<Li> Elisabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker </Li> <Li> Flea as Douglas J. Needles </Li> <P> The origins of the western theme for Back to the Future Part III lie in the production of the original film . During filming for the original, director Zemeckis asked Michael J. Fox what time period he would like to see . Fox replied that he wanted to visit the Old West and meet cowboys . Zemeckis and writer / producer Bob Gale were intrigued by the idea, but held it off until Part III . Rather than use existing sets, the filmmakers built the 1885 Hill Valley from scratch . The western scenes were filmed on location in Monument Valley . Some of the location shooting for the 1885 Hill Valley was done in Jamestown, California, and on a purpose - built set at the Red Hills Ranch near Sonora, California . Some of the train scenes were filmed at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, a heritage line in Jamestown . Whereas the original film played to a more materialistic idea of success, Zemeckis considered Part III more of a "human journey" with spiritual overtones . </P> <P> The shooting of the Back to the Future sequels, which were shot back - to - back throughout 1989, reunited much of the crew of the original . The films were shot over the course of 11 months, save for a three - week hiatus between filming of Parts II and III . The most grueling part was editing Part II while filming Part III, and Zemeckis bore the brunt of the process over a three - week period . While Zemeckis was shooting most of the train sequences in Sonora, Gale was in Los Angeles supervising the final dub of Part II . Zemeckis would wrap photography and board a private plane to Burbank, where Gale and engineers would greet him on the dubbing stage with dinner . He would oversee the reels completed that day, and make changes where needed . Afterwards, he would retire to the Sheraton Universal Hotel for the night . The following morning, Zemeckis would drive to the Burbank Airport, board a flight back to the set in Northern California, and continue to shoot the film . </P>

Where was back to the future three filmed