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 dared to send Robert Zemeckis's beloved time-travel premise into an imagined 2015 before doubling back through the original trilogy's own timeline. Riding the momentum of the 1985 original, it paired spectacle with narrative daring, filming its follow-up back to back with Part III. The film remains a touchstone of blockbuster ambition, prized for its hoverboards, self-lacing shoes, and the layered mythology it built around the McFly and Tannen family lines across generations.
This cell centers on Marty and Griff, placing Griff Tannen, the bully descendant of Biff, alongside Marty McFly Jr. and Marty McFly himself. The scene draws from the film's future-set stretch, where legacy and rivalry are passed down like inheritance. Collectors seek this pairing for its glimpse into the franchise's generational doubling, a hallmark of the sequel's cleverness. As a 35mm frame, it preserves a physical fragment of that imagined future encounter, a tangible piece of the story's most inventive detour.
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 each edge, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-track (bilateral) variable-area format.
Edge print
Upper edge reads (mirrored): 'FUJI FC13' and partial frame key numbers; lower edge reads (mirrored): 'M3 28 68' or similar numeric sequence.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cool-neutral tint; dye image shows warm, saturated colour consistent with an intact chromogenic print.
Projection history
No visible splices; faint longitudinal lines are present on at least one frame, consistent with projection wear.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
Fuji-branded stock, bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, and positive colour print format 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 000064252
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
