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, launching what became one of the most durable franchises in modern cinema. Directed by Rob Cohen and built around the underground street racing scene of Los Angeles, the film introduced audiences to Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner, paired Vin Diesel with Paul Walker, and turned a modest genre picture into a cultural touchstone that would spawn well over a decade of sequels and reshape car culture in popular media.
This cell captures the picture's opening identification card, the frame where the film announces itself before story or character take hold. For collectors, an opening card cell carries a particular weight: it is the threshold moment, the studio and title presented plainly, free of the narrative that follows. It stands as a marker of origin, the first physical impression a viewer receives, and for those tracing the franchise back to its source, this piece represents the very beginning of the reel itself.
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 each edge; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual variable-area (stereo) waveform pattern.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-tinted surround from the light panel; the image area is predominantly black with white and yellow title lettering, consistent with a colour dye image in normal state.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show the same title card, consistent with a title sequence from The Fast and the Furious (2001).
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack format and colour positive print stock are consistent with a 2001 theatrical release print of this title.
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 000062897
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
