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 released the same year audiences were still riding high on the original's success. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale pushed the time travel premise further, sending Marty McFly and Doc Brown into a speculative 2015 before doubling back through 1955 and a dystopian 1985. The film's ambition, tangled timeline mechanics, and expanded mythology made it a defining middle chapter in one of the era's most beloved trilogies, cementing the franchise's reputation for inventive world building.
This cell centers on the DeLorean itself, the modified time machine that stands as the franchise's most instantly recognizable icon. Collectors seek out material tied to the vehicle because it functions almost as a character in its own right, the mechanical heart of every journey across decades. A 35mm cell bearing this identity likely comes from footage, trailer material, or credits sequences where the car anchors the frame, representing the technology and mythology that make the trilogy's time travel conceit so enduringly recognizable to fans.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release colour print of Back to the Future Part II.
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern.
Edge print
Top edge reads 'SAFETY' (mirrored as 'YTEFAS') and a partial code beginning with what appears to be a numeral; bottom edge shows partial text consistent with a stock identifier, not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-teal tint typical of processed colour print stock; dye image appears dense and largely neutral with no obvious red shift or significant fading visible.
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 subject matter is consistent with a vehicle scene matching the film on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, colour print stock with safety base, and perforation layout 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 000064167
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
