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, riding the momentum of one of the decade's most beloved franchises. Director Robert Zemeckis and star Michael J. Fox returned to expand the time-travel saga into 2015 and an alternate 1985, pairing inventive future-tech spectacle with darker stakes than the original. The sequel remains a touchstone of blockbuster world-building, its hoverboards and self-lacing sneakers entering pop culture permanently, while its structure of dueling timelines rewarded audience attention and repeat viewing in a way few studio sequels attempted at the time.
This cell centers on Marty McFly and Griff, the film's antagonistic pairing that echoes the Marty-and-Biff dynamic across generations. Griff, Biff's grandson, represents the franchise's recurring theme of bullies reborn in new eras, and any footage joining him with Marty draws collector interest for that lineage alone. Whether sourced from a trailer, title card, or credits sequence, a cell like this preserves a fragment of the confrontation that drives the 2015 storyline, a piece of film history tied directly to the sequel's most quoted antagonist rivalry.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical 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 each edge, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-stripe variable-area format; Dolby Digital data blocks, DTS timecode, and SDDS outer tracks are not visible in this capture.
Edge print
Text reading reversed along the top edge reads 'SAFETY' and partial code characters consistent with a Kodak edge-print key number sequence; full key number string not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-tinted clear cast typical of Estar or acetate safety stock; dye image shows warm, saturated colour with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratches are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the content is consistent with the theatrical release print of the film on record.
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, Kodak safety base stock, and saturated Eastmancolor-type dye set are all consistent with a late-1980s to early-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1989 production date on record.
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 000064213
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
