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Back to the Future Part III
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==Reception== ===Box office=== The film grossed $23 million in its first weekend of U.S. release and $87.6 million altogether in U.S. box office receipts (or about ${{Inflation|US-GDP|87.666629|1990|r=1}} million adjusted as of {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|US-GDP}}) β $246 million worldwide.<ref>{{cite news|first=Pat H.|last=Broeske|title='Back to Future III' a Fast Draw Against 'Fire Birds' Movies: Memorial weekend opening is no contest. 'Future III' takes $23.7 million, while 'Birds' takes $6.3 million.|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=May 30, 1990|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-30-ca-166-story.html|access-date=November 16, 2010|archive-date=July 9, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709115442/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-05-30/entertainment/ca-166_1_future-iii/2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/series/BacktotheFuture.php|title=Box Office History for Back to the Future Movies|website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=November 28, 2010|archive-date=November 7, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107152235/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/series/BacktotheFuture.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='Recall' Totally Outdistances 'Future' in Box-Office Race Movies: Schwarzenegger's sci-fi flick opens with $25.5 million. But it only just edges the 'Turtles' ' $25.3-million record.|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 15, 1993|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-05-ca-641-story.html|access-date=November 30, 2010|archive-date=November 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104021022/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-06-05/entertainment/ca-641_1_box-office|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Critical response=== {{Rotten Tomatoes prose |score=79 |count=48 |average=6.8 |consensus=''Back to the Future Part III'' draws the trilogy to a satisfying close with a simpler, sweeter round of time-travel antics.|ref=yes |access-date=December 15, 2024}} {{Metacritic film prose |score=55|count=19 |ref=yes |access-date=February 17, 2020 }} Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "Aβ" on an A+ to F scale, same as the second installment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemascore.com|title=Find CinemaScore|format=Type "Back to the Future" in the search box|publisher=[[CinemaScore]]|access-date=February 17, 2020|archive-date=January 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102130540/https://www.cinemascore.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Kim Newman]] of ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' gave the film four out of five stars, saying that the film "restores heart interest of the first film and has a satisfying complete storyline". He praised Michael J. Fox for "keeping the plot on the move" and mentioned that Christopher Lloyd and Mary Steenburgen's romance was "funny". He said that the film's ending was the "neatest of all" and it "features one of the best time machines in the cinema, promising that this is indeed the very last in the series and neatly wrapping it up for everybody".<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Newman | first=Kim | author-link=Kim Newman | title=Back to the Future: Part III | url=http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132359 | magazine=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] | access-date=August 30, 2012 | archive-date=September 25, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925164620/http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132359 | url-status=live}}</ref> [[Leonard Maltin]] preferred the film to the first two, giving it three-and-a-half stars out of four, praising the film as great fun, special effects and imagination, also saying that the movie magic works in the film.<ref>Maltin, Leonard (2008), p. 78. ''Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide''. [[Signet Books]].</ref> Michael McWhertor of the website ''[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]'' wrote that while the film was not better than the original entry in the series, it is nonetheless "leagues better than the second"; he praised the film's comedic and romantic elements, and commended Thomas F. Wilson's performance as "Mad Dog" Tannen.<ref>{{cite web |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=October 21, 2015 |title=Back to the Future Part 3 is perfect (and better than Part 2) |url=http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/21/9583662/back-to-the-future-3-is-perfect |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |access-date=June 23, 2016 |archive-date=June 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160608084638/http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/21/9583662/back-to-the-future-3-is-perfect |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars. He said that the film's western motifs are "a sitcom version that looks exactly as if it were built on a [[Back lot (film)|back lot]] somewhere".<ref>{{cite web | first=Roger | last=Ebert | author-link=Roger Ebert | url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/back-to-the-future-part-iii-1990 | title=Back to the Future Part III review | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date=May 25, 1990 | access-date=September 28, 2022 | url-status=live | archive-date=September 28, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928144950/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/back-to-the-future-part-iii-1990}}</ref> Although [[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised Christopher Lloyd's performance in the film, he also said that the film "looks as if it could be the beginning of a continuing television series". He complained that the film is "so sweet-natured and bland that it is almost instantly forgettable".<ref>{{cite web | last=Canby | first=Vincent | author-link=Vincent Canby | title=A Trilogy Whose Future Has Passed | url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE0DF1F38F936A15756C0A966958260 | work=[[The New York Times]]| date=May 25, 1990 | access-date=August 30, 2012}}</ref> Commentators noticed parallels between ''Part III'' and the film ''[[Time After Time (1979 film)|Time After Time]]'' (1979).<ref name="mix979fm">{{cite web|url=http://mix979fm.com/what-ties-these-five-time-travel-movies-together-video/|title=What Ties These Five Time-Travel Movies Together? β [Video]|author=Spencer Bennett|website=mix979fm.com|date=November 2, 2015|quote=I was noticing the time-traveling ties between 'Time After Time' (1979) and another movie 'Back to the Future III' (1990), a film also starring Mary Steenburgen. In 'Time After Time', she played Amy Robbins, a 20th Century woman who falls in love with a time traveller, H.G. Wells (played by Malcolm McDowell) from the 19th Century.... In Back to the Future Part III (1990), she played Clara Clayton, a 19th Century woman who falls in love with a time traveller, (played by Christopher Lloyd) from the 20th Century.|access-date=February 20, 2019|archive-date=February 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220062955/http://mix979fm.com/what-ties-these-five-time-travel-movies-together-video/|url-status=live}}</ref> Mary Steenburgen has said: <blockquote>Actually, I've played the same scene in that film [''Time After Time''] and in [''Back to the Future Part III'']β¦. I've had a man from a different time period tell me that he's in love with me, but he has to go back to his own time. My response in both cases is, of course, disbelief, and I order them out of my life. Afterwards, I find out I was wrong and that, in fact, the man is indeed from another time, and I go after him (them) to profess my love. It's a pretty strange feeling to find yourself doing the same scene, so many years apart, for the second time in your career.<ref name="steenburgen">{{cite web|url=http://www.backtothefuture.com/cast/mary-steenburgen/bttf3|title=Mary Steenburgen ("Clara Clayton Brown")|website=backtothefuture.com|access-date=February 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220062831/http://www.backtothefuture.com/cast/mary-steenburgen/bttf3|archive-date=February 20, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote> The casting of Steenburgen for ''Back to the Future Part III'' appears to be deliberately intended to mirror the earlier role.<ref name="rejects">{{cite web|url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/10-movies-to-watch-after-you-see-back-to-the-future-part-iii-48cdeba9e793/|title=10 Movies to Watch After You See Back to the Future Part III|author=Christopher Campbell|website=filmschoolrejects.com|date=October 21, 2015|quote=Steenburgen was sought to play Clara in part based on her role in this movie where she plays the love interest of another time traveller. Instead of a man from the future who is a fan of a famed 19th century sci-fi and fantasy author, her leading man is from the past and an actual famed 19th century sci-fi and fantasy author, H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell)... he brings Steenburgen's character back to his own time period, just as Doc does with Clara.|access-date=February 20, 2019|archive-date=February 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220062944/https://filmschoolrejects.com/10-movies-to-watch-after-you-see-back-to-the-future-part-iii-48cdeba9e793/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="thefilmbox" /> In ''Time After Time'', the woman lives in the 20th century and the time traveler is from the 19th. In ''Back to the Future Part III'', the woman inhabits the 19th century and the time traveler is from the 20th.<ref name="thefilmbox">{{cite web|url=https://thefilmbox.org/ultimate-facts/ultimate-facts-back-to-the-future-part-iii/|title=Ultimate Facts: back to the Future Part III|website=thefilmbox.org|quote=The role of Clara Clayton was written specifically for Mary Steenburgen. β In the film, Clara Clayton is a 19th Century woman who falls in love with a time traveler from the 20th Century. In Time After Time (1979), Mary Steenburgen played Amy Robbins, a 20th Century woman who falls in love with a time traveler from the 19th Century.Century.|access-date=February 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818032206/https://thefilmbox.org/ultimate-facts/ultimate-facts-back-to-the-future-part-iii/|archive-date=August 18, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> ===Accolades=== In 1990, the film won a [[Saturn Award for Best Music]] for [[Alan Silvestri]] and a [[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor (Film)|Best Supporting Actor award]] for Thomas F. Wilson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#film |title=Past Saturn Awards |publisher=[[Saturn Award|The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films]] |access-date=November 28, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404160758/http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#selective |archive-date=April 4, 2007}}</ref> In 2003, it received an AOL Movies DVD Premiere Award for Best Special Edition of the Year, an award based on consumer online voting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/awards|title=Back to the Future awards|website=[[IMDb]]|access-date=November 28, 2010|archive-date=March 27, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040327034133/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/awards|url-status=live}}</ref>
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