National Film Vault
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FILM NOTES
Back to the Future Part II was released by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment in November 1989, arriving with enormous anticipation as the direct continuation of Robert Zemeckis's 1985 original. Shooting back-to-back with Part III, the production pushed practical effects and optical compositing to their limits, cementing the trilogy as a landmark of late-eighties studio filmmaking and popular science fiction.
This three-frame 35mm cell captures the Lightning Striking Clock Tower sequence across consecutive moments: a violent energy burst erupting in a street setting, the emergence of a distinctive green-cyan lightning arc above the blast, and the arc's continuation in nearly identical framing. The progression documents one of the film's most technically demanding practical effects shots in rare sequential form.