Yes, you SHOULD watch parts one and two before you move on to this final episode in the trilogy.

We begin with an overlap from the ending of Part II. The year is 1955. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is hanging out at the home of his friend, Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd). Marty needs to get back to his own time of 1985. But the last time he saw the Doc of 1985, his friend was trying to navigate the Delorean time machine during a thunderstorm. A bolt of lightning hit the car, and Doc disappeared. It turns out that he went back in time to the year 1885, and he has set himself up as a blacksmith in the early days of Hill Valley. Doc gets word to Marty in 1955 through a message with Western Union. Now Marty and the Doc of 1955 are figuring out a plan to retrieve the car from impromptu storage and to get it running again. At first, their intention is to send Marty home to 1985. But when they find historical documents that show that the Doc of 1885 will soon face serious trouble, Marty decides to go back to the Old West instead, to help that version of Doc instead. Understand?

Unlike the complexity of the second episode, this third entry keeps the time travel to a minimum. Marty soon jumps from 1955 to 1885. We keep our fingers crossed that he will be able to return to 1985 when his mission is done. Doc is facing some trouble with the ancestor of that awful bully, Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson). Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen is an even nastier version of his 20th-century relatives and, once again, a Tannen does his best to muck everything up. Marty also runs into his own ancestral family in 1885: Seamus and Maggie McFly, along with their young son, William. He gets a few insights into the lives of his Irish immigrant ancestors.

Once again, the main cast members are called upon to play "other" characters. Fox also portrays his ancestor, Seamus. Lea Thompson is Seamus’s wife, Maggie. Wilson plays all of the members of the Tannen family, no matter the timeline. James Tolkan comes back as lawman Marshall Strickland, the obvious ancestor of the Hill Valley High School principal who gave both Marty and his father George a hard time in the hallways. Classic western character actors show up in the saloon scenes, too. You’ll recognize Dub Taylor and Pat Buttram (Mr. Haney from Green Acres) when you see them and hear them. A welcome addition is Mary Steenburgen, who plays Clara Clayton, the new schoolteacher in Hill Valley, whose appearance completely changes the trajectory of the story.

Once again, we get good music. The first time you watch this movie, you might be pleasantly surprised to see ZZ Top performing their song "Doubleback" on the western stage. We get more of the 1980s with "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis & the News as part of the original theme music.

A few unexpected and amusing jabs are made at the expense of actor Clint Eastwood. He appears in name only, yet this IS a western. He belongs here, somehow.

I believe the producers tried too hard to outdo themselves in the second episode. Their choices eventually made sense. And a few of those references linger here. But THIS movie is much easier and more amusing to watch. And so is the first episode.

Back to the Future: Part III can put us sitting on the edges of our seats again, clenching our teeth and our hands, wondering if the plan Doc and Marty have put into place will really work. The result is a very satisfying ending to the whole trilogy. I highly recommend that you treat yourself to a private Back to the Future marathon on some upcoming weekend. Cue up all three episodes. And maybe you should plan to go out for pizza in the middle of Part II.