Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Universal Pictures released The Fast and the Furious in the summer of 2001, a modest action programmer built around illegal street racing culture in Los Angeles. Directed by Rob Cohen and led by Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, it outperformed expectations and became the foundation of one of the most enduring franchise properties in modern studio history, spawning more than a dozen sequels and shifting global blockbuster strategy for two decades.
This cell preserves Dominic Toretto, the character who anchors the entire saga and remains its central figure through every subsequent installment. For collectors, a strip bearing his name from this specific film carries weight as an origin point, the first physical trace of a character who would come to define the series. Whether drawn from a trailer reel, a title card sequence, or the main credits, a cell like this represents the earliest cinematic record of Toretto, tying the collector directly to the franchise's founding chapter on actual 35mm stock.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Fast and the Furious (2001).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean with no torn or missing perfs visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, showing the characteristic waveform pattern of a dual bilateral or variable-area stereo track; Dolby Digital pixel blocks appear present in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a composite optical/digital soundtrack.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-green tint consistent with a modern safety stock; the dye image reads warm-amber, showing no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices or cue marks; faint longitudinal lines are present on at least one frame, consistent with projection wear.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a release print of The Fast and the Furious (2001).
Era check
The composite optical/Dolby Digital soundtrack format and blue-tinted polyester safety base are consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2001 release date on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062863
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
