Netflix Just Lost an Iconic Movie Trilogy

This is heavy, Doc. The Back to the Future trilogy is no longer available on Netflix. The beloved movie trilogy left the streaming platform again on Wednesday, June 30. This means fans of the series can only relive the adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown by renting them on VOD platforms. Universal Pictures has also released the films countless times on home video, most recently on 4K UHD in October 2020. The Back to the Future movies also often return to Netflix, so they could be back soon.

All three Back to the Future movies star Michael J. Fox as Marty and Christopher Lloyd as Doc. In the original 1985 film, Marty accidentally goes back to 1955, where he ruins his parents' first meeting and puts his very existence in danger. In Back to the Future Part II (1989), Marty makes a critical error during a trip to 2015 that changes the timeline. In Back to the Future Part III (1990), Marty goes back to the Old West to save Doc. All three films were directed by Robert Zemeckis, who wrote the scripts with Bob Gale. Steven Spielberg was a producer on the trilogy.

The three films returned to Netflix on May 1. The films were also available for a few months in 2020. When they joined Netflix that time, some eagle-eyed fans noticed that there was a very sloppy edit in Back to the Future Part II, but it was quickly resolved. During one scene in the movie, Marty thought he got the sports almanac back from Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) only to find out that Biff used the dust jacket to cover his copy of Ooh La La magazine. This shot, vital to the climax of the movie, was briefly missing. It was eventually reinstated.

Although the original Back to the Future celebrated its 36th anniversary in 2021, it still remains one of the most beloved movie franchises ever made. Lloyd, who played Doc Brown, even starred in a Discovery+ series called Expedition: Back to the Future, in which he joined Expedition Unknown host Josh Gates to find a screen-used DeLorean DMC-12. The series was released in March and featured guest appearances from Fox, Lea Thompson, and James Tolkan.

When promoting the new show, Lloyd said one reason the films still connect with audiences has nothing to do with time traveling. At the heart of the film, Gale and Zemeckis crafted a relateable family story. "Back to the Future, it's Michael J. Fox, his mom, and dad," Lloyd told TooFab. "It's a family picture and they go through some surprising times themselves. All families have that in one way or another. You know everyone relates to that. Everybody relates to Michael J. Fox as a teenager, going through school."

It's also worth noting that the Back to the Future franchise is one of the few that will never see a reboot or another sequel. In an October 2020 interview with Collider, Gale said they told a "complete story" in the original trilogy and also said there is no way to make a BTTF movie without Fox as Marty. Gale also explained that he and Zemeckis have a deal with producer Steven Spielberg that makes it impossible to make another movie without their involvement.

"We didn't want to be those guys who did a movie that was basically a money grab," Gale said. "Universal says to us, 'You'd guys would make a whole lot of money,' but we're like, 'Well, we've already made a whole lot of money with these movies, and we like them just the way they are. And as proud parents, we're not going to sell our kids into prostitution.'"