Did anyone think this movie was almost parallel to Fasttimes at Ridgemont High? Which one came out first? They dealt with the same kind of topics (to first-time sex, abortion, good guy/bad guy, etc.). But with The Last American Virgin, it does have the realistic ending where as Fasttimes has the happy ending. Just seemed to me one was a rip off of the other just with a different ending.
shareI've seen Fast Times a couple of times, and always found it depressing and not very funny. Although Last American virgin is pretty depressing (at least at the end) the rest was much funnier and felt more true to life, where the idea of ordering a pizza in class does not. Also not nearly as funny as most of the things in Last American Virgin.
shareWhat was it about fast times did you feel was depressing? I can't really think of anything depressing in that movie.
shareSince the plots are relatively the same, I can truthfully say both were depressing, but Fast Times the characters were less appealing, less identifiable. I felt like there was a meaner and less innocent tone to Fast Times, I felt more like the characters in Last American Virgin were more true to life, so you could excuse what stupid behavior they exhibited towards the girls.
shareI didn't find them less appealing, but I agree about them being less identifiable. But Fast times was much more of a comedy in my opinion so it makes sense that they're less than true to life.
shareI've only seen Fast Times twice, and both times when it was over I was depressed. The only part I know people find "funny" is Sean Penn ordering pizza in class, and I found that more obnoxious than funny, but that's me. Otherwise the movie was pretty depressing to me. Granted, Phoebe Cates made it worth sitting through, as she has in every movie she's ever been in.
shareI love both films, but Fast Times is far superior. Virgin is like the little brother to Fast Times.
The roles in Fast Times were highly sought after and the actors were better and several went onto bigger things. You can't say the same thing about the actors in Virgin.
Both soundtracks are great, but the songs get repeated in Virgin over and over. It's like the producers only had enough money to spend on 5 songs.
And Gary came off as gay to the viewer, wearing a bandana around his neck and a cutoff t-shirt. If I was Rick, I would have laughed my ass off when Gary started a fight with me in the library. Gary was so effeminate in that scene. He practically lisped throughout the argument and threw a punch like a girl.
Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I would have to say that your statement of Fast Times being superior is an opinion, rather than a fact. But I will address your comments one at a time.
Since Fast Times was a movie full of first timers, first time screenplay writer, first time director, and many first time or close to first time actors, I would have to say that the roles were only as highly sought after as any other role in Hollywood at the time. As has been expressed by many people involved in Fast Times, no one expected it to be anything more than another teen comedy. I will give Fast Times a point for casting, they ended up getting many actors who ended up much more popular. Of course, as is always the case, all of the actors BECAME more popular due to the success of the movie as well, who knows how many of them would have gone on to be as big without this being a hit.
Last American Virgin's cast was unknown, and pretty much stayed that way except for the lead girl, but that does not mean they did a bad job or did not come off as genuine. In fact, I would go so far as to say they were much more genuine and realistic than any of the cast of Fast Times. Phoebe was way too hot, Sean was way too obnoxious, and the rest of the cast was not very real. They LOOKED like Hollywood actors. The cast of Last American Virgin looked like the people they were portraying, regular teens. And I think they did a fine job with their roles.
Now comparing soundtracks, well, I don't even see how they compare. The Fast Times soundtrack is 19 songs, only one of which was a Top 40 hit. There were a few songs that got some radio play but nothing significant. There were also 5 songs that were not on the soundtrack, and while some of them got some radio play, only one of those was a Top 40 hit as well. The soundtrack was also pretty dull, and did not stand up to the standards of the music of the time. There may have been some popular artists on the album, but the songs on it came across as b-sides or throwaways that just didn't belong on any of the artists proper albums.
Now comparatively, Last American Virgin was a treasure trove of hits and well played radio songs that felt like they came right off the radio at the time. Part of that is that many of them were hits from the time, but they were used in the right context and fit the scenes. They helped tell the story, like a good soundtrack should. There were a whopping 23 songs in the movie, just one less than Fast Times, but the hits were everywhere. There were at least 8 Top 40 hits in the movie, plus huge radio songs by The Cars, The Human League, Blondie, plus a little known group at the time that was just starting, named U2. It was the first time they were used in a movie and credited, and their song fit right in the movie. So although the soundtrack for Fast Times probably cost more to produce, Last American Virgin had just about as many songs and packed more punch for the dollar. Why you only heard 5 songs repeated over and over beats me.
Now, I will leave it to the PC police to get on your case about how you felt towards Gary, personally that kind of thing doesn't bother me. But this WAS the 80s, much of the fashion from that time looked gay then, and much of it still does now. I did not find Gary to be effeminate so much as weak, nerdy, scared, awkward, and hopelessly in love with the wrong girl.
One last comparison. Fast Times cost about 5 million dollars to make, and ended up making about 5 times that when it came out. Last American Virgin was made by Golan and Globus, notoriously cheap filmmakers, who probably didn't even spend a million on this film. They also made about 5 times what it cost to make. So dollar for dollar, they made about the same ratio of profit when all was said and done. Of course, being that Fast Times was overall much more popular, the popularity has lasted to this day, and the film still makes money.
All in all they are both somewhat depressing movies, but the realness of Last American Virgin outshines the fake glossiness of Fast Times, for me at least.
I must say you made some solid points there, TheHungryAndAngryShow. I appreciate your thoughts. Despite my post, I love both flicks.
shareI did take note that you love both films, and Fast Times is the more well known and universally loved one, but not the one I connected with. Oddly enough I only recently saw Last American Virgin, so I do not hold any nostalgia feelings towards it, like I do towards Fast Times. I can understand why people like it, or even like it better, in the same way I get that most people love The Breakfast Club because it is a Hollywood stylized version of their own lives and stereotypes. But I do not fit into that batch of people it seems. Either way, that's how it works, we all have the things that we connect to, they just aren't always the same things!
shareAs a child of the 80s I was watching all of these teen comedies due to my older siblings. I loved Last American Virgin and still regard it as an 80s classic. Fast Times was great, but in terms of entertainment I'd say LAV was the better movie.
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Funny you say that. Are you aware that Rick (Steve Antin) in real life is actually gay?! Ironic, eh?
shareThis one is more realistic. Nice guy always loses especially in high school. Mark Ratner would never get the girl in real life
shareLove both.
But I'll go with Virgin - I like the soundtrack just a little bit more, there are more funny scenes, and then, of course, that punch-you-in-the-gut ending.
The calls are coming from inside the house.share
Not sure why but I'm partial to LAV! Maybe it's the mood or the music I like better---not sure. Honestly though I think it's the romantic subplot I like. Yes, Rat was really into Stacy in FTARH, but it wasn't nearly as touching as Gary and Karen in LAV. Plus honestly I think FTARH was more tame and more like a PG version of LAV. No hookers or Latin cougars or lines of cocaine (sugar) in FTARH!
shareThere is one very distinctive difference in the two films I haven't seen anyone mention. The Last American Virgin is essentially about a boy (Gary) and is told from his perspective. In this sense, it's fairly conventional. However, from there it becomes a genre breaker in many, many ways. Apart from it's very unusual ending in terms of who is "happily ever after," it treats the subject of abortion in a very atypical way. In the end, it is a very realistic portrayal of a unique character's experience, one that avoids or even deliberately breaks many of the standard tropes of its genre.
On the other hand, Fast Times at Ridgemont High is essentially about a girl (Stacy/JJ Leigh), and it stays close to her perspective although, unlike Virgin, it does frequently leave her point of view altogether to focus on other characters. In its own way, FTARH is also a genre buster, mainly because the character who is trying to get laid is the girl, the encounters are shown from her perspective, they are portayed in a realistic instead of romanticized way. Of course this is the depressing element of FTARH. This aspect of the film has been discussed all over the place, but FTARH is pretty much unique in this respect to this day.
I have a soft spot for Virgin. I don't usually identify with characters like Gary, but his plight is very familiar to me, and his story wraps up in a very realistic way. Spicoli not so much. He could only have been born on a page.