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Back to the Future is celebrating its 40th anniversary with several new 4K Blu-ray box sets and collectible editions on October 14. The ever-popular Ultimate Trilogy will be replaced by the 40th Anniversary Trilogy, a box set with over nine hours of bonus features, including new retrospective featurettes on the original 1985 classic. The 40th Anniversary Trilogy also has an Amazon-exclusive Steelbook Gift Set edition with some unique collectibles like a replica mini Gibson guitar. Unsurprisingly, the $150 Gift Set sold out in approximately 10 minutes, but at the time of writing, it’s back in stock at Amazon with a purchasing limit of one per customer.
By the time you read this, there’s a good chance the Limited Edition Gift Set is gone again. The good news is that all three Back to the Future films are getting 4K Blu-ray Steelbook Editions as part of the anniversary celebration.
Back to the Future: 40th Anniversary Editions
Preorders for Back to the Future’s Limited Edition Steelbook are live now for $35 at Amazon. You can consider this the 40th Anniversary Edition, as it includes the new bonus features found in the box sets. If you are one of the many Back to the Future fans who own the Ultimate Trilogy–it was just reissued in June 2024, after all–you can get all the new on-disc content and a fancy display case for the best film in the trilogy for $35 instead of spending $56 on the 40th Anniversary Trilogy Box Set.
The Steelbook Editions for Back to the Future II and Back to the Future III are available to preorder for $30 each. The $5 savings likely stems from these two films not bringing anything new to the table beyond their steelbook cases–though the cases sure do look nice.
$35 | Releases October 14
Back to the Future’s new Steelbook Edition is a three-disc set with 4K Blu-ray, 1080p, and digital versions of the movie. The third disc is strictly for the extensive collection of bonus features.
The front cover shows Marty McFly staring at his watch (yet again) and the DeLorean Time Machine is seen speeding toward the iconic Back to the Future logo. All three cases remix the original movie posters with memorable snapshots from the movies. The interior artwork recreates one of the letters Marty writes to Doc Brown in Lou’s Cafe as well as the newspaper clipping about saving the clock tower and other notes and documents from the movie.
Here’s the list of brand-new special features that are exclusive to the new Back to the Future Steelbook Edition and 40th Anniversary Trilogy box sets.
Back to the Future: New 40th Anniversary Special Features
- 40 Years Later: Reflecting on Back to the Future
- Back to Hill Valley
- Untold Stories of Back to the Future
- TCM Classic Film Festival Panel
- A Mystery in History
Co-writer and producer Bob Gale reflects on the cultural impact of the films in one of the new documentaries. There’s a tour of the location that was used to create the town of Hill Valley in the movies, crew members share untold stories of the production, and there’s even a featurette about tracking down one of the iconic props from the first movie. All of the bonus content from previous 4K and 1080p releases is included, too. We’ve included that list with the 40th Anniversary Trilogy collection.
$30 | Releases October 14
Back to the Future II is generally considered the weakest entry in the series, with most fans favoring either the first or third movie. It also happens to have the smallest list of bonus features. Unlike the other two movies in the trilogy, Back to the Future II doesn’t need an extra disc just for special features. It still comes with 4K, 1080p, and digital versions of the film, and the case art is awesome.
Back to the Future 2: Special Features
- Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Q&A Commentary: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Tales from the Future: Time Flies
- The Physics of Back to the Future
- The Making of Back to the Future Part II
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter Two
- Production Design
- Storyboarding
- Designing the DeLorean
- Designing Time Travel
- Hoverboard Test
- Evolution of Visual Effects Shots
- Photo Galleries
- Theatrical trailer
- Outtakes
- Deleted scenes
$30 | Releases October 14
Like the first movie, Back to the Future 3 comes with 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and digital editions of the movie as well as an extra Blu-ray dedicated to an extensive list of bonus features. You’ll notice near the bottom of the list that you get two episodes of Back to the Future: The Animated Series. If you want to watch every episode, you can grab the four-disc DVD box set for only $10.88 (was $17).
Back to the Future 3’s selection of bonus content was already very impressive as is
Back to the Future 3: Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Tales from the Future: Third Time’s the Charm
- Tales from the Future: The Test of Time
- The Making of Back to the Future Part III
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter Three
- The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy
- Designing the Town of Hill Valley
- Designing the Campaign
- Photo Galleries
- Theatrical trailer
- Outtakes
- Back to the Future: The Ride
- 2015 Message from Doc Brown
- 2015 Commercials
- ZZ Top “”Doubleback” Music Video
- FAQs about the Trilogy
- The Hollywood Museum Goes Back to the Future
- Back to the Future: The Musical Behind the Scenes
- An Alternate Future: Lost Audition Tapes
- Could You Survive the Movies? Back to the Future
- Doc Brown Saves the World
- OUTATIME: Restoring the DeLorean
- Looking Back to the Future
- 2 Episodes from Back to the Future: The Animated Series
You’ll notice at the bottom of the list that two episodes of Back to the Future: The Animated Series are included as bonus features. If you want to watch every episode, you can grab The Complete Animated Series on DVD for only $10.88 (was $17).
$56 | Releases October 14
As mentioned, if you already own the Ultimate Trilogy, you may simply want to grab the Steelbook Edition of the first movie. Unless you really want the new 40th Anniversary Trilogy display box. The plastic cases for each movie have the same cover art as existing 4K Blu-ray editions, including the ones found in the Ultimate Trilogy.
If you own the Back to the Future Trilogy on 4K Blu-ray, you are already familiar with the high-quality, native 4K restorations. But if you haven’t watched the trilogy on 4K, you’re in for a treat. All three movies support Dolby Vision and even HDR10+, which isn’t all too common. With Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 surround sound, Huey Lewis and the News really shine when they perform their signature track, The Power of Love.
All told, the 40th Anniversary Trilogy is an eight-disc collection with over nine hours of bonus content. All of the special features listed under each Steelbook Edition are included. As mentioned, the 1985 original has plenty of other extras beyond the five new featurettes and panels. Here’s the rest of the list:
Back to the Future (1985) Additional Bonus Features:
- Q&A commentary with director Robert Zemeckis and producer Bob Gale
- Feature commentary with producers Neil Canton and Bob Gale
- The Making of Back To The Future
- Making The Trilogy: Chapter One
- Tales From The Future: In the Beginning
- Tales From The Future: Time to go
- Tales From The Future: Keeping Time
- Back to the Future Night
- Michael J. Fox Q&A
- Original Makeup tests
- Nuclear Test Site Sequence
- Huey Lewis and the News: “The Power of Love” Music Video
- Deleted Scenes with optional commentary with Bob Gale
- Outtakes
- Theatrical trailer
- Photo Galleries
- Back to the Future: 40th Anniversary Trilogy (8 Discs)
- Gibson Mini Guitar Replica and Pick
- Flux Capacitor Steelbook Case
- Back to the Future: A Visual History Booklet
- OUTATIME Metal License Plate
- Lenticular photo of Marty, Dave, and Linda McFly
- Jaws 19 Mini Movie Poster
- Sports Almanac Receipt
- Marty’s Letter to Doc
- Book Jacket for A Match Made in Space by George McFly
- USA Today Cover
- 1985 Photo
- Biff Dollar
- Flux Capacitor Sketch
- George & Lorraine Photo
- Save the Clock Tower Flyer
- Western Union Letter
- Numbered Certificate of Authenticity
- Collector’s Box
For more Back to the Future collectibles, check out the Lego Icons: Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine for $166 (was $200) at Amazon. This replica of Doc Brown’s signature ride is a a 3-in-1 set that allows you to construct all three iterations of the famous vehicle.
The car has working gull-wing doors, a lightning rod ready to receive 1.21 gigawatts of power–but please don’t stand outside in a storm with it–a detailed interior, a flux capacitor light brick, and an optional Mr. Fusion energy reactor. If you want to recreate the DeLorean from Back to the Future 2, you can fold up the wheels, or apply several other extra parts to replicate its look from Back to the Future 3. It also comes with two minifigures of Doc Brown and Marty McFly.
