Much of it seems culled from movie trivia sites. (I have done the same, but this was a major publication, and not one of my independently published tomes.) Truly original content is minimum.
The reader gets a thorough recounting of the development and the original process of shooting with Eric Schultz. Back to the Future has the dubious distinction of being mostly reshot with a new actor. Why? The old one wasn't working out. The dedicated Schultz would also not perform a stage punch on Tom Wilson--rather resorting to real strikes--which was cruel and unprofessional. The replacement of Eric Schultz with Michael J. Fox most definitely saved the movie and turned it into the 1980s cinema touchstone that it is.
And there's the mystery of Crispin Glover. This drama ends up being the most interesting part of this book. That Glover was, at the time, the most successful actor on set was intriguing. Stories of his weirdness makes him one of the most well-sketched character in this book. His performance skills were unquestionable; his personal skills were controversial. This is followed by his replacement with struggling actor and Glover-replacement Jeffrey Weisman, who has the misfortune of becoming collateral damage in the fight between the rich and the very rich. The author tries to be fair and balanced, but he also clearly comes down on the Bobs' side: Glover asked for too much money, and he got cut.
The trilogy was life and career changing for all of the leads, for better and worse. It led to Glover being partially blacklisted and Wilson being typecast. There's an excellent recounting of all the things that the series got right about the future--which is now the past--and all the things that it got wrong. Wish they'd done more to warn us about 2015 Biff becoming our President, though.
Much attention is focused on hoverboards. The inspiration for hoverboards. The attempts to build hoverboards. Mattel's shameful knock-offs for hoverboard fans. The horrible injuries caused by hoverboards. I wish we had hoverboards in 2017, and not just two-wheeled douche machines that catch fire.
This might be a must-read for fans, but non-fans probably won't be interested.https://www.amazon.com/We-Dont-Need-Roads-Trilogy/dp/0142181536/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486839414&sr=1-1&keywords=we+don%27t+need+roads+the+making+of+the+back+to+the+future+trilogy
Jeffrey Weissman wrote a one star review on Amazon...
ReplyDelete"Not Worth Going Back" by film buffman on June 25, 2015:
"I've heard a lot of the tales before in this book, and they've been manipulated and re-written by the author to create a partly fictional story that comes off amateurish. It exploits the tragedies and rumors, and it's very much a dime store book, or like watching TMZ."