Ça chauffe au lycée Ridgemont

I was a few years out of high school when this came out, and really hit close to home for me. After I saw it, I looked up some of my old friends, most of them also saw it too, and we said to each other, "that's us!"

Many of the characters were a lot like the people I went to school with. I knew my share of stoners, studs, and girls who getting guys wasn't the biggest hang up in their life. Even today, I can sit, and watch this and I get fond memories of my old friends, and the fun we used to have.

This was made during the post-disco, pre-greed era of the 80s that was far too short. I'm surprised to find out this movie is still popular considering it is far from being politically correct. I'll admit, I wouldn't want my kids to some of the things these high school kids did, but it is a reminder how much fun the era was.

All throughout the decade of pencil-thin neckties and Pat Benatar look-alikes, various films came along that served to embody the times. "Valley Girl" (which introduced us to Nicholas Cage) and "Secret Admirer" were just a drop in the proverbial bucket. Amy Heckerling's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was the textbook definition of life as a teenager in the eighties and remains so to this day. The story was brought to life in a very unique way that hasn't been duplicated since:

There was no actual plot to speak of. This was just...High School.

It's a film about a group of kids looking for love, status, or a good buzz. The film was nothing more than that, and it didn't pretend to be more. In addition, Cameron Crowe's script made you *care* about what these kids went through as if their individual situations were happening to us (as they may very well have). It's almost a crime that a sequel was never made, although a mediocre TV series was spawned. Armed with a cast of characters that struck a chord with all of us (primarily because we knew someone in High School who acted just like them), and a soundtrack that reeked of the Mark Goodman-J.J. Jackson era of MTV, this film stands as a perfect portrait of a decade a lot of us say we'd like to forget....shortly before brushing the dust off an old Night Ranger cassette and indulging in a guilty pleasure.

Almost 22 years after it's release – this movie still remains to be great. Amy Heckerling gave us another hit in the 90's – Clueless – so it's no doubt that this too has become a cult classic.

This movie being a high school movie evolving around teenagers, though made in the 80's, contained all the elements that a horny teenage movie would have – topless women, pot smoking, masturbation, cheating on tests, virginity losing and all that sex talk and quite obviously teen pregnancy!!! However they were not extensively used unnecessarily with the intention to make people laugh – they were used at the right time and were very funny.

Sean Penn was excellent – that was quite the performance as Jeff Spicoli – especially now considering he is an Oscar winner – that's quite the long road he has traveled.

This was a great teenager movie – and for people who just love high school movies – this movie should next on their lit.

A fast-paced film with its share of laughs, Fast Times also takes time to sensitively handle many of the tough issues teens face. Abortion, trust, abandonment and sexual fears are all dealt with fairly and believably. An interesting snapshot into the world of teenagers--the great thing about this film is that it's not too stereotypically Californian. It could have been set anywhere in Canada or USA and still have been just as accurate. In addition, there are many scenes that will just have you doubled over with laughter--the carrot scene, as well as the interaction between rebel Sean Penn and angry Mr.Hand are just fantastic.

I graduated a southern California high school in 1977, which is essentially the location and time period of this movie. It's incredibly on the mark. But your mileage may vary, and I'll let the other reviews cover that. My purpose here is to reveal the horror which I just witnessed on a basic cable showing of Fast Times.

This movie earned an initial 'X' rating from the MPAA when first submitted, and after a few cuts garnered an 'R' for its release. The movie I saw on basic cable this morning would barely rate PG. Massive cuts and edits were evident all through the film. Entire scenes were removed. The dialog was edited so that you'd think it was made in the 1950's. The hilarious masturbation scene was edited in such a way that it appeared Linda walked in on Brad while he was peeing. (They actually ran the film backwards during this scene.) Even some of the musical soundtrack had changed, due to rights issues I'd guess.

My point is, if you've only seen this movie on basic cable, you really haven't seen this movie. The version I saw today was on A&E, and they just butchered it. Things like that should be illegal.