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 sequel built to capitalize on the original's cultural momentum while pushing the trilogy into bolder territory: hoverboards, flying cars, and a dark alternate 1985. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and reuniting Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, it expanded the mythology of time travel into a layered, self-referential puzzle. Though initially met with mixed reviews compared to its predecessor, the film has since earned lasting affection for its ambition and its imaginative vision of the future, cementing its place as an essential piece of late-80s blockbuster filmmaking.
This cell centers on Marty McFly, the character whose ordinary teenage identity became inseparable from the franchise's extraordinary premise. Collectors seek Marty frames because he anchors the entire saga, the everyman thrust into escalating timelines and consequences. A single-character cell like this represents the kind of clean, character-focused artifact prized in 35mm collecting: no shared frame to divide attention, just the emulsion history of the role that made Fox a defining star of the decade and the trilogy's throughline across decades and timelines.
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, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-bilateral (two-track) variable-area stripe.
Base appears clear with a slight warm-neutral tint; dye image shows natural colour balance with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the scene content is consistent with a theatrical release print of Back to the Future Part II (1989).
Era check
The dual-bilateral variable-area optical track, Eastman colour stock edge coding, and clear safety base are all consistent with a 35mm 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 000064266
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
