THE MOVIE

Well, where to begin when describing one of the best films of the past decade.

Trainspotting is funny, dramatic, horrifying, sobering, enlightening and enjoyable. And often, all these things at once.

Based on the Irvine Welsh novel, Trainspotting revolves around the drug culture in Edinburgh and specifically the character of Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor). Renton is a young Scottish lower-class lad who happens to be a junkie. His drug of choice, heroin. Throughout the film his thoughts narrate us through and help us to understand both his and his friend’s actions. And he has some “eclectic” friends.

Spud (Ewen Bremner) is one of the nicest of these who’s a little bit wacky and happens to be under the allure of drugs as well. Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) is another junkie who’s the most stylish and sophisticated of the group. He’s also a big Sean Connery fan.

Tommy (Kevin McKidd) is more of an average type of guy with the look of a surfer. He’s a good friend of Renton who isn’t into the hard drugs.

Begbie (Robert Carlyle) is a different creature all together. His profanity laced, near incomprehensible tirades “f****** obvious that c*** was gunee f*** some c***” are at times hilarious, but soon reveal a man who is actually the most despicable of the bunch, and while his vice isn’t heroin, it’s something even worse, violence.

During one of his clean periods, Renton also meets Diane (Kelly Macdonald) at a local bar, and it doesn’t take long before they get to “know each other” better. But Diane has a little secret for Renton in the morning.

Along the way we see Renton on and off the drugs (with plenty of laughs and tragedies), but it isn’t until he suffers an overdose that getting off the stuff becomes necessary. He realises that in order to properly fight his addiction and “choose life”, he has to completely get away from his friends and that lifestyle. So he decides to move to London and after a while becomes a regular Joe with a regular job. That is until Begbie and Sick Boy show up, and his life is again turned upside down.

Filled with superlative dialogue and an engaging story, there is just so much to like about this film. Personally, I admire the honesty of the piece considerably. It never preaches the evil of drugs; it just explains why the characters choose to use them:

“Imagine the best orgasm you’ve ever had, multiply it by 1000, and you’re still not even close”

But it also never fails to show the graphic consequences of what can happen, and it’s the actors that help make these consequences hit home.

All the performances are stellar but particular kudos should go to Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle. McGregor makes Renton a real person and not a cliché, he’s not a hero or a “good guy” down on his luck, he’s just a man, and not even a very good one at that. Carlyle however is at the other end of the spectrum. He plays the slightly psychotic Begbie with alarming conviction, and you’re always on edge whenever he appears on the screen. Amazing performances.

The only negative I can say is that perhaps the final 20 minutes isn’t quite up to the standard that preceded it, as it’s merely very good, but I’m reaching.

Trainspotting certainly isn’t an easy movie to watch at times. It contains graphic scenes of drug use, violence, and near ridiculous amounts of course language.

(The ratings advice given by the OFLC says this movie contains “Medium Level Course Language”. That stuns me. The characters in this film throw out f and c words almost continuously. I can only think the guys at the OFLC couldn’t understand what the actors were saying half the time with those broad Scottish accents.)

It is, however, a great film that thoroughly deserves all the plaudits it has received over the past 7 years.

This is the second time Trainspotting has been released on our shiny discs in region 4, and that’s a good thing since the original DVD release had some problems. Namely, a luck-of-the-draw censorship issue where some copies of the disc suffered cuts, ordinary video and audio, and bugger all extras.

This new 2-disc set calling itself "The Definitive Edition" tries to rectify all those problems with a totally uncut feature, improved video and audio, and a shed load of extras.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

Trainspotting is presented at its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

Created on a budget of about £2,000,000, I wasn’t expecting Trainspotting to come up looking as good as Attack Of The Clones, but I was hoping for an above average video presentation. And, for the most part, I got just that.

Colours were represented quite well with outdoor scenes showing reasonable variety, while indoor shots tended to be muted by design, representing the squalor that some of these people lived in.

The picture was sharp, almost too sharp with aliasing causing some shimmer in the image at times. There were also a few occasions where the picture contained a little too much grain for my liking, although it was never too excessive.

Blacks were reasonably solid, although did look a little shaky at times with some low level noise present.

This is a RSDL disc with the layer change coming in at 55:21. Not a perfect change as it's a little noticeable due to a break in audio, but certainly not the worst I’ve seen either.

Overall, it’s a good video transfer that is certainly better than the one provided with the original DVD in our region, but I did expect SLIGHTLY better from a release declaring itself as “definitive”.

Audio:

Trainspotting is provided with 2 English soundtracks. The first of which is a Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448kbps. The second is a DTS track provided at the gob-smacking bit rate of 1536kpbs. To put that in perspective, most Superbit titles with DTS audio have a bit rate half that!

While I may have had some minor niggles with the video on offer, I have no such reservations about the audio. No matter what option you choose, you’re in for a real treat.

Dialogue is always clean and clear throughout, although I certainly won’t say easy to understand, especially whenever Spud or Begbie start up.

Surrounds and subwoofer aren't used too frequently, but are at their best showing off the thumping musical soundtrack (who could forget “Born Slippy”) which features artists such as Lou Reed, Damon Albarn, Pulp and Iggy Pop. During the scene where Diane and Renton meet at the Volcano Bar, I’m sure the bass heavy number managed to wake up the neighbours. Brilliant.

As for a comparison between the two tracks, honestly, there really isn’t that much between them. The DTS track seems slightly better defined, with slightly better bass reproduction and slightly better surround separation. But the key word to remember here is slightly. So if you aren’t DTS capable don’t fret, the Dolby Digital track is still a cracker.

Overall, a DTS track at this bit rate might seem to be slight overkill for a movie like Trainspotting but I really don’t care. It, and its Dolby Digital mate, sound fantastic and are certainly worthy of the “definitive” statement.

THE EXTRAS

Perfectly themed menus are provided for this 2-disc set. Let’s start with the extras on Disc 1.

AUDIO COMMENTARY

Recorded in 1996 for the laserdisc release of Trainspotting, this commentary features director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald, screenwriter John Hodge and actor Ewan McGregor. As not everyone is together for this commentary, Ewan acts not only as participant, but also as a sort of master of ceremonies providing a voice over and letting us know who is about to speak.

It is edited quite wonderfully and is full of fascinating and informative details about pretty much every scene in the movie. Want to know why the water was so clean when Renton dived into the toilet? Want to know why the colour of the heroin was a dirty brown? It’s all here.

A good listen for those who like the movie, a MUST listen for fans.

DELETED SCENES

A total of nine short deleted scenes are provided as well. These are available for viewing in two ways. Firstly, they are provided in their own deleted scene section where you can choose to view each individual scene. Secondly, they are available to be activated during the main feature, so whenever a pair of scissors is displayed, a press of enter on your remote control will send you to the deleted scene. There is no seamless branching of these scenes.

It’s clear that most of these deletions have occurred for reasons of time, so the movie can keep to the end running time of the magic 90 minute mark. Suffering the most from these cuts are the characters of Swanney, Sick Boy, and Diane. Each of these (especially Sick Boy after the death of his child) are expanded on and given more depth. Personally, I think it’s a shame most of these were cut.

They run for a total of almost 10 minutes and are presented at 1.85:1 with 16x9 enhancement. The quality of video is nowhere near the finished feature with film artefacts abound and the audio provided ain’t great either. Available in Dolby Digital 2.0 with or without director’s commentary.

Fabulous addition.

‘THE BEGINNING’

Basically what we have here is a 9 minute featurette that discusses the origins of the movie as well as talking with the principle actors about their characters. Presented at 4:3 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio this piece looks and sounds reasonable.

It’s a bit lightweight, but nice to have nonetheless.

And that’s it for Disc 1!

DISC 2

A similar themed menu gives us more goodies to enjoy.

Just to note before we get going, all of the extras on this disc (except where noted) are presented 4:3 with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. OK…and we’re off.

RETROSPECTIVE
(There are four sections here, each of which have sub-sections. These sections are Look of the Film, Sound of the Film, Interviews, and Behind The Needle)

Look of the Film – Then (4:01)

An interview with the production designer Kave Quinn shot during the filming of Trainspotting on June 15th 1995 in the Wills Cigarette Factory in Glasgow. Very nice.

Look of the Film – Now (3:11)

Extracts from interviews filmed in Feb 2003 sees Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and John Hodge look back with admiration at the work of Kave Quinn.

Sound of the Film – Then (7:40)

An interview conducted with Danny Boyle & Andrew Macdonald in Shepperton Studios on 10th November 1995 during the audio dubbing of the film.

Sound of the Film – Now (4:49)

Extracts from interviews with Andrew Macdonald, Danny Boyle and John Hodge filmed in Feb 2003. This provides a few more details on how the various music was selected and placed into the film.

Interviews – Origins (4:36)

Irvine Welsh interview. Filmed on set on 27th June 1995 in the Wills Cigarette Factory by Kevin Macdonald while Irvine was being shot for his cameo appearance. Filmed on Hi-8 this material is of variable quality.

Interviews – John Hodge (7:57)

This was conducted with the screenwriter in Feb 2003 and discusses issues such as how he became a screenwriter, making the book into a movie, casting, and the films impact.

Interviews – Danny Boyle (14.30)

This was conducted with the director in Feb 2003 and discusses issues such as the book, the creation of the movie, the characters, the favourite scenes, the films portrayal of drugs, people’s reaction to the film, its impact, its meaning, and the marketing issues and choices.

This is a fabulous interview and the best extra provided on Disc 2.

Interviews – Andrew Macdonald (10.30)

This was conducted with the producer in Feb 2003 and discusses issues such as getting the film off the ground, getting it financed, his own expectations of the film, the critics reaction to it, his interpretation of the film, his favourite memories, and its effect on the British film industry.

Another excellent interview.

Behind The Needle (6:22)

This extra is a tad confusing with checkboxes all over the place but its basically 3 different ways of watching on the set footage of the preparation of the Renton injection scene with the use of prosthetics.

The three options are: footage on its own, or with director narration, or with split screen showing the director and the footage.

Each of these options can be watched either window-boxed in the menu frame, or full-screen at 4:3.

There is also a 4th option called Calton Athletic Boys, which is basically Ewan McGregor talking about learning about heroin from the boys of Calton Athletic. At 30 seconds it’s over pretty quick.

CANNES

Choose this extra and you are presented with 5 options. The first 4 of which are interviews with Martin Landau (:52), Noel Gallagher (2:09), Damon Albarn (1:01), and Ewan McGregor (:44) as they are walking into a party at the Cannes Film Festival in ’96. All interviews are window-boxed in the menu frame. Although Trainspotting was not entered into Cannes, it did play at the festival with a special midnight screening and party.

The fifth, called Cannes Snapshot (1:55), is basically party footage intercut with quick interview snippets with the likes of Toni Collette, Noel Gallagher (yes, it’s the same interview only shorter) and Miramax bigwig Harvey Weinstein.

TRAILERS

Two trailers on offer here. The first of which is a Teaser Trailer (1.09) which I hadn’t seen before, containing footage not in the movie. Video and audio are a bit shabby but it’s still a nice addition. The second of which is a pretty standard Theatrical Trailer (2.00) which tends to emphasise the films action and humour. Video and audio here are slightly better.

BIOGRAPHIES

Cast & Crew biographies. The listed cast to choose from here consists of Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, and Kelly Macdonald. The crew includes Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald, and John Hodge.

GALLERY

This behind the scenes gallery is basically a slideshow of a boatload of polaroids (around 100 I think) taken on the set and includes pictures of actors in costume, the clothes of the movie, the crew, the Calton Athletic boys and more. This runs for a little over 5 minutes.

There is also supposedly a Collector’s Booklet which comes with this release. But I cannot confirm this.

After looking at all of these extras there is some repetition of information and a slightly disappointing lack of actor participation in the retrospectives, but those are simply minor quibbles.

Overall, it’s an excellent collection of supplements.

PHEW…I think I’m gunna go have a lie down after all that.

Hang on a tic….there’s one more thing I almost forgot.

EASTER EGGS

I was only able to find two of these puppies, and while I won’t spoil the fun and tell you EXACTLY where to find them, I’ll give you pretty big hints.

Porno (1.35)

Whoa fella…it ain’t what you think. Porno is a book written by Irvine Welsh which is in fact the sequel to Trainspotting and takes place ten years after those events. Andrew Macdonald, John Hodge, and Danny Boyle talk about the new story and how they are trying to create a screenplay from it. Sounds very promising.

HINT: Check out the main interviews page…

Reviews (2:00)

A small collection (4) of reviews and comments in the press about Trainspotting after it was released.

This Daily Mail review brought a smile to my face:

“Trainspotting, by the makers of Shallow Grave with finance from Channel 4 is a disgusting film – even more disgusting than it knows.”

Some people just don’t get it.

HINT: Play the Danny Boyle interview. The content of this easter egg is directly related to finding it.

SUMMARY

Trainspotting is, quite simply, brilliant and one of the definitive (there’s that word again) films of the 90s. It has finally been given the treatment it deserves with this 2-disc Definitive Edition providing good video, fabulous audio, and a set of extras that are loaded with a great deal of information. If you own the original bare-bones DVD and looking for me to give you a reason not to upgrade, I’m sorry, I can’t give you one as this new edition improves on every single aspect of the previous release.

Unless you are particularly squeamish about needles or the drug culture, this is just a must-own DVD.