7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.3 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
A group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs, and rock n' roll.
Starring: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus, Brian BackerComedy | 100% |
Coming of age | 72% |
Teen | 64% |
Romance | 41% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Amy Heckerling's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new program with Olivia Wilde, Amy Heckerling, and Cameron Crowe; archival Q&A session; the longer TV version of the film; and more. Also included with the release is an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film critic Dana Stevens and a new introduction by Cameron Crowe, as well as technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fast Times at Ridgemont High arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 16-bit 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, and small dirt. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was created in 2004 by the Universal Studios Sound Department from the original 35mm DME magnetic track and the half-inch magnetic music masters. Additional restoration was performed by the Criterion Collection.
Transfer supervisor: Amy Heckerling.
Colorist: Lee Kline/Criterion Post, New York."
This upcoming release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master that was supervised and approved by director Amy Heckerling. I did some direct comparisons with the previous release of the film from Universal Pictures and I just want to tell you upfront that the upgrade in quality is so dramatic that addressing specific areas is essentially a waste of time. Indeed, on the previous release the film actually does not have any notable organic qualities -- it looks sharpened, harsh, and smeary; plus, there are color inconsistencies and anomalies that make the visuals appear awfully dated as well.
The new master boasts very nice delineation, clarity, and depth. Density levels are very strong as well, so if you view your films on a larger screen you will discover all sorts of different fine details and nuances that are lost on the previous release. Also, the new master is very nicely graded. Both the primaries and the supporting nuances look very healthy and nicely balanced. This being said, there are a couple of scenes where I felt that saturation levels should be slightly better, and I am quite certain that in native 4K they are. On the other hand, I think that the darker areas have plenty of subtle nuances that I would have expected to see in native 4K. (Together with everything else that I saw, this basically confirms my suspicion that this new 4K master will look incredible in native 4K). However, in a couple of indoor sequences I noticed that the grain becomes a tad looser than it should be, so a few minor encoding optimizations could have been used to strengthen its appearance. So, the new 4K master delivers the type of solid upgrade Fast Times at Ridgemont High desperately needed and its fans hoped would materialize. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
*Also included on this release is the TV version of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which features some edited and alternate footage that is not present in the original theatrical version of the film. The TV version is ninety-five minutes long (01.35.07), which means that it is approximately five minutes longer than the theatrical version. The TV version is presented in 1080p and has a Dolby Digital 1.0 audio track. There are no optional English SDH subtitles for it.
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a top-notch soundtrack with great '80s hard rock tunes, so I had the volume on my system turned up a lot. I thought that the lossless track was outstanding. It had plenty of oomph (for a film from the era), great depth, and solid clarity and sharpness. Really, folks, it sounded fantastic on my system. (Check out the sequence where Sean Penn wrecks the racer). The dialog is clear and stable. There are no traces of annoying age-related imperfections.
Amy Heckerling and Cameron Crowe struck gold with Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I used to think that it was just a wild teen comedy with an awesome soundtrack, but over the years I kept discovering minor nuances in its narrative that completely changed my perception of it. When recently I started reevaluating its characters, I also realized that their views on life were not as simplistic as I had thought, and perhaps just as relevant now as they were back in the '80s. If you think that this is a silly observation because what makes the film interesting is only the wild behavior of its characters, you should see it twenty or thirty years from now, when you are a little older and wiser, and pay close attention how all of them get permanently scarred while 'only' having fun. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release of Fast Times at Ridgemont High is sourced from a very solid exclusive new 4K master. It is a great upgrade, but I would have loved to have a 4K Blu-ray release as well. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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1982
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1982
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1984
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1985
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1989
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2004
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2004
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1995
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