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 a franchise that redefined the modern car film and turned street racing culture into a global box office phenomenon. Directed by Rob Cohen and built around a cast including Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, the picture arrived as a mid-budget action feature and became a cultural touchstone, spawning sequels that grew into one of cinema's most durable action series. Its influence on car culture, casting trends, and studio franchise strategy in the 2000s is difficult to overstate.
This cell preserves the opening identification of the picture itself, the frame where the name of the film first appears on screen. Such cells are prized by collectors precisely because they mark a beginning, the threshold moment before any character or plot unfolds, often the first strip cut for archival and promotional use. Owning this piece means owning the film's very introduction to audiences, a fragment tied not to a scene or actor but to the identity of the work as a whole, the instant the title itself became fixed in the public imagination.
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 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 visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along one edge, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block pattern visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same side, and a DTS timecode stripe also appears present, consistent with a tri-format release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears neutral to very slightly cool; the dye image reads as a title-card black field with white and yellow lettering, showing no visible colour shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames appear to be consecutive title frames from a single shot, and the title logo 'THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS' is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track, apparent Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and DTS timecode stripe 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 000062898
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
