Trainspotting - Collector's Series (1996)

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Johnny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, Kelly MacDonald

Director: Danny Boyle

Rating: R

Distributor: Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Release Date: June 1, 2004
Review posted: May 24, 2004

Spoilers: Minor

Reviewed by Dennis Landmann

SYNOPSIS

Renton (McGregor), deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends. Thanks to IMDB.

CRITIQUE

Trainspotting is one of those cult films that exploded on home video, kind of like Austin Powers. The film received a great deal of buzz and screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996. It's based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, which was said to be unfilmable. However, screenwriter John Hodge, director Danny Boyle, and producer Andrew Macdonald combined effort and talent to tell a unique story from a skewed perspective. It also helps their film is funny.

What makes the film appealing are its characters and its telling of the story. Renton seems like a good guy, but he doesn't really live. He and his friends, Sick Boy (Miller), Tommy (McKidd), and Spud (Bremner), shoot up heroin daily at their deserted apartment. However, things change for Renton when he meets Diane (Macdonald), a girl he meets at the local club, but his life really turns around after he sees Spud go to prison. In effect, Trainspotting tells the story of one man who decides to "choose life", which is also the point of the film's opening and closing narration. I would've liked to have seen more between Renton and Diane, but I guess their relationship wasn't really legal anyway.

However, some viewers might be put off by the film's whole drug notion. The R rating here stands for graphic heroin use and resulting depravity, strong language, sex, nudity and some violence, though I feel the graphic nature adds to the film's realism. Trainspotting is fueled by really good performances, especially from McGregor and Robert Carlyle as the evil Begbie, a smart script, a great sense of direction by Danny Boyle, and some memorable scenes, such as "the worst toilet in Scotland".

THE VIDEO

Miramax presents Trainspotting in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colors look bright and well-saturated, except for a few muted sequences. Image quality is good with some specks and minor grain, and I didn't notice any compression artifacts. Black levels look good, too. Optional subtitles include English, French, and Spanish.

THE AUDIO

Miramax presents Trainspotting in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Except for the music in the soundtrack, the rest of the audio stays in the front. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand, and sound effects remain clear. The surrounds are not active much, only moderately enhancing the presentation. But overall it's good quality for a film like this.

THE EXTRAS

The film arrives in a two-disc DVD set, or alternatively referred to as The Definite Edition. On the first disc is a feature-length audio commentary by director Danny Boyle, screenwriter John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald, and star Ewan McGregor. This track utilizes interviews conducted for the Criterion Collection in London sometime in 1996, which works very well. There are silent moments that last a few seconds, but overall it's an information-filled track. Boyle and Hodge make interesting comments, while MacDonald and McGregor add some back-up thoughts and info. An overall good listen, recommended to those who like the film.

Also on the first disc are about a dozen deleted scenes w/ optional commentary that range between 1-3 minutes in length. A few of them don't add much to the film, but there is a cut subplot and two nice scenes.

The second disc combines for an approximate running time of 104 minutes of bonus material. The Retrospective menu starts things off. Here we find Look of the Film that breaks down into Then (4:01), a 1995 interview with production designer Kave Quinn who shows and discusses various photos, and Now (3:13), featuring extracts from interviews with Boyle, Macdonald, and Hodge filmed in February 2003.

Sound of the Film - Then (7:40) shows a 1995 interview with Boyle and Macdonald at the mixing studio. It's somewhat interesting. Now (4:50) is a decent discussion also. Interviews presents Origins - Irvine Welsh (4:36) where Macdonald interviews the author on set. There are also interview vignettes with Hodge, Boyle, and Macdonald.

Behind the Needle shows us three different angles of the scene with Renton injecting the heroin. Angle 1 (6:26) is a split-screen feature with Boyle on the right-hand side watching and commenting on footage (that's shown on the left) of the crew filming the needle going into a prosthetic arm. Angle 2 & 3 shows the same exact thing, except we see Boyle and the footage separately, though the audio remains.

The Making of Trainspotting (9:31) is purely promotional. It features interviews done during filming, but most of the information gathered is repeated in the commentary track. The actors comment on their characters, which is fine but not all that informative. There are also several film clips as well as behind-the-scenes footage. Overall, this making-of doesn't offer a very in-depth look at the film.

Under the Cannes menu are four picture snapshots and the Cannes Snapshot (1:56) reel that shows footage of the May 1996 midnight screening after-party with short interviews of Harvey Weinstein, Toni Collette and Noel Gallagher.

Rounding out the extras is the teaser trailer, the theatrical trailer, an animated photo gallery (5:04) with music, and a variety of cast/crew biographies.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Trainspotting is a cool cult flick featuring fine performances, a witty script, and good direction. The DVD edition is good, but not great. Video and audio quality is fine, nothing special. The extras are only okay except for the informative commentary. With that said, the DVD comes only recommended. Fans, however, will want to own it.

VERDICT: RECOMMENDED

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