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 success. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it pushed the trilogy into 2015, an alternate 1985, and a return to 1955, weaving multiple timelines into a single continuous story. Its ambition and technical achievement, particularly the effects work allowing actors to share scenes with themselves, kept it central to the franchise's legacy and to the era's blockbuster filmmaking.
This cell carries the name Marlene McFly, the daughter played by Lorraine Baines in the film's doubled-casting conceit, a role built entirely on family resemblance and comic misdirection. Collectors prize this identity precisely because it signals the trilogy's playful genealogy, the same actress standing in for a future McFly generation. With Lorraine Baines named as the person present, the cell preserves that lineage joke in physical form, a small but telling artifact of the saga's self-referential design.
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, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, appearing as two bilateral variable-area lines with a separate narrower track beside them, consistent with a stereo optical print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers clearly.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight warm-amber tint typical of older acetate or polyester stock; the dye image appears stable with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible running through the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
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 (1989).
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, warm base tint, and 35mm four-perforation format 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 000064200
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
