Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

A group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs, and rock n' roll.

Director:

Amy Heckerling

Writers:

Cameron Crowe (screenplay), Cameron Crowe (book)

Stars:

Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Penn	...	Jeff Spicoli
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Stacy Hamilton
Judge Reinhold	...	Brad Hamilton
Robert Romanus	...	Mike Damone
Brian Backer	...	Mark 'Rat' Ratner
Phoebe Cates	...	Linda Barrett
Ray Walston	...	Mr. Hand
Scott Thomson	...	Arnold
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Mr. Vargas
Amanda Wyss	...	Lisa
D.W. Brown	...	Ron Johnson
Forest Whitaker	...	Charles Jefferson
Kelli Maroney	...	Cindy
Tom Nolan	...	Dennis Taylor
Blair Tefkin	...	Pat Bernardo (as Blair Ashleigh)

Storyline

Follows a group of high school students growing up in southern California, based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, respectively. The center of the film is held by Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer dude who faces off with the resolute Mr. Hand, who is convinced that everyone is on dope.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | title directed by female | females talking about sex | unwanted pregnancy | fired from the job | 

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Taglines:

It's Awesome! Totally Awesome!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 August 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fast Times

Filming Locations:

Van Nuys Blvd & Vose St, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,545,674, 15 August 1982, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$27,092,880

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Refugee Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Brad Hamilton is making a delivery while wearing a pirate costume was only ¼ from the DuPar's restaurant in Valley Girl (1983). see filming locations.

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Goofs

Obvious stunt double when Jefferson is sacking quarterback .

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Quotes

[first lines]
Perry's Pizza Waitress: Linda, Linda, there he is. There's that guy from the stereo store. Don't you think he looks like Richard Gere?
Linda Barrett: Did you see his cute little butt?

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Crazy Credits

Before the credits roll, brief scenes of the characters are shown listing what happened to them following the events of the movie.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: The Man Who Grew Too Much (2014)

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Soundtracks

Wooly Bully
Written by Domingo Samudio (uncredited)
Performed by Reeves Nevo & The Cinch

User Reviews

Awesome! Totally awesome! All right, Hamilton!

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a quality film. It's over 20 years old and has become one of those iconic teen movies and it's pretty easy to see why. It has everything you would expect; the bad hair, the bad clothes, the bad music, teenage awkwardness...all the clichés and stereotypes that we've seen repeated in basically every teen movie since then. And it has Sean Penn playing a stoner surfer. Sean. Penn. I'm pretty sure this movie is funnier now just because Sean Penn has had a successful career as a proper dramatic actor, and he plays the ultimate surfer dude perfectly. The grudge between himself and Mr Hand (Ray Walston) is great and probably produces the best (or at least funniest) moments of the film.

All in all, Fast Times is fun. It might be because it's dated, cheesy, and clichéd, but it still does the job and it is entertaining.