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 from Universal Pictures in 1989, the middle chapter of Robert Zemeckis's time travel trilogy and one of the most anticipated sequels of its decade. Building on the original's success, it pushed Marty McFly and Doc Brown forward into an imagined 2015 and back through an alternate 1985, layering paradox upon paradox. The film's ambition, visual effects, and dual-role trickery with Michael J. Fox made it a technical showcase of its era, cementing the franchise's place in popular culture and setting up the trilogy's concluding chapter.
This cell isolates the pairing at the heart of the entire series, Marty and Doc together, the mentor and the kid caught in his invention. Collectors prize any frame joining these two because their dynamic carries the story's stakes and its humor in equal measure. A 35mm cell like this, drawn straight from the release print, preserves a physical fragment of that partnership as it actually ran through projectors in theaters, a tangible link to the picture as audiences first experienced it.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Back to the Future Part II (1989).
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
Two parallel variable-area optical tracks visible running along one edge beside the picture area.
Edge print
Edge code reads, mirrored: "M3 28 69 33".
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows rich colour saturation with no visible fading.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratch lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
Dual variable-area optical soundtrack, Eastman-type colour stock with neutral base, and the edge numbering format are all consistent with a 1989–early-1990s theatrical release print.
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 000064198
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
