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, the middle chapter of Robert Zemeckis's time travel trilogy and one of the most anticipated sequels of its era. Building on the runaway success of the 1985 original, the film pushed the franchise into bolder territory, sending its heroes forward to a neon vision of 2015 and back into an alternate 1985. Its ambition, visual invention, and continued pairing of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd cemented the series as a defining piece of late eighties studio filmmaking, still referenced whenever pop culture imagines the future.
This 35mm cell preserves a moment shared by Marty McFly and Doc Brown, the partnership at the heart of the entire trilogy. Doc Brown, the eccentric inventor whose time machine sets every plot in motion, and Marty, his steady young companion through each timeline, remain the series' defining duo. A cell marked simply with both names points to the two together on screen, a frame collectors prize for capturing the bond that carries the story rather than any single spectacle or gadget. It stands as a quiet artifact of that enduring partnership.
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 torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks visible running along one edge beside the picture area.
Base carries a slight blue-green tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image appears warm and well-saturated with no visible fading.
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 subject matter is consistent with a release print of Back to the Future Part II (1989).
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, colour print stock with blue-green base tint, and key-number format 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 000064269
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
