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, the middle chapter of Robert Zemeckis's time travel trilogy and one of the most ambitious studio sequels of its decade. Building directly on the 1985 original, it pushed Marty McFly and Doc Brown across three timelines, including a dystopian 1985 and a reimagined 1955, and its dense plotting and visual effects work made it a benchmark for franchise filmmaking. The film remains a touchstone of late eighties blockbuster craft, prized by collectors for its ambition and its place in a beloved series.
George and Lorraine are Marty's parents, characters whose earlier incarnations anchor much of the trilogy's time travel logic and comic tension. A cell bearing their names points to a strip of celluloid preserving their shared presence on screen, a pairing central to the saga's premise that history itself hinges on their union. For collectors, this is a chance to hold a physical fragment tied directly to the family unit that makes the entire time travel conceit function.
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, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area.
Edge print
Edge print reads (mirrored): 'FUJI', 'FC13', and numeric code 'M3 28 69 43' visible on the strip edges.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows full colour saturation with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible on this strip.
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 Fuji-branded colour stock, variable-area optical soundtrack, and neutral base 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 000064247
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
