ROCKLAND — Gotta hand it to the Strand Theatre for going big last night. A few hours before the anticipated screening of Back To The Future on Oct 21, 2015, a rented DeLorean came off a tow truck and was parked on a downtown Rockland sidewalk, right under the theater’s marquis.

Wouldn’t it have been cooler if Main Street had been cordoned off and that thing came whizzing down from the sky at 88 miles an hour?

Crowds lined up 45 minutes before the movie to get a ticket, and the theater was packed when the lights went down. It’s funny to see the movie again after 30 years, particularly the comic beats that got the most audience laughs. Here were two quotes that did:

“Why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?" — Biff Tannen

"Whoa, this is heavy." — Marty McFly
"There's that word again: 'heavy.' Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull?" — Doc

There were three moments in the movie where the audience spontaneously broke out in applause. One was the scene where bully ringleader Biff and his buddies broadsided a manure truck, which dumped all over their convertible. The audience applauded again when George McFly got up the nerve to save Lorraine and punch Biff in the face.

The third, of course, was the tense moment when the lightning struck the old clock tower just as the DeLorean time machine hit 88 miles per hour, sending Marty McFly back to the future.

Well, today is Oct. 22, 2015. It’s all in the past now.

Send us your DeLorean selfies and we’ll post to our gallery!

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com