1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

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DarkImbecile
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1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#1 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:52 pm

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

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The wild world of adolescence has rarely been captured with as sharp an observational eye as in this refreshingly smart, frank spin on the teen comedy by director Amy Heckerling and screenwriter Cameron Crowe—for each of whom it kicked off a hugely successful film career. Based on Crowe’s experiences going undercover as a student at a Southern California high school, Fast Times at Ridgemont High blends hormone-fueled hilarity with an almost sociological examination of the 1980s teenage experience: the shopping-mall hangouts, fast-food jobs, buzzkill teachers, awkward dates, and first experiences of love and sex. This pop-culture touchstone launched to stardom practically an entire cast of unknowns—including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, Judge Reinhold, Forest Whitaker, Anthony Edwards, Eric Stoltz, and Sean Penn as stoner icon Jeff Spicoli—and broke new ground in its raw yet sensitive depiction of the realities of coming of age.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
  • New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Amy Heckerling, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Audio commentary from 1999 featuring Heckerling and screenwriter Cameron Crowe
  • Television version of the film from the eighties, featuring deleted and alternate scenes
  • New conversation with Heckerling and Crowe, moderated by filmmaker Olivia Wilde
  • Reliving Our “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” a 1999 documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
  • Audio discussion from 1982 with Heckerling at the American Film Institute
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
    PLUS: An essay by film critic Dana Stevens and, for the Blu-ray edition, a new introduction by Crowe

beamish14
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#2 Post by beamish14 » Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:05 pm

A bit disappointed that Criterion couldn't include Heckerling's NYU/AFI student shorts (Getting it Over With, produced while at the latter, is what got her hired for this, and is discussed a bit on the commentary).

Not too fond of the cover design. It looks a bit like those repackaged "80's Hits" DVDs that Paramount has put out

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#3 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:29 pm

Will the TV version be in mono?

Gerald Christie
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#4 Post by Gerald Christie » Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:58 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:05 pm
A bit disappointed that Criterion couldn't include Heckerling's NYU/AFI student shorts (Getting it Over With, produced while at the latter, is what got her hired for this, and is discussed a bit on the commentary).

Not too fond of the cover design. It looks a bit like those repackaged "80's Hits" DVDs that Paramount has put out
Cameron Crowe's assistant? posted some info related to release over at the bluray.com forum:

1-This is Amy's preferred version of the film which means it has one slight change...the reframing of Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) during the pool house scene. This was the shot that initially got Fast Times an X rating by the MPAA...it's back in all its glory for this release.
2-Criterion tried to include both of Amy's shorts. Getting It Over With (rights and licensing issues with AFI) and High Finance (music clearance issues). No luck.

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hearthesilence
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#5 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:11 pm

Wasn't Nicolas Cage in this? I honestly can't remember him in it, but I think this was his very first feature film appearance. It's quite something that three of its newcomers would go on to win Best Actor Oscars.

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#6 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:44 pm

Yeah he's "Brad's bud" who is a fellow fry cook at the pirate fast food place I think, but has hardly any lines or screentime (and would then get his first starring role in Valley Girl the next year). It's definitely a good observation even if all three's parents were industry alum, which of course doesn't influence their talents but in at least one or two cases does pronounce nepotism which helps maintain a career towards that path and make it less of a wild coincidence.

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hearthesilence
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#7 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:57 pm

Forest Whitaker's parents weren't in the business - were you talking about someone else?

Didn't know Penn's father was in the business, though it looks like he was a victim of HUAC which explains a lot. Here he is.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#8 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:03 pm

Yeah for a moment there I thought JJL won an Oscar, and now I've become sober to yet another injustice. Regardless the only case it's clear for is Cage, though that doesn't undermine his talent.

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#9 Post by Jack Kubrick » Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:43 pm

hearthesilence wrote:
Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:57 pm
Forest Whitaker's parents weren't in the business - were you talking about someone else?

Didn't know Penn's father was in the business, though it looks like he was a victim of HUAC which explains a lot. Here he is.
Sean Penn mother is also tied to the industry, with her showing up in few of his films.


Eileen Ryan

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knives
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#10 Post by knives » Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:34 pm

hearthesilence wrote:
Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:57 pm
Forest Whitaker's parents weren't in the business - were you talking about someone else?

Didn't know Penn's father was in the business, though it looks like he was a victim of HUAC which explains a lot. Here he is.
Wow, for years I thought his famous father was Art Penn. This shocks my world.

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yoloswegmaster
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#11 Post by yoloswegmaster » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:07 pm

New information from someone who I guess works for Cameron Crowe:
1. Original Mono Track - Universal couldn’t find the mono! Criterion's audio supervisor analyzed the 5.1 and really liked the work they did so Criterion talked to Amy about it and she agreed this is the way most people would want to watch it these days anyway. If you don’t have a 5.1 your system, obviously it will fold down to stereo. P.S. The TV version is mono! Lastly the missing sound effect when Damone hits Charles Jefferson's car will be restored.

More about the 5.1 mix:
The remix was created in April of 2004 in the Universal Sound Department. We began with the original 35mm 3CH D/M/E Dubbed Master. The BluWave Restoration department fine-tuned these stems using ProTools editorial, Sonic Solutions and EQ in the final mix pass. The restored stems were handed off to our BluWave Digital Mastering team for the 5.1 remix. We also pulled the ½” music masters for needed cues in order to utilize the stereo score sources for better upmixing.

2. TV Version - We worked really hard to include this. Universal has "lost" or had many of their assets destroyed in fires. We tried to get the dailies and outtakes (Cameron recalls amazing Sean Penn alternate takes and lines that are sadly lost forever), but Universal does not have them. The next best thing was to include the TV version that folks have been asking for since DVD was a burgeoning new format....Universal did have an IP of the TV version which Criterion has used to create a new HD transfer. Again, we felt like this was the MOST important extra and I'm bummed about comments that there aren't "any new extras".....

beamish14
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#12 Post by beamish14 » Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:33 pm

yoloswegmaster wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:07 pm
New information from someone who I guess works for Cameron Crowe:
1. Original Mono Track - Universal couldn’t find the mono! Criterion's audio supervisor analyzed the 5.1 and really liked the work they did so Criterion talked to Amy about it and she agreed this is the way most people would want to watch it these days anyway. If you don’t have a 5.1 your system, obviously it will fold down to stereo. P.S. The TV version is mono! Lastly the missing sound effect when Damone hits Charles Jefferson's car will be restored.

More about the 5.1 mix:
The remix was created in April of 2004 in the Universal Sound Department. We began with the original 35mm 3CH D/M/E Dubbed Master. The BluWave Restoration department fine-tuned these stems using ProTools editorial, Sonic Solutions and EQ in the final mix pass. The restored stems were handed off to our BluWave Digital Mastering team for the 5.1 remix. We also pulled the ½” music masters for needed cues in order to utilize the stereo score sources for better upmixing.

2. TV Version - We worked really hard to include this. Universal has "lost" or had many of their assets destroyed in fires. We tried to get the dailies and outtakes (Cameron recalls amazing Sean Penn alternate takes and lines that are sadly lost forever), but Universal does not have them. The next best thing was to include the TV version that folks have been asking for since DVD was a burgeoning new format....Universal did have an IP of the TV version which Criterion has used to create a new HD transfer. Again, we felt like this was the MOST important extra and I'm bummed about comments that there aren't "any new extras".....

I'm pleasantly surprised that Blu-Rays for films like Fast Times, Weird Science, and Repo Man include the TV versions, as they really are significantly different from
the theatrical versions, and I had heard that these iterations had likely been destroyed in the Universal vault fire. Two Minute Warning's certainly was, and the TV cut on its Blu is from
a VHS recording made by a fan!

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aox
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#13 Post by aox » Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:02 pm

Is there a list anywhere noting the differences between the cuts? I have always assumed that "TV versions" just excised nudity and overdubbed profanity (or dropped the audio). Why would the cuts be substantially different? It seems that rediting a film with different takes would be more labor intensive. Why do it?

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domino harvey
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#14 Post by domino harvey » Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:05 pm

aox wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:02 pm
Is there a list anywhere noting the differences between the cuts? I have always assumed that "TV versions" just excised nudity and overdubbed profanity (or dropped the audio). Why would the cuts be substantially different? It seems that rediting a film with different takes would be more labor intensive. Why do it?
Often commercial films will create alternate takes to make up for the prurient material cut for future TV/airline airings. Commercial TV airings also will often be padded with otherwise cut material to get to an even numbered running time with ads (2 hours, etc), so you'll sometimes see extra scenes added in

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#15 Post by cdnchris » Tue Feb 16, 2021 4:06 pm

The Mallrats TV version was an interesting cut as they had to cut out a lot of the cruder material then add in scenes that referenced the excised subplot around the "attempted assassination" to make it fill the time slot. So you have these sequences that make no sense in the context of the shorter version and this TV version becomes a sort of odd missing link between the theatrical and extended versions.

Not the movie is any good (it's not) but I feel worse for the people that were introduced to it through that version.

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#16 Post by TheKieslowskiHaze » Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:14 am

cdnchris wrote:
Tue Feb 16, 2021 4:06 pm
The Mallrats TV version was an interesting cut as they had to cut out a lot of the cruder material then add in scenes that referenced the excised subplot around the "attempted assassination" to make it fill the time slot. So you have these sequences that make no sense in the context of the shorter version and this TV version becomes a sort of odd missing link between the theatrical and extended versions.

Not the movie is any good (it's not) but I feel worse for the people that were introduced to it through that version.
Looking back, stuff like this was very confusing for childhood me, actually made me question my memory faculties and sanity.

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#17 Post by swo17 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:22 pm

Gerald Christie wrote:
Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:58 pm
1-This is Amy's preferred version of the film which means it has one slight change...the reframing of Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) during the pool house scene. This was the shot that initially got Fast Times an X rating by the MPAA...it's back in all its glory for this release.
This was a scene that Roger Ebert singled out as particularly skeevy as released (the camera dwells on JJL fully nude--then 19 but playing 15--when you barely even see the guy with his shirt off)
IMDb trivia wrote:Mike Damone's nude scene with Stacy that was filmed and never used was stated by director Amy Heckerling to show the natural vulnerability between two young teenagers. The intent was to show each of them undressing, and then show them standing before each other fully naked, full frontal, vulnerable, and nervous. The scene was pulled due to an impending X-rating and has never been released.

Amy Heckerling wanted to show male nudity [in the movie], too, in a scene with Leigh and Robert Romanus, but "I was not allowed to do that," she says. She was told that if that shot was in the movie, it would get an X rating, which to her "meant porn. So we had to blow it up so just like in every other film, you saw a guy topless, which is nothing essentially. It was cut way down and they said, 'See, it's better now. We improved your scene.' Thanks a lot."

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yoloswegmaster
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#18 Post by yoloswegmaster » Fri Apr 23, 2021 10:52 am

Fast Times at Beaver High

The framing has been cropped and the colours don't look as bright as before.

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domino harvey
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#19 Post by domino harvey » Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:00 am

That is way more significantly cropped than I was expecting! Sticking with my cheapo Universal Blu

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hearthesilence
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#20 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:08 am

It's definitely there, but on a lot of those caps, it didn't feel that noticeable until I took a closer look at the details around the edges. And I guess the color makes it look more like some cheap film playing at a second-run drive-in - which aesthetically ain't bad. A high school teen film from the '80s doesn't exactly have the most unique and complicated palette to begin with.

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dwk
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#21 Post by dwk » Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:14 am

That Universal disc was so bad though. I don't know how any of it, including framing, could be considered as correct without some corroboration.

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#22 Post by ChunkyLover » Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:49 am

The framing looks a bit tighter but not a deal-breaker imo. I'll gladly take it over an old processed Universal master any day of the week.

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#23 Post by EddieLarkin » Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:58 am

Yeah overall I would say skin tones are more natural now, the framing is by the by (unless one has access to an original print, how can it be known which is correct?), but most importantly it's a nice fresh filmic scan vs the oversharpened mess of the old disc.

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tenia
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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#24 Post by tenia » Fri Apr 23, 2021 12:29 pm

The whole grading on the old Universal, plus its extremely electronic look, is quite bad.

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Re: 1075 Fast Times at Ridgemont High

#25 Post by swo17 » Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:35 pm

Remember this is also the first version to be unedited

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