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 ambitious middle chapter of Robert Zemeckis's trilogy, pushing Marty McFly and Doc Brown from 1985 into a stylized vision of 2015 before doubling back through the original film's own timeline. It expanded the franchise's mythology of time travel, hoverboards, and self-referential paradox, cementing the series as a defining piece of late-eighties studio filmmaking and a touchstone of popular science fiction adventure.
This cell brings together Marty, Doc, Jennifer Parker, and Einstein the dog, gathered under a moment tied to Copernicus, evoking Doc's household as much as his science. It reflects the family and companionship woven through the trilogy's time-hopping chaos, grounding the invention and urgency in something domestic and warm. For collectors, this grouping is prized for uniting the trilogy's core human and canine cast in a single frame, a rare combination that captures the heart beneath the story's mechanics.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Back to the Future Part II.
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 corners are rounded and cleanly formed throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-band analog waveform consistent with a stereo variable-area print.
Edge print
Bottom edge reads (mirrored): 'M3 28 68'; top edge reads (mirrored): 'F1-11 X+Y' or similar alphanumeric code.
Base & colour
Base appears with a blue-cyan tint typical of a colour print stock; the dye image reads as warm and saturated with no obvious fading visible.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible running through the frame area, consistent with evidence of projection use.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the visible figures and setting are consistent with Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, blue-base colour print stock, and edge coding format are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
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 000064150
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
