Trainspotting: Ultimate Collector's Edition [Blu-ray] [1996] (This Title is in Our Summer Sale*)

To recap, Trainspotting follows the lives of three junkies (Renton, Sick Boy and Spud) and a psychopath (Begbie) in Edinburgh (although quite a lot of the film is actually shot in my home town of Glasgow). Having recieved a mixture of acclaim and controversy when it was released, those who make the effort to watch it will realise it is not about glamorising drugs. It is essentially about the break up of friendships between men who have been pals since school and whose lives decay in a furore of drink, violence, sex, and drugs. It also makes an important statement of how mundane junkies' lives are.

The most disturbing aspect of this film is actually the amount of humour: from the bookmaker's toilet to the psychopath Begbie, quite simply a nutter, to use a nice vernacular phrase. Also look out for Sick Boy's great impressions of Sean Connery.

The extras on the DVD are great and a perfect length. Various missing scenes are included on the first disc. On the second disc, there is a mixture of interviews (including one with the author of the book, Irvine Welsh), and good behind-the-scenes material, including some nice multi-angle material.

Admirers of Trainspotting will have already appreciated its pulsating and eclectic soundtrack: from Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day' to Sleeper's cover of 'Atomic'; from Iggy Pop's 'Lust For Life' to 'Habanera' from Carmen.... This DVD explains the choice of sound, as well as other aspects such as visuals and colour, and was interested to find out the music is designed to move the audience from the 1980s where the story begins to the 1990s. Indeed, Renton, the hero (?) of the film begins as a person with his mind stuck in the era of Iggy Pop, before eventually waking up to the 1990s with Pulp and Damon Albarn. Incidentally, also look out for the vox-pops of Albarn at the Cannes film festival on the second disc, as well as the likes of Oasis and Ewan McGregor himself.

This a film which deals with a controversial subject in a perfect manner with an excellent cast, great visuals, and a racing sountrack. ***** Five Stars! ***** Read more ›

It shares with Clockwork Orange a clutch of harrowing, graphic scenes of violence or drug use, but also a sense of a story well told, and an innate watchability. Once you've seen it once or twice and gotten over the initial "Agh!" of a few scenes, it becomes quite likeable. The cast are all down to Earth and believable (McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller, aka the sly Bond-obsessed Sick Boy, are fantastic, with Ewen Bremner as the loopy but loveable Spud and Robert Carlysle in his breakthrough turn as psycho Begbie) and the easy-to-get-to-grips-with script sticks to Irvine Welsh (the first credit at the end of the movie is to him).

It's can be equally gritty (the toilet scene and some of the film's harsher realities) and surreal (the trips), which ensures it's not boring for a second, and Danny Boyle's direction makes sure it won't displease the eye for a moment either. The pop soundtrack is brilliant, and enfuses the film with energy (as if it was lacking already, which it isn't), allowing the proceedings to leap forward without anyone feeling too bothered. Choppy editing adopted by Lock Stock also slickens things, and the fact that none of these characters get any real depth or life story - even McGregor's Renton tells nothing of his past or how he met these people - the ensemble performances and overall gradual story make up for it. You'll more than likely be cheering for McGregor in the finale....

The DVD is fun but hardly "definitive," boasting a solid commentary from Boyle, writer Hodges and McGregor; an interview with Welsh; some Cannes clips (with Damon Albarn, Martin Landau and Noel Gallagher, as if they had anything to do with it); trailers and a few all-too-brief retrospectives. Still, it's all brilliantly presented. And after all, the film... perhaps not "the best British film of the decade," but sure in the running... makes up for any problems and then some. Read more ›