Leslie Nielsen, hot off the first Naked Gun movie but before he became stuck in ever decreasing spoofs, was still respectable enough to host this Back to the future 'event' on NBC in late 1989, as a Special Friday Night at the movies presentation of Bttf is followed by an exclusive sneak preview of part 2. Known as 'Paradox' during production, this alternate title is prominently displayed on clapper boards and stage doors during the behind the scenes footage. The first segment of this special is basically a repeat of the 1985 Making of Back to the Future TV special, starting on the opening shot of that movie and Robert Zemeckis' line 'I hope people won't think it's a movie about clocks'. The older feature gets new narration from Nielsen with that deep brown voice of his. As these two films are even more intertwined than most sequels, it is only natural Leslie keeps referring back to the first movie even when talking about the second. As far as time traveling goes, the alternate 1985 (or 1985 A) and the return to 1955 are briefly touched upon in the first half, but so as not to spoil too much of the plot, the bulk of it centers on the creation of the 2015 version of Hill Valley, You could say we learn about the movie back to front.
All the different versions of the main characters (wearing thick layers of 'Dick Tracy' style makeup) and the courthouse square (which we witness being refurnished and a filled with water) are laid bare for the viewing public. We get some insight into duplication paradoxes from Leslie and Doc Brown (footage from the movie, Chris Lloyd is too shy to do interviews as himself). Cruising the 2015 set, Leslie introduces to one of the most important characters in the films: the Delorean and puts his watch into Mr. Fusion to power the Flux capacitor, before getting a ticket from a futuristic cop. Zemeckis, who like any good magician always tries to keep his tricks a secret, mentions that every type of special effect known to man was used to make the Delorean fly, then starts lying through his teeth about Hoverboards actually existing (his enormous grin gives him away though). Near the end Leslie finds the hover boards don't work for him though, and drives off in the Delorean. About six months later, to accompany the release of Part 3, "The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy" (hosted by Kirk Cameron) finally revealed the wire work used to make the hover boards work.
8 out of 10
