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 2001, a modestly budgeted street racing picture that became a sleeper hit and launched one of the studio's most durable franchises. Built around underground car culture, illegal racing, and a heist subplot, it introduced audiences to a world of tuned imports and family loyalty among racers. Its success reshaped Universal's release calendar for years and made stars of its leads, cementing car culture as viable blockbuster material well into the 2000s and beyond.
This cell preserves a moment featuring Dominic Toretto, the crew leader whose code of loyalty and skill behind the wheel anchors the entire series, alongside Brian O'Conner, the undercover cop drawn into Dom's orbit. A car roll tied to Dom is a pivotal beat, the kind of physical consequence that racing pictures build toward and collectors seek out. Owning a frame from this exact junction of the story, on the format the film was shot and shown in, offers a tangible link to the sequence that helped define the franchise's early identity.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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 with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, consistent with a dual-format optical track layout.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at a legible level; no key numbers or manufacturer text can be read.
Base & colour
The base carries a slight blue-cyan tint typical of a colour print stock; the dye image reads as warm-neutral with no obvious red shift or significant fading.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of a live-action feature.
Era check
The combination of a colour dye-coupler positive print, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track, and the blue-tinted base stock is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s to 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 000062876
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
