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 street racing picture that became a launching pad for one of modern cinema's most durable franchises. Built around illegal drag racing culture in Los Angeles, the film introduced Dominic Toretto and undercover cop Brian O'Conner to mainstream audiences, and its box office success reshaped Universal's output for the next two decades. What began as a B-movie exercise in car culture spectacle grew into a global franchise, and this early entry remains the foundation collectors return to when tracing the series back to its roots.
This cell preserves a moment featuring Johnny Tran and Lance Nguyen, two figures central to the film's rival gang subplot. Tran, played by Rick Yune, and Nguyen, played by Reggie Lee, represent the Asian import racing crew whose tension with Toretto's circle drives much of the film's conflict and eventual violence. Collectors seek these characters out because their scenes carry the antagonistic edge that gives the story its stakes. A 35mm cell like this one functions as a physical fragment of that theatrical print, a tangible artifact from the reel that once projected these two men together on screen.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Fast and the Furious (2001).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the lower edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-brown tint consistent with a colour dye image; no obvious red shift or significant fading is apparent.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as a single continuous shot and the action depicted is consistent with a theatrical release print of The Fast and the Furious (2001).
Era check
The combination of dual bilateral variable-area optical track and Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is 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 000062875
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
