‘Back To The Future’ Trilogy Gets New 40th Anniversary Steelbook 4K Blu-Ray Release—With Over 90 Minutes Of New Bonus Features

As with alarmingly many 4K Blu-ray release announcements these days, the revelation today that a Back To The Future 4K Blu-ray 40th Anniversary extravaganza is being unleashed in October has got me feeling seriously old. It’s hard to remain downbeat about becoming a grumpy old fart for long, though, when the thing that’s aging you involves lots of lovely steelbook-encased, bonus feature-packed, 4K HDR-toting discs of some of the best films of your youth.

Set to hit stores on October 14, Universal’s Back To the Future 4K Blu-ray offerings will be available in three separate editions. The highlight for fans of the films and 4K disc collectors will undoubtedly be the Back To The Future Trilogy – 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Gift Set. This gorgeous looking package will include all three films in 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and Digital forms, packaged with a collectible Flux Capacitor Steelbook, an exclusive Gibson Mini Guitar replica, a beautiful OUTATIME metal license plate, a Back To The Future: A Visual History booklet, and an assortment of replica items from Universal’s archives. As you can see from the exploded image of this Gift Set’s contents below, Universal really does seem to have gone the extra mile for fans on this one.

Back To The Future’s 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Gift Set really does look the business.

Photo: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

If you can’t stretch to the Limited Edition Gift Set (or they’re sold out before you can get hold of one), there will also be a standard Back To The Future 40th Anniversary Trilogy boxset again containing all three films in 4K Blu-ray, HD Blu-ray and digital forms. Or if you’d prefer to just buy the film’s separately, all three will be available in individual Limited Edition Steelbook editions.

Universal’s celebration of the Back To The Future films isn’t just reflected in their packaging, though. The studio has also managed to put together more than 90 minutes worth of never seen before bonus content for the 40th Anniversary releases. The new extras include:

• 40 Years Later: Reflecting on the Future – Co-writer/producer Bob Gale reflects on the legacy and cultural impact of the films.
• Back to Hill Valley – Join Bob Gale along with Donald Fullilove (“Mayor Goldie Wilson”) as they revisit and discuss some of the most iconic filming locations.
• Untold Stories of Back to the Future – Journey back in time with crew members as they share their personal stories from the set.
• TCM Classic Film Festival Panel – Bob Gale, cinematographer Dean Cundey, and stunt double Charlie Croughwell reunite at the 40^th anniversary premiere.
• A Mystery in History – Discover the rich history of the Gibson guitar Marty McFly plays at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance and hear from the cast as they rally fans to help find the iconic prop that’s been missing for 40 years.

These 4K Blu-ray collection finds these new features joined by an extensive (nine hours worth!) suite of legacy bonus features, including:

• Tales from THE FUTURE: 6-Part Documentary
• Deleted Scenes (Commentary by Producer Bob Gale available)
• An Alternate Future: Lost Audition Tapes
• The Hollywood Museum Goes BACK TO THE FUTURE
• BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL Behind the Scenes
• Could You Survive the Movies? BACK TO THE FUTURE
• OUTATIME: Restoring the DeLorean
• Looking BACK TO THE FUTURE
• The Physics of BACK TO THE FUTURE with Dr. Michio Kaku
• Huey Lewis and the News “The Power of Love” Music Video
• ZZ Top “Doubleback” Music Video
• BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Ride
• Archival Featurettes
• Behind the Scenes
• 2015 Message from Doc Brown
• 2015 Commercials
• BACK TO THE FUTURE: The Animated Series (2 Episodes)
• Michael J. Fox Q&A
• FAQs About the Trilogy
• Theatrical Trailers
• Q&A Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis and Producer Bob Gale
• Feature Commentary with Producers Bob Gale and Neil Canton

Turning to the quality of the 4K Blu-ray presentations of the films, the first thing that jumped out at me is that they will all be available in both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR formats, with Dolby Atmos sound mixes. Supporting both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ on a 4K Blu-ray is a rare but much appreciated move that means no matter what brand of TV you own (for instance, LG and Sony TVs support Dolby Vision but not HDR10+, while Samsung TVs support HDR10+ but not Dolby Vision) you will be able to benefit from the extra scene by scene picture information Dolby Vision and HDR10+ provide.

All three films are going to be mastered onto 100GB discs, too, rather than the 66GB alternative. This should give the video mastering for each film, all of which have sub two hour run times, plenty of room to breathe, reducing the amount of video compression that needs to take place.

Universal’s Back To The Future 40th Anniversary celebrations aren’t limited to home video. The studio has also revealed that on October 31 it will be re-releasing the first film into theaters for a limited release in premium large-screen formats, including Dolby Cinema, 4DX and D-Box. Awesome. Now if only there was some kind of time machine that could transport us to October 14 and October 31 already…

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