Boogie Nights [DVD] [1998]

Ok before i start my review of this movie/DVD please note that the comments other people have made about the aspect ration being messed up are wrong! I found no problem what so ever with this disc and there was certainly no "oogie Nights" at the start!
Now onto the movie....
This film rightly deserves to be called a classic. Why? Becuase it's unique. There have been a few imitations (Wonderland is one) but non have ever come close to the sheer power and honesty of this movie. Many people see the porn industy as glamour and non stop partying. But as this movie proves there is much more to it. These people have lives and, just like you and i, they have problems. The film starts off charting the rise to fame of "Dirk Diggler" the new boy in the porn industry. And "rise" he does....but, when he falls, boy does he fall. And that is where this story really comes into it's own. The domino effect created by Dirk's downfall is one of the most gut-wrenching things you'll ever see. But it's not all doom and gloom. Boogie Nights has a sense of fun. It has a sense of what it was like to live amongst the most hedonistic of times...and that is a sheer joy to witness. All in all this movie is a must see. It's not only beautifully filmed but the acting is A+ Wahlberg is astounding as Diggler as are co-stars Heather Graham and Julieann Moore. But for me the film is completely stolen by three people:
Burt Reynolds who gives the best performace he's ever done!
Phillip Seymore Hoffman as the twitchy Scotty J
And Willam H Macy as the much dumped on Little Bill.
All in all it's s stellar cast and a phenominal movie!

As for the DVD there is one thing that irked me: Why a two disc set for such a poor set of extras?
Disc one has nothing more than a couple of commentaries. The first of which is a brilliant and insightful one by director P.T. Anderson.
The second one is rather boring as it features the cast and the director drunk and simply praising each other for the full 2 1/2 hours!
Disc two has a 10 deleted scenes, Talent profiles (of both the actors and their characters), The john C Reilly files (nothing more than three clips of his improvisations during the shooting of the movie), A music Video of a song that wasn't in the film and....that's it!! No trailers,no "Making Of", nothing.
In a way i'm sort of glad that it is a two disc set though because the film is presented in a much better bitrate and look amazing....but...i doubt it would have suffered much had the extras been moved onto the first disc.

So....if you want my advice....buy this movie...and buy it now!
Peace Out Baby!

I didn't realise quite how explicit this film would be, both in the sense that it is a film about pornography and thus heavily involves it, but also in its confrontation with humanity, society and culture - but it packs this punch with hilarity, brilliant settings, and a stellar soundtrack. Perhaps a more extreme version of Pulp Fiction, in several senses. If you're the sort of person who doesn't shy away from intelligent films - this is a must see.

This blu-ray release is better than the old R2 DVD in every way. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio rather than the cropped version, which was a travesty given that the film used its widescreen framing to the fullest extent. You get a pristine HD transfer and a bombastic Dolby TrueHD soundtrack - the music really kicks in, and the firecrackers in the drug deal scene will make you jump as much as John C. Reilly's character did :) The blu-ray appears to be a straight copy of the US release - you get all the deleted scenes, accessed through a plain but functional menu. I'm not complaining if the disc loads quicker :)

The only minus is that it comes in a plain blu-ray clamshell case rather than the very nice R1 DVD boxset, but I believe the US blu-ray is just the same.