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 written by Bob Gale, it sent Marty McFly and Doc Brown forward to 2015, then sideways into an alternate 1985, building a puzzle box of timelines that still fascinates viewers decades later. Its ambition, technical craft, and willingness to complicate its own mythology cemented the trilogy's reputation as a high point of studio filmmaking in the era, blending comedy, science fiction, and heartfelt character work into something genuinely durable.
This cell holds Marty McFly, the character audiences followed across three timelines and one very complicated family tree. He remains the franchise's anchor, the ordinary teenager thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and collectors seek him out because he represents the series' emotional throughline no matter which decade the story visits. A single 35mm cell of him from this installment functions as a physical fragment of that larger continuity, a tactile piece of the film's celluloid history rather than a narrative snapshot, preserving one instant of Marty's presence within the sequel's layered structure.
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 complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced; punched holes appear clean and rectangular with rounded corners.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual variable-area (stereo) format.
Edge print
Edge text reads 'SAFETY FILM' along the top edge; additional alphanumeric key numbers are present but not fully legible at this capture resolution.
Base & colour
Base appears clear with a slight warm-neutral tint; dye image shows full colour saturation without visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is 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 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, safety base stock, and colour dye image 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 000064221
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
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