Any word on a Fast Times At Ridgemont High disc.... (1 Viewer)

[Joe McCabe]

with all the alternative TV scenes added as extras?

I'd LOVE to have that.

 

[GuruAskew]

They're not on either disc because Cameron Crowe and Amy Heckerling don't like them. The scenes used to "pad" the television edit of a movie usually come from deleted scenes but the ones in "Fast Times" were shot with the specific purpose of being "padding" at the studio's insistence. They chose not to include them on the original SE with the mono track and they weren't added to the 5.1 reissue less than a year ago. I don't think there's any chance that these scenes will ever be included on any edition of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", your best bet is to just tape it next time it's on TV.

 

[John*P]

On the commentary track for the Fast Times: SE that I have, Amy says she never liked the scenes, but Cameron would have liked to have them on the DVD for "collectors".

FYI, the TNT and TBS cuts of this movie are different, and each have some deleted scenes that the other lacks.

I REALLY wish all the deleted stuff would end up on DVD, but I don't think it'll happen...

 

[Scott Temple]

Yeah, the fact that they didn't add anything new (other than Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 audio tracks and new cover art) to the most recent Special Edition disc is why I didn't buy it. They should have included the TV/deleted scenes and perhaps even a cast reunion commentary. Other than the audio tracks and cover art the Collector's Edition disc and the Special Edition disc are exactly the same - same 1.85:1 16x9 transfer, same extras. At one point, before the SE was released, Fast Times was sporting the "High School Reunion Collection" banner, but that disc was also identical to the CE disc. It should also be noted that the original mono track is not on the new SE disc. Also, I've heard that the SE doesn't feature the theatrical soundtrack with all of the original songs, but rather the home video soundtrack. Any truth to that?

The Dazed and Confused Flashback Edition DVD was an easy purchase because it included a new 16x9 enhanced transfer and a few extras including 9 deleted scenes. The original Dazed DVD was pretty lackluster - non-anamorphic and extraless.

 

[Mike_Richardson]

That's not true. Crowe likes the scenes and said so in the commentary (after all it would make sense, they were adapted by him from his book). Heckerling though sounded like she didn't want to be second-guessed. I found some of her comments particularly defensive when Crowe brought the topic up as well, as if she's been asked and doesn't want them back (for whatever reason).

FWIW a lot of those scenes represent some of the only character development that's in the film. I love the movie but would love some of those scenes -- especially Ratner & Damone's scene at the end -- to be restored back. And why not put back in some of Sean Penn's scenes that WERE restored to even the cable TV airings?

It's not as if they slow down the movie or change the tone like so many needless "deleted" scenes -- most of them IMO help the film, develop the characters, and improve it!

 

[Mike_Richardson]

There's only one "TV" version that runs in syndication (I believe it's 94 minutes all told -- but in reality there's something like 12 minutes of deleted scenes because other scenes are cut).

If there's a difference between when it runs on TNT and TBS, it's because whatever network needed to cut the film down to fit the time slot it was in.

It's like how SUPERMAN ran in syndication back in the '80s -- you'd see it running 187 minutes on one channel and 165 minutes on the other. Doesn't mean there are two versions, just that it's been cut to fit the needs of the particular outlet it's running on.

 

[Jay Pennington]

I can accept Heckerling's decision not to reincorporate them into the film, but it's just silly to refuse to include them separately in a deleted scenes menu.

 

[Dave Mack]

Good question. And I see that this is being released AGAIN on August 23rd? What gives?

d

 

[Mike_Richardson]

That's not true, it's the theatrical version soundtrack.

 

[Jay Pennington]

I just did an audio mix comparison the other day. There are foley differences between the Tv/theatrical combo I made on VHS for myself years ago and the new DVD sound mix. Nothing to get in a snit about, but two notable omissions are:

1. When Jefferson arrives in his car and Demone walks off camera to talk to him, the original mono mix inserted two thumps as if Demone was slapping the roof of the car as he complimented it. Makes Demone seem that much more annoying and thus Jefferson's "don't f### with it" line less out of the blue.

2. During the football game, on the shot of the Lincoln player flipping through the air and landing badly (just before the first shot of him on a stretcher), the mono mix has a cringe-inducing bone-snapping sound of the poor guy's leg breaking. Not there on the DVD mix (also removed on TV but present on the old VHS release--I don't have the first DVD).

Nothing to march on Universal with torches and pitchforks over, mind you. It's nice to have the music in stereo.

As for the additional scenes, it was interesting that in the commentary, Crowe got Amy to agree on the quality of a few of them, including Brad ripping his Coke poster, the faculty advisor scene (although misplaced in the TV edit), and I think one more that escapes me at the moment.

What she said she didn't like was that some of the additional scenes were shot as replacements, not additions, to scenes in the theatrical version, making them redundant when they're both used. I could agree with that for one pair, at least: Stacy calls Linda about losing her virginity (TV version), and then they discuss it again at school (both versions). It's different dialogue, and it's feasible they'd still be talking about it, but I can see why Heckerlying would want just one rather than both.

My opinion: I agree that at least a few of the TV scenes really help the film, especially the Rat/Demone conversation at the end as already mentioned.