Whatever Happened to the Back to the Future DeLorean?

Back to the Future, released in 1985 mixed up science fiction, adventure and comedy to become a movie which drew millions to the cinema and is still has a special place in the hearts of many to this day. Perhaps the most iconographic of the movie’s props, the actual time machine was a DeLorean DMC-12. It whisked Marty McFly back to 1955 yet what has happened to the car used in the movie? Where did that go after the movies were complete?

To be honest there were seven used all told, but it is thought that only three of these survive. Spanish website Sigue Al Conejo Blanco has tracked down one of the cars featured in the movie to a Madrid workshop. The site has a whole gallery of the car, which appears in tip top condition.  You can see the rest of the gallery by clicking on any of the pictures above or by clicking here.

Things Last

When you do a certain job there is always the possibility that you will be made redundant – that much we all know. The particular job we see the young protagonist of this film doing may not, to all intents and purposes, seem like an interesting one. Yet by performing it he is in fact precipitating his own redundancy. Whether or not he truly realises this is up to you to decide.

Set in the year 2135 this short science fiction movie written and directed by Constant van Hoeven is a grower – I watched it twice and the second time I went from very impressed to blown away. Don’t be bored by the ennui that the young worker demonstrates at the beginning – it is a popular film maker’s ruse to settle you in before something happens!

What I particularly like about Things Last is the integration of CGI and live action which is very well done - for the most part it is difficult to see where the CGI ends and the set begins.

The FX are something else, but credit must also go to Lennart Monaster as Zack (he is named only in the credits). With so much CGI going on all around it is often difficult for actors to convey human emotion when working with a green screen but he does a sterling job, combining post adolescent boredom in his job with youthful naivety (not to mention fear later on) very well.

Now living in New York, van Hoeven was born in the Netherlands and was a student at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy. It was there that he wrote and directed this movie. As both a writer and director he has a number of short films already under his belt as well as movie screenplays.

Coincidentally, the movie you can see Zack watching listlessly on his 22nd century monitor may not seem familiar even though it looks as if it is. It was in fact the thesis of a film student from a previous year – the rights to which van Hoeven was able to acquire swiftly and without much difficulty.

The stats for the project are not quite Hollywood – although they show the place up somewhat. There were twenty plus set builders with the same amount on set for four days. After initial filming five people worked full time for half a year on the CGI – with the help of a couple of dozen computers. Being a student film this – by its very nature – would be produced with the minimum of expenditure, but would you like to guess the overall budget?

Hollywood Execs – if you are reading this – prepare to turn a not so subtle shade of green. The whole project came in at $7,000.

Child's Play

When a child plays his imagination can go in to overdrive.  So is the case here in this marvellous animated short by Pete Duffield.  The boy we find playing here doesn't really care if he mixes and matches characters from various films in to one extended together.  It's almost like a fan boy's dream dome true: Star Wars meets Indiana Jones meets Robocop meets Back to the Future.  All the action takes place in the kitchen - well at least that is the real world location.  In the boy's mind it could be anywhere from Tattoine to Hill Valley via an an isolated island in the Aegean Sea - or even a mix thereof.

As such, those of you of a certain age can sit back and let the nostalgia wash over you - it may even remind you of your own childhood - it is certainly an evocative piece.  See if you agree, but we think the funniest part of the whole thing is when Indiana Jones and a (rather flummoxed) Luke Skywalker meet up.  The result is much as you might expect (or even hope!). Indie never did have much patience...

This is Pete Duffield's longest and most ambitious animation project to date and it took him six weeks (working completely solo) to complete. The voice of the boy is provided by Ryan Duffield, who sounds as if he didn't need too much encouragement to take on the role!  Considering the identical last name of animator and voice artist, we are assuming that the youngster is a younger relative of Mr Duffield.  Altogether this is a charming piece of work - and one which produced huge smiles and laughter all round here at the Old Kuriositas Shop!