Fast Times at Ridgemont High - 1982

Spicoli was annoying. A character for straight dudes

Although he says otherwise, I think Sean Penn modeled Spicoli on the character Sam Whipple played on Open All Night. They're approximately the same age and Whipple went to Venice High, Penn went to SaMo so they were contemporaries and probably knew each other. If you've ever seen Whipple's space cadet Terry, you can't help but see the similarity and it was a year before Fast Times.

I can see that, R2.

Holds up perfectly if you grew up in that era, or if you watch it from an anthropological perspective, and not just to be a hater. Love it.

Great movie that did a pretty good job of being realistic about teenagers in the early 1980s. The casting director was brilliant. Look at all the future stars who were part of the cast, even if in bit parts. Jennifer Jason Leigh's character reminded me of a friend I had. She was a horny teenager. She pursued older men when she was 14 years old, but she was a Double D bra size by then. She looked much more mature. She told them she was 18 or 19 and they believed her. Wonder what #MeToo would make of her? She duped these guys just so she could have sex with older guys because she said they were better in the sack.

She also slept with a lot of guys in high school, but always went for older. She dated a senior when she was in 8th grade. Ultimately she had a couple abortions then settled on a nice, quiet guy in her class and stopped sleeping around. They got married and she's still married to him to this day and happy.

R2, I'm not seeing the similarity. Penn's character was a stoner surfer dude with a Valley Girl accent for boys. Penn's character reminded me of the stoner ski bums where I grew up (no beaches for surfing), and unsurprisingly they all worshiped Spicoli after the movie came out.

I'm a 90's kid, but I always enjoyed it. It just shows you that teen angst is basically the same for just about everyone. It was perfectly cast!

Your friend sounded fabulous, R5

The 80s were the last time women were naturally beautiful.

R2 Not so sure on that. This kid doesn't have the stoner/surfer/valley accent, and he doesn't use the valley lingo. The Sam Whipple character is spacey, but seems much more with it than Spicoli.

I jacked off to Judge Reinhold jacking off many times as a teen.

[Quote] How do you all think it holds up? Could you relate to it at the time?

I can't believe i didn't watch Fast Times until 2015. I love it but can't say much on how relatable it is (90s kid).

[Quote] The 80s were the last time women were naturally beautiful.

I feel like that could be said about guys too. At least compared to how they look in movies now.

R10 - I hope you never got caught the way he did . . .

LOVE LOVE this movie, course i was in high school in the early 80's too, so i can relate to all of it, the mall, the "cliques", the teachers, even the clothes, although i remember back in the day at my high school everyone wore skin tight jeans and polo shirts (and short shorts for p.e. and sports practices) unlike in this movie.. every year, the fashion changed and you had to keep up with it to be considered "cool"... anyway,

still hilarious too and so true.. i always liked that phoebe cates character was TRULY a good friend of jennifer jason leigh's character when with her beauty she could have been a snob and a bitch to her and to everyone for that matter...

loved seeing the radio shack hunk and his ass in motion in side profile in that dugout as he deflowered stacy at night....

great cast all around as well...

the only 80's movie high school movie that holds up besides risky business...

R12 apparently Judge was holding a big black dildo in that scene.

[quote] I feel like that could be said about guys too.

Ewwww no. Not with those mullets and long hair

The guys in the 80s weren't classically handsome but they were bland as shit, like they are today.

Loved this movie esp. the use of Somebody's Baby.

I love how Spicoli was genuinely baffled by his offending Mr. Hand.

I also love the manic cheerleader at the pep rally.

R19 one of the many many scenes in this movie that crack me up!... whatever happened to that blonde actress kelli maroney who also co-starred in that movie " night of the comet"?..

i remember for our high school assemblies (i went to a high school of over 2000 students) always pep rallies for the football team, everyone had to attend and everyone would get in trouble if they weren't enthusiastic enough, shouting and clapping? you would get hell if you weren't paying attention to the speakers, the coaches talking on the microphone or if you sat down tried do to your homework and so on! looking back i think "REALLY? REALLY?" yeah, we all need to kiss ass and praise a bunch of stuck up asshole meatheads on the football team as they strutted into the gymnasium!..

Weren't they called Spirit Bunnies? That always makes me laugh.

R12 that's a great gif.

Amy Heckerling gave Judge Reinhold a big, realistic looking dildo to hold in that scene. Phoebe Cates wasn't told about it. You can TOTALLY see her reaction to it. That is not a reaction of a person walking in on someone- it would be an expression of surprise and instant regret. You can see she's grossed out and disturbed, not knowing it was a fake dildo she was seeing.

Penn and Walston were fantastic together, they could have been nominated but it was a really good full year.

Louis Gossett Jr. "An Officer and a Gentleman"

Charles Durning "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"

James Mason "The Verdict"

Charles Durning "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"

John Lithgow "The World According to Garp"

Robert Preston "Victor Victoria"

Jennifer Jason Leigh was excellent in it.

I got into an argument with a female friend about this movie. She found it sexist and for whatever reason, hated it.

I guess you could argue the scene of Phoebe Cates nude was gratuitous but it was from Judge Reinhold's perspective. He was, after all, playing a horny teenager.

Personally, I think Jennifer Jason Leigh's character is one of the best written female teenagers in film. It helps that JJL was perfectly cast and she was able to capture the nuances of a sexually curious teenaged female. I agree with r13 - I liked that Phoebe's character was supportive. I also liked that her brother in the film was also supportive.

I think JJL should have been nominated. Her performance is the one that stays with me - not Penn's.

R25 Your friend is misguided. This is one of the few movies I can think of that treats abortion realistically. And where the person getting the abortion isn't somehow punished or painted to be a bad person or lacking in character. Does your friend know it was directed by a woman?

The Phoebe Cates nude scene certainly helped sell the movie in its time, but it's completely justifiable in the story. There's nothing sexist about a young woman being topless. When did everyone become so puritanical?

Wasn't the guy who fucked Jennifer Jason Leigh in the dugout like 30 in the movie?

It holds up. I attended an arts high school in the late 70s, so my experiences weren't identical. We had no athletes or cheerleaders. But, sweet Jesus, the stoners were perfect. I knew guys like that in my neighborhood. Sean Penn was excellent. His work wasn't recognized at the time because people didn't understand he was [italic]acting[/italic]; they thought Penn was Spicoli. The brother character who always has a job somewhere - I knew guys like him. Crowe and Heckerling did a great job. Don Phillips, the casting director, deserves mention also. Just look at how many people in tiny parts went on to be stars and others went on to be working actors. He was also casting director for Dazed and Confused.

I was six years old when this movie came out. I remember hearing all the teens around me consider it realistic overall. When I finally did see it at 15 (1990), I thought it was hilarious, and found some characters and situations more realistic than others. What did not hold up for me, even by 1990, is how old most of the actors look, with the exception of Jennifer Jason Leigh. It found it hard to relate to most of the teen characters when the actors looked 30.

I thought the Last American Virgin from the same year was also very good, not as good as Ridgemont. Also dealt with abortion. Great soundtrack, too.

Last American Virgin was based on the Israeli Lemon Popsicle films. In Virgin, Lawrence Monoson gives an amazingly good performance.

It holds up. I really like it. I think a lot of teen movies hold up. Because being a teenager is an experience we went through and it transcends any decade. Teenage problem. And phoebe cates was defection. Perfect skin , body, face, tits. She would also be hottest around at that age , in any decade. Also, spicollis really do exist, if you grew up in Southern California or Hawaii like me, surf stoners that act and talk like that are REAL

Lol defection=perfection. Fucking iphone

[quote] Could you relate to it at the time?

Most DLers' high school experience was closer to Natalie from Facts of Life than Fast Times at Ridgemont High!

I love this film so much. Definitely my favorite of the high school comedy genre films. Think about that cast and the success that most of them has have. If I were to sit down and rank my favorite films from 11 to 100, Fast Times will be in somewhere between 11 and 15.

One of my favorite things about the film was the friendship between Stacy and Linda. It makes me happy to know that their respective potrayers, Jennifer Jason Leigh and the beautiful Phoebe Cates have been best friends in real life since then. I would love to see Phoebe Cates come out of acting retirement into some great comeback role.

Me too r35. She did come out of retirement as a favour for friend JJL in that movie The Anniversary Party. She still had it.

I know Cates is not the greatest actress but I always found her charming - Private School, Gremlins, Shag: The Movie.

r36, I agree with your assessment of Cates. She was better in some things than others. In some ways, she made her portrayal of Linda just as real as Jennifer's portrayal of Stacy. I love watching that performance. I also enjoyed her very much in Gremlins. She delivered that dark Santa Claus story superbly. I also thought she was great in the TV miniseries Lace. I would love to see her try a comback.

r30, I enjoyed The Last American Virgin as well but it had such a sad ending, unlike Fast Times where the ending gave you hope for their characters.

Does anyone remember the Fast Times at Ridgemont High TV adaptation. Film director Amy Heckerling was the supervising producer. It only last a half a season. A lot of the same actors who played the teachers came back, including the awesome Ray Walston as the indomitable Mr. Hand. The students were all new. I enjoyed this show very much. Pre-Melrose Place Courtney Thorne Smith played Stacy.

Was a kid working in a mall movie theater, tux and all playing a movie about kids working in a mall with a movie theater. My friends and I on our first trip to LA made sure we went to that mall where they filmed it.

[Quote] I thought the Last American Virgin from the same year was also very good, not as good as Ridgemont. Also dealt with abortion. Great soundtrack, too.

Good movie but also depressing. That ending is a punch to the gut.

R35 and R36.. thank you so much for the information on JJL and phoebe cates! great that they were and are best great friends in real life!... makes me enjoy the movie now even more so! just great!...

i so so need to buy this movie on blue ray and hope for some "making of", interviews and deleted scenes of. ...

i can't think of any other movie that spawned so many careers out of a young cast...

i remember renting this movie and laughing throughout but also laughing really hard when at the end hamilton is getting held up and he's trying to open the safe in the wall and the would be robber is telling him to hurry up and calling him names and finally hamilton can't take it anymore and yells "get off my back mother fucker!" ... so so funny the WAY he says it and you know you would WANT to say this, but of course wouldn't because you would be so scared of a guy with a gun pointed at you.. i remember renting this movie and playing this particular scene over and over again while my mother became upset because of the foul language used and why would i think this was funny?! lol!...

I’m a fan of Last American Virgin too but without that devastating ending it wouldn’t be remembered much today. Definitely a gut punch and a more realistic ending than Fast Times but otherwise the characters are pretty one-dimensional.

Loved it, and I think it does hold up. There was a lot of comedy and some dead serious moments.

Lots of mention of the friendship between Stacy and Linda, but I also loved the one between Stacy and Brad. Yeah, they bickered, but when she needed him, he wasn’t a judgmental dick.

[quote]It found it hard to relate to most of the teen characters when the actors looked 30.

In that case, I hope you never see the movie Grease.

r42, I agree. The post-abortion scene between Stacy and her brother Brad was beautiful. When she asked him not to tell the parents, his "Come on" response was so touching. I really got into Brad's story. The way he struggled after being fired from that fast food restaurant was real. OMG, that customer responsible for getting him fired. Who hasn't had a customer like that if you worked in fast food or retail. What a prick. It seemed right for the film to end on Brad becoming a hero from fucking up that robber at that convenience store. Spicolli's reaction was the cream on top. "Awesome! Totally awesome!".

Same, r29 -- we're the same age. By the time I was in high school, I could relate to most of it, but some of it seemed like another generation altogether. It's a funny movie that has held up.

[quote] She duped these guys just so she could have sex with older guys because she said they were better in the sack.

Lots of us did that in our teens. 😬

I would have thrown my life away for stereo salesman Ron Johnson.

You'd be surprised at how many people thought the ending of Last American Virgin was total truth. If Fast Times had the same ending (and the setup is pretty much the same), it's likely we wouldn't think as highly of it.

The end of Call Me By Your Name is an homage to the ending of Last American Virgin.

That's one of the reasons I don't want to see a CMBYN sequel. It ended perfectly. I don't want to see them both with women, and have it turn out to be a Jack Twist and Ennis situation.

LAV told the story through Gary and his reaction when he finds out Steve Antin fucked Karen was an amazing moment, especially in lieu of what happens at the end. FTARH is told through Stacy, and although she says she feels nothing for Mike, the statement of LAV was that girls love the bad boys who treat them like shit and the good guys are the ones who get shit on. Until the end, the Karen character is not written any less sympathetically than Stacy (and both get abortions after being dumped by the guys who knocked them up) but the ending of LAV speaks to the bizarreness and nonsensical ways we act as kids. Antin takes Karen back and she dumps schlubby Gary. She was also aware that there was greater prestige dating the BMOC, even after what he put her through.

Fast Times allows Stacy to mature but the ending seemed as big a cop out as Sixteen Candles but in the opposite direction.

Wanted to add that Lawrence Monoson from Virgin sadly didn't have the career he should have. It might have been due to his looking like an unfortunate cross between Jon Cryer and Glenn Scarpelli. But he really made you feel for the character. His performance as a young man with CP in Gaby should have given him an Oscar nomination.

Oops, meant the cop out ending of Pretty in Pink.

The movie was realistic in showing that most of the students had jobs.

So true r52, especially Brad.

Let's not forget that Director Amy Heckerling went on to direct the great Clueless in the 90s. Not as real as Fast Times, mainly because it was based on the classic novel Emma but very entertaining nevertheless. Heckerling really has an ear for the high school comedy.

She also directed I Could Never Be Your Woman. I love Amy too.

I don't know, R49. I knew girls in high school who were like Stacy after getting treated like crap by the BMOC. I also knew girls like Karen who let the BMOC shit on them endlessly because of the prestige of dating someone so popular. I think it's just two approaches to similar situations, and I saw both in real life. I can't say one approach seemed more real than the other.

R55, another thing that made them different was that Karen was the new girl in school. She was trying to fit in. As such, it makes sense that she would still return to the guy who knocked her up and then left her. Her returning to him would seem the ultimate triumph to a girl with such low self esteem.

I know John and Kirstie could be obnoxious, but I liked the Look Who's Talking movies.

I loved this movie. It was totally relatable and reflected the mall culture of the early 80's perfectly. Loved the music too.

Lawrence Monoson & Steve Antin are both gay in real life.

[quote]i always liked that phoebe cates character was TRULY a good friend of jennifer jason leigh's character when with her beauty she could have been a snob and a bitch to her

Yes, it was nice for poor Stacy to have a spitfire like Linda in her corner.

When Mike Damone did Stacy dirty, Linda went in on his ass. I love that friendship.

Here is one thing that always bugged me, as a fairly hardcore Led Zep fan: Mike Damone tells Mark to play the album Led Zeppelin IV on his date with Stacy, but in the car on the way to the restaurant he plays Kashmir, which is actually on Physical Graffiti, not LZ IV. Just sayin.

Most of the actors look and act too old to be playing high schoolers. Which is true for a lot of teen movies. The reason is that actors in their 20s are just more talented - plus child labor laws, I think it also stems from adult writers/directors reminiscing about high school rather than making something truly real.

R63.. well i don't think they could get actual high schoolers actors (under 18) in scenes of masturbation and frontal nudity in scenes right?

reminds me of the great classic homo tv movie classic "lifeguard" starring the one and only sam elliott, who played the handsome stunning hairy chested full grown lifeguard in his late 30's who "deflowers" the beach bunny horny nympho played by actress kathleen quinlan... in real life elliott was 32 at the time and quinlan was 22.. but in the movie he is portrayed and looks like he is pushing 40 and she is suppose to be in HIGH SCHOOL! how they got away with that storyline for a 1976 tv movie is pretty risque and amazing...

I loved it, and I actually read the book first. Cameron Crowe went undercover at about age 22 and went to high school, as a senior, based the book (nonfiction) on that experience. The actual high school was in San Diego but I assumed the movie was LA. I graduated high school in the late 70's - Dazed And Confused was a movie I also related to.

Most of our generation knew & loved Ray Walston from My Favorite Martian so seeing him as Mr. Hand was cool (and he was great). The movie had a lot of sweet moments as well as sharp satire, I think Amy Heckerling (also directed Clueless) is a really good director. It's also the only movie where I really like Sean Penn, who's brilliant. It really captures a moment in time and doesn't get it wrong. The fast food jobs and other kinds of jobs we all did are represented really accurately too.

Sean Penn deserved an Oscar for his role. Seriously.

Spicioli was so perfect! The hair, his wadded up little mouth, the way he shuffled along with his endearing bow legs and was genuinely perplexed when things didn’t go his way...I think He’s one of the best teen characters in film. I feel as if I go back in a time machine watching this movie, where we all worked in mall restaurants and lived to go out and watch each other and see what would happen.

Fuck Dennis Taylor!

[quote] It found it hard to relate to most of the teen characters when the actors looked 30.

Then definitely don't watch The Politician on Netflix! Yeesh!

I love the Damone and Rat characters and friendship. Damone showed up as a waiter on a WAG episode but neither he or Rat have done too much of note.

What about Mr. VARGAS? Lol.. And the autopsy school trip that Spicoli goes on? And Mr. Vargas' wife was played by Lana Clarkson. Wow! Who could have guessed what would eventually become of her?

The real Ridgemont High was in Redondo Beach, not San Diego.

Love this movie. It's one of the few that didn't romanticize teenagers or turn them into total caricatures. Damone prematurely ejaculating while still in his socks is a lot closer to high school experiences than the sexathon portrayed in most movies.

I think it's usually easier to cast people over 18 as teens because of the child labor laws and the fact that, if things get sexual, the actors can actually make it realistic and don't have to find clever ways to hide the actors' bodies so it doesn't become kiddie porn.

Still, some people complain that any film depicting someone under 18 in as sexual situation, even if the actors are well over legal age, is obscene. I never understood that considering teenagers do have sex. Most of us all had that one girl who got knocked up at 14 or 15 in our high school.

[quote]The real Ridgemont High was in Redondo Beach, not San Diego.

R71 Wikipedia: Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego and wrote about his experiences.

The San Diego Union: Crowe’s curiosity led him to San Diego’s Clairemont High School, where he attended classes for an entire school year. He befriended his newfound “peers,” and eventually he was invited to their inner-sanctum of parties and pep rallies.

[Quote] The reason is that actors in their 20s are just more talented

They are?

Young Judge Reinhold kind of reminds me of Hale Appleman from The Magicians.

It's a classic. I was a 90's kid and I liked how Amy Heckling made Clueless for our generation which is like a 90's, more idealistic version of Fast Times. It's a great movie. When I saw it, I too jacked off to Judd jacking off. I love the soundtrack. Wasn't the opening montage sequence to We Got the Beat? Clueless does a similar opening montage at the mall with Kids in America. I really like Heckling - she has her finger on the pulse.

Mr Vargas's wife was murdered by Phil Spector.

To think that pic at r77 is now almost 20 years old!

As someone posted upthread, I too would have let the stereo salesman Ron fuck me into the 1990s.

R76... yes, the opening of the movie is indeed "we've got the beat" by the go-go's...

R80.. yeah, i would let Ron the salesman do me too! love seeing his ass moving up and down and thrusting away in the dark lit scene of him in the dugout screwing stacey.... it hurt stacey and she only did it that one time with him and no longer a virgin, but at least she can be proud of herself she made this 10 years or so older grown horny stud orgasm.. she "got him" good!...POWER TRIP for her...

I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT I love love the fact that phoebe cates and jennifer jason leigh in real life were/are/remain best friends all these years later....

In defense of Grease, not all the actors looked like they were in their 30s; Stockard Channing was clearly in her 40s.

'If I'm here and you're here, doesn't that make it our time"?

"Romance?We can't even get cable TV!"

R84....my brother's gonna shit, my brother's gonna kill us! make up your mind dude, is he going to shit or is he going to kill us?! first he's going to shit, then he's gonna kill us!....

he's not a guy stacey, he's a little prick!

get off my case mother fucker!...

mr. hand will i pass history 101, gee, mr.spicoli i don't know!....

you dick!...

One thing I got from that film, though I loved it, was how disappointing and degrading sex was for girls, if they made poor decisions like Stacey.

I love how unromantic the sex was in this movie. It wasn't hot. It was awkward and sometimes painful. That's how it usually is when you're young. At best, it's decent, but it's usually kinda weird and icky.

I’ll always associate Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby” with the image of the hot stereo guy getting undressed to fuck. That song makes me automatically horny!

It was fun to watch once. That being said i graduated high school in 1982. Top 10% of my class. And of course it was a Catholic high school.

The infamous Carrot Practice scene.

I actually liked the movie Valley Girl. It wasn't over the top like it could have been.

American Girl came out in 76 so it sounded old in the movie.

But the scene in the cafeteria pointing out the girls who were Pat Benatar clones was spot on.

One year later it would have been Madonna.

Near where I live in San Diego, a Fast Times theme restaurant. “Welcome to Fast Times on Clairemont Dr. Were located right on the border of Bay Park and Clairemont a few minutes from Mission Bay. Just down the street at Clairemont High is where famed writer Cameron Crowe posed as a student and penned the classic film “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”