Back to the Future (1985)

image for Back to the Future (1985)

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Not suitable under 10; parental guidance to 12 (violence, themes, language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Back to the Future (1985)
  • a review of Back to the Future (1985) completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 4 November 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not suitable due to language, themes and violence.
Children aged 10–12 Parental guidance recommended due to language and themes.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Back to the Future (1985)
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, coarse language
Length: 116 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

When eccentric scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) is killed by terrorists, moments after discovering that his car time machine works, teenager Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) accidentally travels back in time from 1985 to 1955, while using the car to escape the terrorists. Stranded in the past without a way to return, Marty seeks out the younger Doc’s help in order to get back to the future.

Things get tricky when Marty tangles with Biff (Thomas F Wilson), the town bully, and they become even complicated when Marty runs into his parents and accidentally disrupts their first meeting, a phenomenon that threatens his own existence as well as that of his siblings. In order to fix the timeline and guarantee his survival, Marty must ensure that his shy father George McFly (Crispin Glover) wins the heart of Lorraine (Lea Thompson), Marty’s future mother who has become infatuated with Marty instead of George.

With time running out and a lightning storm offering the only chance of powering the time machine, Marty races to restore his family’s history and return home. Along the way, he learns valuable lessons about courage and conviction, and in the process helps reshape the future of his family.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Bullying and the abuse of power; The complexities and ethics of time travel; Dysfunctional family dynamics.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Marty is blasted backwards into a shelf by the force of a gigantic speaker. The shelf falls on Marty, covering him with books and papers, and the speaker is broken with a huge hole in the middle.
  • Biff grabs George McFly by the tie and knocks him on the head.
  • Marty and Doc are nearly hit by a car.
  • Doc is shot by Libyan terrorists.
  • Marty is shot at by the same terrorists and chased down the street.
  • Marty hits a scarecrow with his car and crashes into a barn.
  • A farmer repeatedly shoots at Marty with a shotgun.
  • On multiple occasions, Biff knocks on George’s head and slaps him in the face.
  • Marty trips Biff and punches him in the mouth.
  • Biff and his gang chase Marty until they crash their car into a truck full of manure.
  • Biff drags Marty out of a car and four guys punch him, drag him and push him into the trunk of another car.
  • Biff tries to sexually assault Lorraine.
  • Biff shoves Lorraine to the ground and laughs.
  • George punches Biff in the face, knocking him unconscious.
  • Doc nearly falls off a clock tower and is almost electrocuted by a lightning strike.
  • Marty watches terrorists shoot Doc and come after him as he returns to his present time.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

  • Nothing further noted for this age group.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • While not scary, some children may be worried for Doc’s dog who is strapped into a time machine and sent off alone. He disappears and shortly thereafter returns in a frozen car that Doc momentarily struggles to open. The dog is fine.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Kal-Can dog food
  • Nike shoes
  • Toyota
  • The Game of Life
  • JC Penny
  • DeLorean car
  • Burger King
  • Toys R Us
  • TAB
  • Pepsi Free
  • Texaco
  • Bank of America.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Marty says incredulously: “My mother has got the hots for me!”
  • Doc tells Marty: “The only way those two will successfully mate is if you get them together.”
  • When Lorraine declines Biff’s advances he tells her: “You know you want it and you know you want me to give it to you.” To which she replies: “I am not that kind of girl.”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • George watches Lorraine undress from a tree across from her bedroom window. She can be seen wearing only a bra and panties.
  • Biff mauls Lorraine in a car forcing her down as he lays on top of her. She sits up at one point, begging for help.
  • Lorraine kisses Marty.
  • Lorraine and George kiss.
  • Marty and his girlfriend kiss.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Biff grabs a beer from George’s fridge and complains that all he has is light beer.
  • Lorraine holds a bottle of alcohol and is drinking profusely during the day, giving the indication that she may be an alcoholic.
  • Lorraine grabs a bottle of alcohol from her mother’s liquor cabinet and drinks it in the car with Marty. He tells her to go easy on the stuff but takes a swig himself.
  • Lorraine lights up a cigarette and starts smoking in Marty’s car.
  • A character makes a comment about drunk drivers after a car crash.
  • A homeless man is drunk on a park bench clutching a bottle of alcohol.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Shit
  • Hell
  • Damn
  • Slacker
  • Butthead
  • Bastard(s)
  • Mutated son of a bitch!
  • Spook
  • Peckerwood
  • Ass.

In a nutshell

Back to the Future (1985) is a sci-fi adventure featuring a fast-paced, high energy, plot and (for the time) ground-breaking special effects. The film is iconic of the 1980’s and is best suited to teens and up, with parental guidance recommended for ages 10 to 12.

The main messages from this movie are that you can define your own future by the choices you make and the actions you take in the present; and that you should follow your dreams no matter how crazy they may be.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Creativity
  • Persistence
  • Integrity
  • Determination
  • Kindness.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Telling a girl what she wants instead of listening to what she says.
  • The concept of consent and attempting to take, even a kiss, without it.
  • Bullying others.
  • The importance of having respect for and standing up for yourself.