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 middle chapter of Robert Zemeckis's time travel trilogy that followed the smash success of the 1985 original. Its ambitious leaps into 2015 and an alternate 1985 pushed visual effects and production design further than its predecessor, and it remains a touchstone for its predictions about hoverboards, flying cars, and self-lacing shoes. The film's box office performance and cultural staying power cemented the franchise's place in science fiction and comedy history, with home video and later streaming keeping its ideas about the future in constant circulation.
This cell centers on the DeLorean, the modified vehicle that serves as the time machine at the heart of the entire trilogy. Collectors seek this car above nearly any other prop because it functions as the visual shorthand for the series itself, instantly recognizable and inseparable from the story's mechanics of time travel. A 35mm frame preserving the DeLorean captures the machine in its most essential form, the object around which every plot turn revolves, making this a foundational piece for anyone assembling a collection built around the franchise's core iconography.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of Back to the Future Part II.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, corners appear rounded and cleanly punched with no torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track runs along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual variable-area (stereo) optical track.
Edge print
Edge text reads 'SAFETY FILM' on one edge and a key number sequence reading 'A3 28 67' on the opposite edge.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image appears neutral with no obvious red shift or fading visible.
Projection history
No splices or cue marks visible; fine longitudinal lines are present across the frames consistent with projection wear.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, colour print stock with safety base, and key number format 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 000064168
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
