Title: TRAINSPOTTING
Runtime: 94 minutes
Rated: 18
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Johnny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd and Robert Carlyle
Director: Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle’s iconic 90s black comedy drama, Trainspotting, is available to enjoy in stunning 4K Ultra HD & on Blu-ray in a limited-edition steelbook from Monday 11th November.
Charting the relationships between an unlikely group of friends, the cult classic stars Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Johnny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd and Robert Carlyle as young addicts attempting to navigate life in mid-80s Scotland. Full of raw visuals, thought-provoking dialogue and a soundtrack featuring Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Lou Reed this is one of the defining films of the 90s.
Director Danny Boyle who has also directed other classics such as Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later made his name with this film, and rightly so, as did many of the cast.
I watched this film in the early 2000s having been too young to see it at the time of release. I was in equal parts entertained and shocked. Having no personal knowledge or experience drugs - anything I know of such illegal substances is gleaned from movies this was an usual film for me to watch. But Trainspotting in fact is the ultimate movie for learning about drugs! On first watch I was horrified by the scenes of Renton (Ewan McGregor) disappearing down a toilet bowl whilst high on whatever drugs be had found. The mis-adventures of the rest of them - Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) are all as worrying, and often disgusting, as they proceed further down the road of drug-fuelled self-destruction. It’s a tough watch to be honest.
The ability of these actors who enjoyed so much success from this film, and went on to even greater success in many cases, is genuinely impressive. They make themselves dirty and unlikeable for these roles. They’re not afraid to dig to the bottom of their souls and psyches to produce these performances. They have become the characters that they are playing - albeit for a limited time thankfully - they’ve lived in the skin of these addicts. The research process for the roles cannot have been pleasant, but they’ve crafted unique and captivating performances from the most unlikely of stories.
Critics and fans alike agree that the scenes of addiction and withdrawal are some of the finest (and grimmest) in any movie and this is the sort of film that will haunt you for some time after the credits roll. The plot is about as thin and disjointed as you might expect for a film that follows the disjointed lives and friendships of a group of heroin addicts.
Special Features
• New 4K digital restoration of the uncut version of the film, supervised by director Danny Boyle, with 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Memories of Trainspotting
• Deleted Scenes
• Look Of The Film – Then and Now
• Sound of The Film – Then and Now
• The Beginning
• Archive Interview With Irvine Welsh
• Behind The Needle
• Danny Boyle on Trainspotting
• Ewan McGregor on Trainspotting
• Cannes Snapshot
• Cannes Vox Pops
• Trailers
• Gallery
Trainspotting is a film that has captured the imagination and attention of film critics and fans for almost thirty years often featuring in Top 100 Films of All Time lists. As for the sequel - T2 (not the one about Terminators) - I’ve not seen it. Hopefully it will be arriving at the 4K UHD train station soon.
