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 from Universal Pictures in 1989, riding the momentum of the first film's massive success into a bold, effects heavy sequel. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and written with Bob Gale, it pushed the trilogy into 2015 and beyond, blending time travel logic with dazzling production design and dark alternate timelines. It remains a touchstone of late eighties blockbuster filmmaking, remembered for hoverboards, self lacing shoes, and its playful vision of the future.
This cell centers on Marty McFly, the character audiences followed across decades of the saga, played by Michael J. Fox and central to every twist and consequence the story delivers. Collectors seek out Marty on film for his role as the emotional anchor of the entire trilogy, the ordinary teenager caught in extraordinary machinery. A 35mm cell bearing his name preserves a single frame of that ongoing journey, a physical remnant of the celluloid that carried his image through theaters worldwide.
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; punched edges appear clean with no visible tearing or deformation.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-stripe variable-area format; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are not clearly distinguishable, DTS timecode line not visible in this capture, SDDS outer-edge tracks not visible in this capture.
Edge print
Partial edge code visible along the top edge reading reversed as '= 9 9 S L W W H' consistent with emulsion-up orientation; full key number sequence not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; dye image shows good colour saturation with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has been projected.
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 dual variable-area optical soundtrack, colour positive stock, and perforation style 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 000064262
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
