Critical response Following the release of
Back to the Future, Marty received a largely positive response from critics. Vincent Canby of
The New York Times appreciated the comedy in Marty's home life in 1985 and his adventures in 1955 and considered Fox's performance to be funny.
Roger Ebert favorably compared Marty's story arc to
Frank Capra's ''
It's a Wonderful Life, stating that he "begins with one view of his life and reality, and is allowed, through magical intervention, to discover another". Kirk Ellis of The Hollywood Reporter'' made a similar comparison and described Fox's portrayal as "appealing" stating that he was "easily one of the more intelligent-looking young actors to cross a screen recently". Conversely,
Los Angeles Times reviewer Sheila Benson left an unfavorable review, describing Marty as "big on brashness and energy, dangerously low on subtlety". Ray Loynd writing for
Variety enjoyed the "zestful" performance of Fox, describing him as an "Arthurian knight figure" and his rendition of "Johnny B. Goode" as an "audience-grabbing scene". Richard Corliss of
Time responded positively to Marty's heavy metal riff and predicted that viewers would continue to love him for the next 30 years.
Cultural impact and legacy Back to the Future was a commercial success and the
highest grossing film at the box office in 1985. It spawned two sequels and transformed Fox into a box office star. Due to the success and popularity of the film trilogy, Marty McFly is widely considered to be Fox's most celebrated film role. In the decades following the release of
Back to the Future, critics have reflected on the character's impact. Marty McFly was listed as one of the ten greatest sci-fi movie characters of all time by Olly Dyche of
MovieWeb, who described him as "an incredibly cool character" with "enough charm to make anyone swoon". Eric Francisco of
GamesRadar+ ranked him the seventh greatest movie character of the 1980s alongside Doc Brown.
Empire magazine selected him as the 12th greatest movie character of all time.
GQ chose Marty's 1985 clothing as one of the most iconic movie outfits, specifying the "double-denim, the flannel, the iconic red puffer vest". In a retrospective review, Justin Chang in the
Los Angeles Times noted that
Back to the Future is in essence Marty's story, specifically his struggle to control his existence, and considered every other character in the film an "afterthought". Kayla Turner of
Screen Rant counted Marty as one of the film characters that defined the 1980s, describing him as a "timeless cultural icon whose influence extends far beyond the decade". Reflecting on the "Johnny B. Goode" scene in
Back to the Future, Jason Lipshutz of
Billboard described Marty as "one of the most beloved characters in film history". Emily Lackey writing for
Bustle called him a "
pop culture icon". Fox has also been praised for his portrayal of Marty.
The Guardian writer Hadley Freeman attributed much of the timelessness of
Back to the Future to his performance commenting, "His bright-eyed charm and, yes, screwball energy give the film a joyful momentum that makes it an enduring pleasure". Mark Monahan writing for
The Telegraph opined that
Back to the Future would be a poorer film without Fox's "uniquely energetic charm". In a review,
Empires Adam Smith opined that the film established Fox as "the finest light-comedy actor of his generation" and considered his portrayal of Marty as "the most charming screen presence of the 80s". Tom Breihan of
The A. V. Club said that it was difficult to imagine anyone as perfect as Fox in the role of Marty and described him as "small and squinty and breezily charismatic". Critics have paid tribute to a sequence in
Back to the Future in which Marty takes to the stage at the high school dance, grabs a red
Gibson ES-345 and leads a version of Chuck Berry's song "Johnny B. Goode" in front of a crowd of 1950s teenagers. In the film, his performance motivates the character Marvin Berry to call up his cousin and hold up the phone so that he can hear the new sound. Ben Travis of
Empire described the scene as "Marty's coolest moment, channelling all of the actor's own rock star heroes". Gregory Wakeman of
Yahoo! Entertainment considered it to be "arguably the most iconic sequence of the entire movie".
MovieWeb called it "a staple of pop culture with innumerable movies and shows riffing on the scene's premise".
The Hollywood Reporter cited it as the greatest moment in the film. David Browne writing for
Rolling Stone highlighted that the scene could be viewed as problematic, as it implies that Marty, a white teenager, invented
rock and roll and appropriates the music of Chuck Berry. The scene was reproduced in the stage adaptation but altered to remove the telephone conversation. According to Berry's son, Charles Berry Jr., this was not viewed as problematic by his father or himself and he recognized that it was just a movie.
Billboards Jason Lipshutz commented that the scene defined
Back to the Future and epitomised its lead character: "Marty is a freight train, barging into high school gymnasiums and shootouts with terrorists and different dimensions with a hangdog charm and ease of knowing that he can skateboard past his problems."
Complex listed the scene as one of the great moments in movie history. Marty has been influential in popular culture and he has often been referenced in other media.
Morty Smith of the American animated series
Rick and Morty began as a parody of Marty McFly. He was the inspiration for the naming of the English band
McFly.
Tom Holland cited Marty as his main inspiration for
Peter Parker in
Spider-Man: Homecoming. He said, "My goal was to try and kind of be our generation's Marty McFly." Japanese pro wrestler
Kushida has dressed as Marty McFly as part of his ring character. In 2018,
The Great British Bake Off opened a series with a skit involving host
Sandi Toksvig dressed as Marty alongside
Noel Fielding dressed as Doc Brown.
The Daily Dot reported in 2018 that Marty had become an
internet meme, in particular a scene in which he plays heavy rock at the school dance in 1955 and the teenagers fail to appreciate his music. The meme was used to express something considered too far ahead of its time, quoting Marty's response "Guess you're not ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it". In October 2021,
Daniel Craig reenacted a
Back to the Future scene in the role of Marty with
James Corden and
Christopher Lloyd on
The Late Late Show. Season 3 of
Stranger Things includes numerous references to
Back to the Future, including visual homages to the character. In the 2023 film
The Flash, Marty is referenced as a joke when
Barry Allen travels back in time to stop his mother from being murdered and changes history in the process. He is horrified to discover that Marty is portrayed by Stoltz in
Back to the Future instead of Fox. When Fox joined British band
Coldplay on stage at
Glastonbury in 2024,
Chris Martin explained, "The main reason why we're in a band is because of watching
Back to the Future".
Awards and honours For his portrayal of Marty McFly, Fox received several awards and nominations. In 1985, he was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for
Back to the Future. He also won a
Saturn Award for Best Actor in 1985 for the film. In 1986, he won a
Jupiter Award for Best International Actor for the role. ==References==