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, a sequel built to expand the time travel mythology of the original 1985 hit into a more ambitious, effects driven saga spanning past, present and future. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced under Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, it pushed visual effects and multiple timeline storytelling further than most studio productions of its day, cementing the franchise's place in popular culture and setting up the trilogy's concluding chapter.
This cell is identified simply as DeLorean, the modified time machine central to the entire trilogy's premise and one of the most recognizable vehicles in film history. Without dialogue or character context attached to the frame, this piece represents the machine itself, the mechanical heart of the story rather than a human performance. For collectors, a DeLorean cell holds appeal as pure icon, a fragment tied directly to the film's core symbol of time travel, standing apart from character specific cells and valued for what the vehicle represents across the entire series.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
Not visible in this capture; the area beside the picture frames is obscured by the double-strip overlap at the bottom edge.
Edge print
Text reading 'EASTMAN' is visible along the top edge, printed in the inter-perforation margin.
Base & colour
Base shows a blue-tinted dye image with strong overexposure bloom across all three frames; underlying image colour appears cool-blue, consistent with a colour print stock.
Projection history
A horizontal crease or fold line is visible running across the lower portion of the strip, consistent with a handled or projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as a single continuous shot, and the subject matter is consistent with a visual-effects action sequence from Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
Eastman colour print stock with a cool-blue base tint and positive image is consistent with a late-1980s theatrical release print of a 1989 Universal Pictures production.
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 000064152
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
