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
Back to the Future Part II arrived in 1989 from Universal Pictures, the rare sequel that raised the stakes of a beloved original rather than coasting on it. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and released at the height of the franchise's cultural dominance, it pushed Marty McFly and Doc Brown into a speculative 2015, weaving time travel paradoxes into a story that became a touchstone for how pop culture imagines the future. Its ambition and technical achievement cemented the trilogy's lasting place in American film history.
This cell centers on Marty McFly, the character audiences followed across three films as the anchor of the entire saga. Collectors seek him out because he represents the franchise's emotional throughline, the ordinary teenager thrust into extraordinary circumstances across decades of story. A cell bearing his name alone, without further scene description, invites the viewer to consider him simply as presence, a frame of film preserving his part in this specific chapter of the journey.
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; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area.
Edge print
Edge text reads 'TX ELM 34+2' along the top edge; the number '42' appears at the bottom corner, reading reversed, indicating emulsion-up orientation.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-green tint typical of safety acetate or polyester stock; dye image reads as warm and saturated with no visible fading.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the setting and costuming are consistent with Back to the Future Part II (1989).
Era check
The variable-area optical track, warm saturated dye image, and edge coding style are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1980s.
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 000064133
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
