Criterion Press Release: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[PMF]

Without George Feltenstein at WAC, perhaps Criterion could take their own whack at Ryan’s Daughter.

Heck, unless Warner’s plans a 4K/UHD of Doctor Zhivago, Criterion could also throw that one in for good measure, as well.

Now that, my friends, would be far from being pointless.

 

[Sam Favate]

While I agree about the many other titles that Criterion could produce, I still find Fast Times to be very deserving of the Criterion treatment. It's a significant film in many ways, none of which are diminished by the fact that it was a successful movie and has had a previous HD release.

(I'd like to see some films that have never had a blu-ray release, like Heaven Can Wait or Foul Play.)

 

[AlexNH]

This is a cut and paste from the Criterion message board:

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".....

3. 4k version - I don't know why Criterion has jumped into 4k yet. probably due to the size of the market...blu-ray is their dominant sales format....unlike mainstream sales, DVD is only a small fraction of Criterion's sales....all that being said, Criterion doesn't have control over when or if Universal decides to release their own 4K blu-ray.

4. New Filmmaker Roundtable - We are proud of the roundtable with Olivia Wilde, Cameron and Amy too. It's an in-depth and uncensored look back at the film. see the first look with the attached image that I took...

 

[Lord Dalek]

I refuse to believe Universal couldn't find a 35mm optical track for that mono. That just smells fishy.

 

[ahollis]

I think it smells like smoke.

 

[B-ROLL]

I think it smells like smoke.

... and mirrors

Spoiler: NSFW picture

 

[crissrudd4554]

Yeah I’m not fully buying this especially since the unaltered mono was present on the original DVD release. Someone on another site mentioned that the needed materials to restore the mono was lost in the 2008 Universal fire but even that’s not enough to convince me there was nothing they do about it here. I mean it is what is but still.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'm grumbling while I type this but I preordered this title.

It's down to $30 which is a rare price point for a pre-release.

I already own the Universal Blu-ray and it's very likely they will release this in 4k, but this is a pretty terrific movie so I made the purchase.

 

[AlexNH]

Well... this totally sucks: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film9/blu-ray_review_137/fast_times_at_ridgemont_high_blu-ray.htm

 

[Lord Dalek]

Looks fine to me.

 

[Derrick King]

I said this on another forum, every aspect of the Universal release is so bad (it is completely electronic looking trash) that it shouldn't be used as a reference for how the film should look.

 

[dpippel]

The cropping is what I'm concerned about. I mean, we lost a bit of Phoebe Cates!

 

[darkrock17]

Color correction/timing seems to be the recurring theme on HTF this week.

The original Universal blu looks nice and colorful, but for someone reason whoever Criterion hired for their release doesn't want colors to pop.

 

[TravisR]

Color correction/timing seems to be the recurring theme on HTF this week.

The original Universal blu looks nice and colorful, but for someone reason whoever Criterion hired for their release doesn't want colors to pop.

Yep and that person is Amy Heckerling.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There are a whole lotta Blu-rays from Universal from the time period of the initial disc that look more like brightly colored video than the look and texture the films had in theaters and were always meant to look like. To Universal’s (and their licensing partners’) credit, when those titles have gotten a redo, they’ve stopped trying to make them look like video and focus on the intended look.

 

[TravisR]

There are a whole lotta Blu-rays from Universal from the time period of the initial disc that look more like brightly colored video than the look and texture the films had in theaters and were always meant to look like. To Universal’s (and their licensing partners’) credit, when those titles have gotten a redo, they’ve stopped trying to make them look like video and focus on the intended look.

I don't know the look of the prints but I think the 'muted' colors of the Criterion disc are a lot more in-line with how lower budgeted movies looked in 1981/82 than the more vibrant colors of the Universal disc. Plus, I assume if Heckerling wanted the movie to look like that original disc, she would have kept the colors that way.

 

[AlexNH]

Looks fine to me.

Isn't there a Criterion message board somewhere?

 

[Derrick King]

The cropping is what I'm concerned about. I mean, we lost a bit of Phoebe Cates!

What we lose in Phoebe Cates, we gain in Robert Romanus' wang.

 

[Dave H]

I think the Criterion looks great. The movie looks like analog film at last without that older, oversaturated orange leaning rec 601 color which looks DVD-era. Looking forward to this.

 

[AlexNH]

I think the Criterion looks great. The movie looks like analog film at last without that older, oversaturated orange leaning rec 601 color which looks DVD-era. Looking forward to this.

And what about the framing?