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 its predecessor's premise into something stranger and more ambitious. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and released just four years after the original became a cultural phenomenon, the film split its story across three timelines, pushing the franchise's time travel logic to its limits. It remains a touchstone of late-80s studio filmmaking, remembered for its hoverboards, its vision of 2015, and its willingness to darken the tone of a beloved series while keeping its comic heart intact.
This cell centers on George and Lorraine McFly, the parents whose relationship anchors the entire trilogy's timeline stakes. Here Jeffrey Weissman steps into the role of George, recast after the original actor's absence, while Lea Thompson returns as Lorraine, the constant thread across every version of the McFly household. For collectors, this pairing represents the family dynamic that time travel repeatedly threatens and restores, a domestic throughline running beneath the film's larger science fiction machinery.
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 frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern.
Edge print
Text reading 'SAFETY' is visible along the top edge, printed in reverse as read in this capture.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight cool-neutral tint; the dye image reads with natural colour balance showing no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks or heavy scratching are apparent; the surface appears consistent with a projected release print.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the content is consistent with Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
A dual bilateral variable-area optical track on a SAFETY-marked 35mm colour positive base is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1980s to early 1990s, matching the 1989 release 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 000064244
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
