National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Back to the Future Part II was released by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment in November 1989, arriving with enormous anticipation as the direct continuation of Robert Zemeckis's 1985 original. The film pushed practical and optical effects to their limits while cementing the DeLorean DMC-12 as one of cinema's most recognizable vehicles. Its vision of 2015 became a cultural touchstone that audiences would revisit for decades.

This cell, titled DeLorean by the operator, captures a low-angle close-up of the time machine's front wheel and hubcap, steam or condensation drifting across the frame in dramatic shadow. A second frame holds the same composition before a third pulls slightly wider, revealing more of the fender — a quiet, atmospheric moment built entirely around the car itself.