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Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) poster
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Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Comedy, Romance, Drama • 1h 30m

Director: Amy Heckerling

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IMDbThe Movie Database (TMDB)

Best English-friendly & video release

Video notes:

Criterion Blu-ray is significantly better than Universal Blu-ray see caps

Updated 5 months ago


About the film

Based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe, Fast Times follows a group of high school students growing up in Southern California. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for love, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone. Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer faces-off with the resolute teacher, Mr. Hand. Hilarity and heartbreak ensue.

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National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 2005

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: Orson Welles

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

WB Europe 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

WB Europe 4K Blu-ray slightly better encoding than Criterion (caveat: missing Criterion extras)

Directors: David Hand & Ben Sharpsteen & William Cottrell & Larry Morey & Perce Pearce & Wilfred Jackson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Mono track is on the included Blu-ray; 4K Blu-ray missing original mono. LaserDisc probably better

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical Cut: Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray
Redux Cut: Lionsgate vs Eagle Pictures?
Final Cut: Lionsgate or Eagle Pictures, both are not great (visible chroma noise)

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Theatrical: Germany 4K Blu-ray/US Blu-ray DD 5.1 (1979 mix)

Additional Info:

In the Lionsgate US/UK 6-disc set, there are 4 discs of the main feature. For whatever reason, the 4K discs lack the *original track. The Germany 4K Blu-ray release is different on this matter.

  1. UBD: Final Cut: Atmos, DD2.0

  2. UBD: Redux/Theatrical: Atmos

  3. BD: Final Cut: Atmos, DD2.0

  4. BD: Redux/Theatrical: Dtru5.1 (Redux mix?), DD5.1 (?), DD5.1 (Theatrical only), DD2.0 (downmix??)

    1. As a result the Theatrical Cut has 4 tracks, The Redux has 3. Differences are unclear.

  5. BD: Hearts of Darkness

  6. BD: Special Features

Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Director: George Lucas

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.

Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.

Upcoming Release:

2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed

Best Audio:

OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.

Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.

Director: David Lean

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

The 5.1 on Sony 4K Blu-ray is from the 1989 70mm mix. The original is 4-track. not on the disc.

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc

Audio Notes:

> Knockout collection original.

The Mono mix on the initial release of the Knockout Collection is a stereo fold-down of the 5.1, it also has a missing piano cue. The replacement disc and the ultimate knockout version fixed the error. 

Additional Info:

The Steelbook and UK standard edition is the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.

Director: Rob Reiner

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026

Video Notes:

Like many of Capelight's other releases, the 4K Blu-ray is low-passed but still looks good.

Best Audio:

30th Anniversary Shout! Factory BD has the original stereo mix

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

US Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> UK MoC 4K Blu-ray > Australia Imprint > US Kino Lorber better encoding

The MoC, Criterion and Imprint UHDs were encoded by FiM making all 3 very close. The higher bitrate helped in deciding and some luck; however Criterion is the most consistent one of all 3. Imprint has some scenes with more splotchy grain while MoC is quite close to Criterion but has some more blocking in dark scenes (e.g.: comp #27). With Criterion’s superior audio, it ensures complete consistency.

Audio Notes:

From cbc: "I'm personally quite fond of the restored track on Eureka's 4K Blu-ray. It does have spots with objectively worse fidelity, but for the most part, it sounds a lot more natural and less shrill, particularly dialogue. It seems to be a new mixdown of stems. Technically a remix, so not everyone's cup of tea, but it's not revisionist like most new movie mixes tend to be"

Additional Info:

Both Imprint (included in their set) and Capelight (on its own/individually) offer remastered BDs. All other BDs, including the one included in The Complete Kubrick, are sourced from the same older master from around 2010.

Director: John Boorman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

2027 Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1984 WB LaserDisc

More from Amy Heckerling

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Director: Amy Heckerling

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Fine new master, grade and encode caps

More from Criterion

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Director: Richard Lester

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

StudioCanal's 4K release is similar in encode quality, but has significant glitches in multiple frames. See comparisons 9-16 here: https://slow.pics/c/YkSVb3Ey

Audio Notes:

The pitch of the StudioCanal 4K's English audio is too high

Additional Info:

Criterion has more extras than StudioCanal.

Director: Jacques Tati

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion for 1949 and 1964, BFI for 1964 English Variant and 1994/5

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)

Best Video:

Jour Germany fete (1949) - Criterion only, HD Jour Germany fete (1964) - Criterion only, HDThe Village Fair (1964, English variant) - BFI only, HDJour Germany fete (1994/5) - Criterion SD, BFI HD

Director: Jacques Tati

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)

Director: Jacques Tati

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)

Director: Jacques Tati

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion/StudioCanal Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)

Video Notes:

> BFI. New restoration unreleased.

Best Audio:

Old R2 DVD 1.0

Director: Jacques Tati

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)

Best Audio:

2014 StudioCanal Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The UHD is slightly cropped in.

Director: Claire Denis

Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

2027 Criterion Blu-ray

Video Notes:

FiM encode; BFI shows noticeable macroblocking

Best Audio:

MGM DVD

Audio Notes:

No dip around 10 kHz, wider dynamic range, more natural EQ; BFI & Carlotta BDs are identically worse; HMAX Streaming is similar to the BDs but has worse dynamics

Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray also includes exclusive "Reborn Cut"

Director: Vivian Kubrick

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Mono: 1999 WB DVD
5.1: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 5 months ago

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