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 rare sequel that expanded rather than repeated its predecessor's premise. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, it pushed Marty McFly and Doc Brown into 2015 and a darkened alternate 1985, deepening the trilogy's time travel mechanics with paradoxes and parallel timelines. It remains a touchstone of high concept studio filmmaking from the era, remembered for its inventive production design and its willingness to complicate a beloved formula rather than simply reproduce it.
This cell preserves Lorraine Baines, the character played by Lea Thompson across the trilogy, whose identity shifts dramatically depending on which timeline the story occupies. Collectors seek her frames because Lorraine embodies the series' central paradox, a mother whose fate is rewritten by her son's meddling with the past. A 35mm cell bearing her name may originate from a trailer, title sequence, or studio archive strip, the physical film stock cut and mounted as a discrete artifact rather than projected footage, offering a tangible fragment of the production itself.
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 both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track format.
Edge print
Edge print reads mirrored as 'M3 78 69 8 25' — reversed because the strip is emulsion-up on the panel.
Base & colour
Base shows a cool-neutral tint consistent with colour dye layers intact; no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices or cue marks visible; no prominent scratching observed on the frames present.
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 single variable-area optical track, colour positive stock, and cool-neutral base are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1980s to early 1990s period.
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 000064172
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
