Sunday, February 3, 2019

'Outatime' DVD: Campaign to Restore & Preserve 'Back to the Future' DeLorean

The prominent aspect of time travel in the Virgil Films documentary "Outatime: Saving the DeLorean Time Machine" excuses writing about the July 2016 DVD release of this film in February 2019. The starting point (no pun intended) is the Unreal TV post on the FANTABULOUS limited-edition Flux Capacitor Blu-ray set of the "Back to the Future" Trilogy.

The below YouTube clip of a trailer for "Outatime" wonderfully expresses the infectious and/or highly relatable elan of the restoration team. This is especially true regarding those of us adequately ancient to get hooked on the "Future" franchise during the initial releases of the films. 

The relevant detour into Blogland begins with being relatively bored when a friend invites me to see "Future" at a second-run theater. The exceeded expectations are indescribable. 

The noteworthy memory regarding "II" relates to needing roads where I am going to see it on the premiere date. Said driving surfaces being very snowy and icy to the point of still going despite repeatedly skidding out and getting stuck in snowbanks greatly speaks to the love of the franchise. The strong reaction (complete with a hand gesture) to the cliffhanger at the end also reflects the extent of the obsession with the adventures of the original "Rick and Morty."


This equally entertaining and educational documentary begins with a behind-the-scenes look at the role of the car/time machine in the films; this goes on to the tragic tale of Universal Studios initially leaving the flagship "A" car completely exposed to the elements for years and then not doing much better by merely putting it under a carport. This mistreatment exposes the car to weather-related harm and pilfering by fans. Literally leaving the key in the ignition is a Biff move. 

The most interesting talking head from this portion of "Outatime" is the '90s-era studio portrayor of time-machine inventor Doc Brown. This eye witness provides an awesome "you are there" perspective; this is not to mention his perfect impression of the unique voice of that character. 

This background information sets the stage for the central story of the film; Project head/compulsive taskmaster Joe Walser and his volunteers have one year to restore what is beyond a s**tbox to perfect working condition. Walser DEMANDING even that screws that no one will see and that aluminum tubing that hugs the car be 100-percent authentic illustrates his virtually impossible standards and the incredible tolerance of his crew. One can be certain that no strawberries are pilfered in the course of this project. 

Much of the humor of the film relates to a strong sense that Walser should surrender regarding some battles. This includes having the team strip black paint off a once-silver piece of the car. Using the original paint to restore the "factory" appearance of the part is within the realm of reasonableness; having the unpaid workers with a challenging deadline remove the black paint is one of many instances in which one wonders if Walser constantly washes his hands and regularly worries if he has turned off the lights and unplugged the iron before leaving home. 

Fanboys also will rejoice regarding the active involvement of "Future" co-writer and producer Bob Gale; his important contributions include using his star power to persuade fans with "borrowed" parts to donate them to the cause. Though the "owner" of a critically important component of the DeLorean pulls the phallic move of making Team Walser literally bid on that part, a not-so-guilty confession is that the group would have been SOL if your not-so-humble reviewer had anything from the car.

One of the more insightful segments relates to the fan favorite "Mr. Fusion" component. We learn about the legacy of Universal sloppily improvising after the original prop goes missing. The rest of the story is the amusing manner in which the team improvises after the fan who has this piece of film history does not return it. 

The suspense throughout "Outatime" extends well beyond whether our band of brothers can recover the original components or perfectly replicate them; we get caught up in them meeting their deadline just as much as we root for Marty McFly to get the DeLorean up to the magic 88 m.p.h. in time, The modern quest being a real story creates a possibility of a lack of a Hollywood ending. 

The copious DVD bonuses include filmmaker Steve Concotelli hosting the world premiere of "Outatime" at a place with a strong connection to the "Future" franchise. We also get deleted scenes and an epilogue to the restoration story. 

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