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, riding the enormous goodwill of its 1985 predecessor. Robert Zemeckis returned to direct a sequel that pushed the trilogy into bolder territory, sending Marty McFly and Doc Brown forward to a neon vision of 2015 before doubling back through an altered 1985. The film's dual timeline structure and hoverboard imagination made it a defining piece of blockbuster ambition for its era, and it remains a touchstone for collectors of Amblin-era science fiction adventure.
This cell preserves Marlene McFly, the alternate-timeline daughter played by Michael J. Fox through visual double casting, though the credited likeness here belongs to actress Corringa MacGrieff, with Jane Birkin also named among the frames. Marlene exists as one of the film's clever genetic doubling gags, a character prized by collectors for representing the trickier, more layered 2015 sequence. A cell like this one offers a tangible fragment of that alternate-future household, a small artifact of the sequel's inventive family tree.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour optical 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, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area.
Edge print
Edge print reads mirrored as 'M3 28 69' along the lower edge; upper edge shows partial reversed text consistent with a lab or stock code.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; the dye image shows full colour saturation with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible running through all three frames, 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, consistent with a release print of Back to the Future Part II (1989).
Era check
The variable-area optical soundtrack, colour dye image, and stock edge coding 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 000064288
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
