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 through Universal Pictures, a sequel built to expand a phenomenon rather than merely repeat it. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and following the 1985 original, it pushed Marty McFly and Doc Brown forward into a speculative 2015 before circling back through the trilogy's mythology to 1955, deepening the time travel framework that made the series a cultural touchstone. It stands as a rare middle chapter that expanded its universe's scope, tying past and future into a single continuous thread that fans still map obsessively.
This cell centers on the clock tower, the story's oldest emblem of fate and timing, first established as the linchpin of the trilogy's central time jump. Lightning striking the tower recalls the exact mechanism that sends the narrative in motion, a detail woven through every installment as characters plan around its precise moment. For collectors, a frame tied to this image carries weight beyond any single scene, standing in for the entire saga's obsession with precision, coincidence, and the machinery of destiny itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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 holes appear clean and regularly shaped with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks visible as a dual-stripe waveform pattern running along the bottom edge beside the perforations.
Edge print
Text reading 'SAFETY FILM' is visible along the top edge, reversed as printed on the base side.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cool-blue tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image shows warm amber-orange tones with no obvious fading.
Projection history
No splices or cue marks are visible; minor surface irregularities are present but no deep scratches are discernible.
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, colour dye image, and 'SAFETY FILM' edge print 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 000064233
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
