British Academy Film Awards — 2 wins, 1 nominationAcademy Awards — 1 nominationKids' Choice Award — 1 nominationSaturn Award — 1 nominationAll 2 wins · 4 nominations on record
British Academy Film Awards: Best Special Visual Effects
Scholarship
Named in the title of 1 peer-reviewed work
Examples
Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Released by Universal Pictures in 1989, Back to the Future Part II arrived as the eagerly awaited sequel to one of the defining blockbusters of the decade. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it pushed the franchise into bold new territory, sending its characters forward to a stylized vision of 2015 and back into the events of the original film. The trilogy's willingness to fold time travel logic into itself, and to reframe earlier footage from new angles, made it a benchmark for ambitious studio filmmaking at the close of the 1980s, cementing the series' place in popular culture well beyond its theatrical run.
This piece preserves the opening card that announces the picture itself, the frame where the film's name first appears on screen before the story unfolds. Such cells are prized by collectors for marking a clean, singular moment of arrival, the threshold between anticipation and narrative. Owning this piece connects directly to the film's identity as a whole, a physical fragment of the exact strip of celluloid audiences saw as the sequel formally announced itself in theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Back to the Future Part II (1989).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-stripe pattern consistent with a stereo optical track.
Edge print
Text along the lower edge reads 'SAFE IA FILM' followed by additional characters that are partially legible; the text appears mirrored, indicating emulsion-up orientation.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a neutral to very slightly warm tint; the dye image appears fully saturated with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible on these three frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames show the same title-card composition, consistent with a title sequence hold, and the logo matches Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
A dual variable-area optical track on 35mm safety stock is consistent with a theatrical release print from 1989, when analogue optical stereo was standard before digital formats were introduced.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000064107
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
