Has anyone seen this in theaters? Upon release or otherwise?

I was 10 when it came out, but all the older kids were talking about ho funny it was. My brother seen it like 3 times within two weeks he loved it so much, so it was very popular among the teens. I was lucky enough to have had an uncle who rented it in early 1983 when it hit home video and I got to sneak it when everyone was alsleep, I knew almost every scene cause all the teens talking about it over the summer. It got promoted pretty good too, the commercial was on a lot.. I wish I was old enough to have seen it on the big screen. It was very cutting edge for it's time..

I don't remember a big reaction. The movie had laughs but not big laughs. It did resonate with me because I was the same age as the characters. I remember going to this, hoping this was a bit like Animal House, which to me was the gold standard of film at the time. It wasn't. It was sexy but it was gloomy too. It was real. I enjoyed it, all of the famous scenes of course as well. I just didn't realize we would still be talking about this little film in 2016. It's kind of funny but that's how classics happen.

Saw it with my brother at the Americana theatre in Van Nuys CA upon first release. I was 14, he was 12. We would always buy a PG ticket and then sneak in to the R-rated films after the lights had gone down and the "coming attractions" were being shown. We chose this particular theater because we knew there was very little checking going on to throw out kids from R-rated films not accompanied by a parent. Once you got in, there were no ushers with flashlights trying to throw you out like at some other places.

At first viewing, the movie was more interesting and amusing rather than laugh-out-loud funny to the point of pissing yourself the way "American Pie II" or some of these sillier films are. Still the older girls in the theatre with us during this Saturday matinee were cracking up every time Sean Penn did one of his scenes and this told us there were things going on that were more subtle in nature which we did not yet understand. We saw it at least 3 or 4 other times in different theatres, including at the Sherman Oaks Galleria where the mall sections of the movie were filmed. Every time we saw it we laughed more. 34 years and many VHS and DVD copies later, we are still laughing, still not really that hard but with much added understanding and nostalgia. The "laughs" of this film have a deep and satisfactory flavor to them full of little "truths" you don't get from other "comedies," simply because this is comedy mined from real-life teenage drama almost on the verge of tragedy rather than simply an attempt to make people laugh. The comedic aspects of this film belie how deep it can be from a different and simultaneously active perspective.

I would say that "Fast Times" is the "definitive" high-school film of the past 30 years and, without question, a classic. I don't think either Cameron Crowe or Amy Heckerling has been able to match the quality of this film in their subsequent work.

Nope i was 2 or 3 when it came out

I actually saw this at a drive-in theater. It was kind of weird, since the main railroad line was right next to the theater, so the trains going by would make it hard to hear the movie. Even worse, for some reason, the projectionist stopped the film just at the part where Jeff Spicoli runs into Brad at the convenience store. Lots of people honked their horns to indicate their dissatisfaction, but the film never came back on.

It was quite some time later before I finally got to see the end of the movie.

I saw it the weekend it opened in Long Island, NY; it was the weekend before school started. I remember how depressed I was afterward, because school started in 2 days and the movie ended after the last day of school. I was homesick for summer!

Unlike the other people who commented, the theater laughed out loud to such a degree that I didn't hear many of the lines until years later when I watched it on video. An example would be the last line of the movie, when Sean Penn says "Totally awesome!!". I never heard the "Way to go, Hamilton!" line. Same thing when he says "You dick!!" to Mr. Hand. Mr. Hand's line was not heard due to the laughter in the theatre.

I just watched this on Showtime in a hotel this week. I have to say, growing up the '80's, this movie encapsulates all that was about that decade (I graduated high school in 1985). This film will always have a place in my heart.

FWIW: in 1982, I also bought the double album soundtrack, which IMHO is one of the best movie soundtracks ever.

I saw it in theaters in 1982, spring I believe?

There a wasn't much of a crowd reaction other than laughing at the Spicoli scenes. This was a film that became massively popular after its initial theater run, with VHS rentals and cable TV reruns.

I don't recall a strong reaction except maybe for the Spicoli pizza incident.