Marty’s dad George (Crispin Glover) is a spineless loser who’s been bullied all his life by his high school nemesis Biff Tannen (Thomas Wilson). Meanwhile, his mother Lorraine (Lea Thompson) is an alcoholic, and his siblings (played by Marc McClure and Wendie Jo Sperber, ex Superman: The Movie and 1941) are failures as well. But Marty’s friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), the eccentric scientist and inventor, is far more industrious. It seems that Doc has invented a time machine in the form of a souped-up DeLorean sports car. Naturally, events conspire such that Marty is accidentally sent back to the Hill Valley of 1955, where he meets his own parents as teenagers. Marty’s only hope to get back is to find Doc’s younger self in the hope that he might be able to get the time machine working again. But when Marty saves his father from being run over by a car, Doc realizes he’s changed his own future—now his parents will never meet and Marty will never be born. So Marty has to help young George overcome his fears to ask Lorraine to the school dance, and thus set things right again. But Biff Tannen is determined to stand in their way and young Lorraine has developed a crush on Marty instead. Eventually, the timeline is set right, and Doc manages to send Marty back to 1985. But no sooner does he arrive, and reunite with his girlfriend Jennifer, that Brown appears again in the DeLorean. He’s just traveled back from the future in 2015 when, he says, Marty and Jennifer’s kids are in big trouble. And so begins an epic adventure that sends Marty and Doc not only to 2015, but back to 1955 again, and even way back to the Hill Valley of 1885 before they’re through.
The original Back to the Future is a genuinely entertaining film that still holds up well today on repeat viewing (especially at the level of quality found on Universal’s 4K release, which—when projected on a large screen—is like being back in a theater again). The entire cast is terrific and all the gags work well. Unfortunately, Back to the Future II suffers from severe campiness in its entire first half, when Marty and Doc visit 2015 and then return to a 1985 that’s been changed by Biff. The film features a number of over-the-top scenes where the actors play both their younger and older selves (Fox even plays his own son and daughter) in ridiculous make up, surrounded by goofy imagined technology of the future. The film does get quite a bit better in its second half, when Doc and Marty visit 1955 again, but not nearly better enough. Thankfully though, Back to the Future III is a straight-up comic romp in the Old West that doesn’t rely on hammy make-up and other gimmicks. So on the whole, the trilogy ends on a strong, enjoyable note and its complicated time travel plot ties together fairly well. One does also have to give the filmmakers points for predicting the Chicago Cubs’ World Series win over a decade and a half earlier. (It was funny in 1989 because nobody believed it was possible.)
BACK TO THE FUTURE: A
BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II: C+
BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III: B+
Back to the Future and Back to the Future II were each shot on 35 mm photochemical film using Panavision and VistaVision cameras (the latter for VFX) with spherical lenses. Back to the Future III was shot using Panavision, Arriflex, and VistaVision cameras (the latter again for VFX) with spherical lenses. All three were finished on film at the 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio. For its Ultra HD release, Universal has scanned the original camera negative, as well as all VFX film out footage, in native 4K to create a Digital Intermediate, complete with HDR color grading (both HDR10 and Dolby Vision options are available).
So how does the 4K image look? Well, the original Back to the Future looks pretty terrific. The camera negative is in good condition and the VFX were largely done the old fashioned way, with analog optical compositing and model work. For non-VFX shots, the improvement in detail and texturing is very pleasing (save for the occasional shot where the camera focus was just a little off). Film grain is light to medium but remains organic. To be fair, there are a few places here and there where it looks like a bit of digital noise reduction has been applied, notably the scene when Marty—decked out in his yellow hazmat suit—first sees the Lyon Estates billboard in 1955. But they’re fairly brief and I wouldn’t call them excessive or particularly egregious. Optically composited shots have a slight generation loss in resolution and detail, but on the whole the first film quite good indeed, and very much improved from the 25th anniversary edition Blu-ray release. The HDR has also expanded the contrast, deepening the blacks and adding a little more pop to the highlights. The wider color gamut improves color accuracy and saturation while adding greater nuance to the various shadings in the palette. Dolby Vision has the slight edge over HDR10, as usual, thanks to the extra 2-bits of color depth (I don’t have an HDR10+ compatible display to comment on that). But whichever you can take advantage of, I think most fans of this film will be quite pleased.
Back to the Future II and III look good overall as well, but the situation is a little more complicated. While the original film was released in 1985, the sequels were shot back-to-back and released 1989 and 1990 respectively. In the intervening years, ILM was pioneering the technology for CG animation and digital compositing. BTTF II was one of the very first feature projects to fully employ it, which allowed the filmmakers to create complex scenes involving the same actors playing themselves at different ages in the same shot. BUT... that early film scanning and digital workflow resolution was low by today’s standards. The product of that work was scanned back out to photochemical IP film stock, but the effective result is that all of the visual effects shots have a softer appearance than the live action footage. Every bit of film was scanned in native 4K, so there is a detail improvement and organic film grain is still present—though again there’s a bit of light DNR employed in spots. But obviously, there’s only so much VFX detail to be had. Again though, the OCN footage looks fantastic. And the rest of the footage still benefits from the expanded contrast and enhanced color depth of HDR. The upshot of all this is that BTTF II looks better than ever before, but the improvement isn’t as dramatic as it is for the first film. The good news, however, is that BTTF III looks absolutely fantastic, and is certainly the most improved entry in the trilogy image-wise, as the overwhelming majority of the film was captured in-camera, with far fewer digital effects shots. What’s more, the credits for all three films are no longer weirdly cropped—they’re presented here just as you would have seen them back in theaters in the mid-to-late 1980s.
From an audio standpoint, all three films have received English Dolby Atmos mixes, which are of course 7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible. These mixes are top notch for all three films, presenting notably larger and more open soundstages for each. The height channels add welcome vertical completion and atmosphere, and occasionally more direct sound effects in key sequences—the clock tower sequence in the first film, for example, aerial effects in the second, and lovely vertical lift for the railroad steam engine in the third film. Overall dynamic range is excellent, notable right away when Marty blows the speaker in Doc’s lab with his guitar, and is then bombarded by the sound of ringing alarm clocks all around. Dialogue is clean and clear, with an appropriate front-center presence, while atmospheric and directional effects fill the surrounds. Panning is smooth and natural, and bass is ample in the LFE channel. Longtime fans will be happy to know that the odd music warble in BTTF II (as Marty re-enters the dance in 1955) has been corrected. Alan Silvestri’s iconic score has seldom sounded better, and the pop tracks by Huey Lewis and the News and ZZ Top have terrific fidelity. There are no complaints on the audio front with any of these films. Note that additional audio options on the 4K discs include English and French 5.1 DTS, with optional subtitles in English SDH, Spanish, and French.
VIDEO (I/II/III): A-/B+/A
AUDIO (I/II/III): A/A/A
Universal’s 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Gift Set re-release of the three films features the exact same disc-based content, as well as an additional bonus disc. All three 4K Ultra HD discs are triple-layered BD-100s while the five Blu-ray discs are dual-layered BD-50s. This release is also available in a standard boxed set release, minus the swag, as well as Steelbook singles of the first film, the second film, and the third film. All releases include the following bonus features:
DISCS ONE & TWO: BACK TO THE FUTURE (UHD & BD)
- Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Feature Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Bob Gale (10:45):
- Peanut Brittle (HD – :50)
- “Pinch Me” (Upscaled SD – :34)
- “Doc’s Personal Belongings (HD – 1:40)
- “She’s Cheating” (HD – 1:02)
- Darth Vader (Extended Version) (HD – 3:00)
- “Hit Me, George” (HD – :25)
- “You Got a Permit?” (HD – 1:53)
- The Phone Booth (Upscaled SD – 1:14)
- Tales from the Future: In the Beginning... (HD – 27:25)
- Tales from the Future: Time to Go (HD – 29:54)
- Tales from the Future: Keeping Time (HD – 5:44)
- Archival Featurettes:
- The Making of Back to the Future (Upscaled SD – 14:28)
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter One (SD – 15:30)
- Back to the Future Night (Upscaled SD – 27:11)
- Michael J. Fox Q&A (10:16):
- How He Got the Role (Upscaled SD – 1:58)
- The Character of Doc (Upscaled SD – 1:31)
- Working on a Film and TV Series at the Same Time (Upscaled SD – 1:37)
- Shooting BBTF 2 and 3 Together (Upscaled SD – :44)
- DeLoreans (Upscaled SD – 1:01)
- Special FX and Stunts (Upscaled SD – 1:47)
- The Appeal of BTTF (Upscaled SD – :32)
- Shooting BTTF (Upscaled SD – 1:07)
- Behind the Scenes:
- Original Makeup Tests (HD – 2:17)
- Outtakes (HD – 2:50)
- Nuclear Test Site Sequence (with Optional Commentary by Bob Gale) (HD – 4:12)
- Photo Galleries: (BD only)
- Production Art (HD – 25 in all – 2:05)
- Storyboards (HD – 70 in all – 5:50)
- Behind-the-Scenes Photographs (HD – 76 in all – 6:20)
- Marketing Materials (HD – 39 in all – 3:15)
- Character Portraits (HD – 74 in all – 6:10)
- Huey Lewis and the News The Power of Love Music Video (Upscaled SD – 6:27)
- Theatrical Teaser Trailer (Upscaled SD – 1:24)
- Join Team Fox Promo (HD – 6:04)
DISCS THREE & FOUR: BACK TO THE FUTURE: PART II (UHD & BD)
- Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Feature Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Bob Gale (5:46):
- Old Terry and Old Biff (HD – :33)
- ”Dad’s Home” (Extended Version) (HD – 1:23)
- Pizza Scene (Extended Version) (HD – 1:15)
- Jennifer Faints (Extended Version) (HD – :23)
- Old Biff Vanishes From Car (HD – :47)
- Burned-Out High School (HD – :31)
- Marty Meets Dave (HD – 1:20)
- Tales from the Future: Time Flies (HD – 28:36)
- The Physics of Back to the Future (HD – 8:24)
- Archival Featurettes:
- The Making of Back to the Future Part II (Upscaled SD – 6:40)
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter Two (SD – 15:30)
- Behind the Scenes:
- Outtakes (Upscaled SD – :49)
- Production Design (Upscaled SD – 2:55)
- Storyboarding (Upscaled SD – 1:31)
- Designing the DeLorean (Upscaled SD – 3:32)
- Designing Time Travel (Upscaled SD – 2:41)
- Hoverboard Test (Upscaled SD – 1:05)
- Evolution of Visual Effects Shots (Upscaled SD – 5:42)
- Photo Galleries: (BD only)
- Production Art (HD – 50 in all – 4:10)
- Storyboards (HD – 20 in all – 1:40)
- Behind-the-Scenes Photographs (HD – 288 in all – 24:01)
- Marketing Materials (HD – 48 in all – 4:00)
- Character Portraits (HD – 128 in all – 10:40)
- Theatrical Trailer (SD – 2:21)
DISCS FIVE & SIX: BACK TO THE FUTURE: PART III (UHD & BD)
- Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Feature Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Deleted Scene with Optional Commentary by Bob Gale (HD – 1:18)
- Tales from the Future: Third Time’s the Charm (HD – 17:07)
- Tales from the Future: The Test of Time (HD – 17:00)
- Archival Featurettes:
- The Making of Back to the Future Part III (Upscaled SD – 7:32)
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter Three (SD – 16:20)
- The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy (Upscaled SD – 20:41)
- Behind the Scenes:
- Outtakes (Upscaled SD – 1:35)
- Designing the Town of Hill Valley (Upscaled SD – 1:08)
- Designing the Campaign (Upscaled SD – 1:18)
- Photo Galleries: (BD only)
- Production Art (HD – 15 in all – 1:15)
- Storyboards (HD – 50 in all – 4:10)
- Behind-the-Scenes Photographs (HD – 152 in all – 12:40)
- Marketing Materials (HD – 27 in all – 2:15)
- Character Portraits (HD – 79 in all – 6:35)
- ZZ Top Doubleback Music Video (Upscaled SD – 4:09)
- FAQs About the Trilogy (HD – 21 text pages in all)
- Theatrical Trailer (Upscaled SD – 2:18)
- Back to the Future: The Ride (31:06):
- Lobby Monitor (Upscaled SD – 15:05)
- The Ride (Upscaled SD – 16:00)
Much of this content is carried over from the 2015 Blu-ray release. Lost Audition Tapes actually offers a chance to see footage of a few actors who tried out for Marty, Jennifer, and Biff but didn’t get the roles (including Billy Zane, John Crier, C. Thomas Howell, Kyra Sedgwick, and Ben Stiller), though the unused footage of Eric Stoltz is still MIA. With the addition of this bonus disc, essentially all of the previously-released bonus content for these films has been included.
DISC SEVEN: EXTRAS (BD)
- The Hollywood Museum Goes Back to the Future (HD – 10:17)
- Back to the Future: The Musical – Behind the Scenes:
- Cast and Creative Q&A (HD – 28:15)
- “Gotta Start Somewhere” (HD – 2:33)
- “Put Your Mind to It” (HD – 2:59)
- An Alternate Future: Lost Audition Tapes (HD – 3:45)
- Could You Survive the Movies? Back to the Future (HD – 19:47)
- 2015 Message from Doc Brown (HD – :45)
- Doc Brown Saves the World! (HD – 9:38)
- OUTATIME: Restoring the DeLorean (HD – 22:00)
- Looking Back to the Future (45:42):
- The Script (SD – 3:02)
- Casting Marty McFly (SD – 5:05)
- Christopher Lloyd Reflects on Doc Brown (SD – 5:18)
- The DeLorean Time Machine (SD – 6:26)
- Building Hill Valley (SD – 5:02)
- Prepping for the “Johnny B. Goode” Scene (SD – 7:28)
- The Score (SD – 5:08)
- Rushing the Cut (SD – 3:53)
- The Legacy (SD – 4:57)
- Back to the Future: The Animated Series:
- Brothers (Season 1, Episode 1) (SD – 23:24)
- Mac the Black (Season 2, Episode 1) (SD – 23:08)
- 2015 Commercials:
- Jaws 19 Trailer (HD – 1:28)
- Hoverboard (HD – 1:06)
These extras are a good mix of original DVD content and features prepared for the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray release in 2010, the 30th Anniversary release in 2015, and the 35th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD release in 2020. Missing from the 2010 BD are the various U-Control options (including a trivia track, storyboard comparisons, and the like), but that’s really about all.
New to this particular release is the following second bonus disc:
DISC EIGHT: EXTRAS (BD)
- NEW – 40 Years Later: Reflecting on The Future (HD – 25:08)
- NEW – Back to Hill Valley: The Real Filming Locations of Back to the Future (HD – 16:41)
- NEW – Untold Stories of Back to the Future (HD – 37:20)
- NEW – TCM Classic Film Festival Panel (HD – 16:07)
- NEW – A Mystery in History (HD – 9:33)
In 40 Years Later, Bob Gale reflects on the history and longevity of the films and the franchise, also answering questions from fans and highlighting some of his favorite moments. Back to Hill Valley is a locations tour of the first film with Donald Fullilove “Goldie Wilson” and Bob Gale, who share their memories of the production and meet and greet with some of the owners of the various properties.
Untold Stories of Back to the Future covers the production of the first film and features some of the lesser interviewed members of the crew: Bob Gale, first assistant director David McGiffert, director of photography Dean Cundey, producer Neil Canton, second assistant director Pamela Eilerson, special effects supervisor Michael Lantieri, executive producer Frank Marshall, DeLorean construction coordinator Michael Scheffe, Universal Studios president of production Sean Daniel, second unit first assistant director Mitchell Bock, stunt coordinator Walter Scott, special effects consultant Michael L. Fink, special effects supervisor Kevin Pike, special effects foreman Neil Smith, DeLorean restoration team member Sean Bishop, Michael J. Fox stunt doubles Charlie Croughwell and Spiro Razatos, set publicist Michael Klastorin, Thomas F. Wilson stunt double John-Clay Scott, pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, skateboard stunt performers Per Welinder and Bob Schmelzer, and DeLorean technician and service manager Danny Botkin. (It’s interesting to note that these interviews were shot by the same crew that produced new extras for the recent Knight Rider: The Complete Series 4K UHD release.)
The TCM Classic Film Festival Panel is a live Q&A before a screening of the film, hosted by TCM’s Alicia Malone, and featuring interviews with Bob Gale, Dean Cundey, and Charlie Croughwell. A Mystery in History puts a call to anyone who might know where the guitar used in Back to the Future, the cherry red Gibson ES-345, can be found since it’s been lost for forty years. Interview snippets are provided with Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson, Harry Waters Jr., Christopher Lloyd, Huey Lewis, Bob Gale, guitar shop owner Norm Harris, musician Jason Isbell, and Gibson’s Mark Agnesi, the latter of whom provides some background on the history of the guitar itself.
The new packaging for the 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Gift Set is a deluxe magnet box package containing a Steelbook with Flux Capacitor artwork housing all eight discs (unfortunately, the discs are stacked on top of each other); a “Movies Anywhere” Digital code for all three films on a paper insert; and a 64-page Back to the Future: A Visual History booklet featuring an overview of the franchise by Michael Klastorin and Randal Atamaniuk, an introduction by Bob Gale, and various photos, storyboards, and memorabilia. Also included is a menagerie of some very neat swag items, including an “OUTATIME” metal license plate, a Gibson Mini Guitar replica, and a large folder full of replica items from the three films: a “Save the Clocktower” advert (with Jennifer’s phone number on the back), Doc’s original Flux Capacitor drawing, Doc’s 3-page Western Union letter to Marty, a double-sided USA Today featuring different headlines on either side, a Jaws 19 fold-out poster, George McFly’s A Match Made in Space novel cover, Marty’s “Do Not Open Until 1985” letter in its accompanying envelope, a prom photo of George and Lorraine, a photo of Doc and Marty in 1885 in front of the clock, Marty’s tardy slip (where’s Jennifer’s?), a 20 dollar Biff bill, a receipt for the Grays Sports Almanac from Blast From the Past, a set of California tags for the DeLorean, and a lenticular photo of Marty, Dave, and Linda disappearing from the picture. Last is a numbered certificate of authenticity with Robert Zemeckis’ and Bob Gale’s signatures.
Bill had previously predicted that the previous “Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy Ultra HD release” may be “...quite possibly the last time we’ll see them released on physical media.” As one of Universal’s all-time reigning film franchises, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I guess we’ll see in another five years if they have anything else up their sleeves to continue to celebrating it. Most fans would love to see all of the unseen footage of Eric Stoltz shot for the first film, but being that only minor snippets and photos have officially been released, it’s not very likely. It’s also a shame that the entire Animated Series seems to be relegated to the 2015 Back to the Future: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray boxed set. Regardless, this is still the ultimate release of the Back to the Future trilogy on UHD. To quote Bill further, “the image quality here isn’t quite perfect, but it’s definitely fair to say that these films have never looked or sounded better. Recommended.”
- Bill Hunt and Tim Salmons
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)
(You can follow Tim on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd. And be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel here.)