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 as the immediate sequel to one of the decade's defining hits, pushing Robert Zemeckis's time travel saga into a stranger register with future Hill Valley, alternate 1985, and a return trip to 1955. Coming so soon after the original's success, it expanded the mythology considerably and set up the trilogy's concluding chapter, cementing Marty McFly and his adversary Biff Tannen's family line as fixtures of American film culture.
This cell pairs Marty McFly with Griff Tannen, the future incarnation of the Tannen lineage that has antagonized the McFly family across generations. Griff represents the franchise's idea that certain conflicts repeat themselves no matter the decade, making any frame pairing him with Marty a piece of that recurring rivalry. Collectors seek out these two together because it captures the film's generational device in miniature, one recognizable hero set against a fresh face carrying an old grudge. A 35mm cell like this preserves an actual frame of release printing, a tangible artifact from the physical print stock used in theatrical exhibition.
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 edges appear clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area format; Dolby Digital data blocks are not clearly distinguishable in this capture.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters with certainty.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image appears warm and saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the visible content is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, colour print stock with blue-tinted base, and perforation layout are all 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 000064253
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
