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
Released by Universal Pictures in 1989, Back to the Future Part II arrived as the immediate sequel to one of the defining blockbusters of the decade, pushing Robert Zemeckis's time travel saga into a dizzying structure of parallel timelines and future and past excursions. Its ambition, technical bravado, and willingness to complicate its own mythology made it a fan favorite that rewards repeat viewing, and it remains a touchstone of late eighties studio filmmaking, expanding the franchise's world while setting up the trilogy's concluding chapter.
This cell centers on the clock tower, the film series' central emblem, tied to the lightning bolt strike that has anchored the mechanics of time travel since the original picture. As a recurring image across the trilogy, the tower carries enormous weight for collectors who see it as shorthand for the entire saga's premise. A frame built around this moment represents one of the franchise's most iconic and structurally important visual motifs, valued for its direct link to the story's central device rather than for any single character or performance.
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, three frames visible on the strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched 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 bilateral variable-area format.
Edge print
Partial edge codes readable along the top edge, appearing to read '625', '17', '83' or similar key-number sequence; full text obscured by angle and crop.
Base & colour
Base shows a warm amber-to-sepia tint consistent with an aged colour dye image; no severe red shift or obvious fading collapse visible.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching 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 and the visual content is consistent with a theatrical release print of Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, the four-perforation 35mm format, and the warm colour stock base 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 000064231
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
