Trainspotting
"Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?"
The motion picture sensation that wowed critics and audiences nationwide, Trainspotting delivers a wild mix of rebellious action and wicked humor! It's the story of four friends as they try to make it in the world on their own terms... And who end up planning the ultimate scam! Powered by an outstanding cast of rising young stars and a high-energy soundtrack, Trainspotting is spectacular, ground breaking entertainment!
Member Reviews
Perfectly Executed! - farquh
This is one of my favorites!
This is a great example of a mid 1990's 'indy' film. While not exactly independently distributed, there are very few movies made DURING a particular decade that completely capture the essence of the youth from that time.
This film is perfectly cast, and boasts an excellent selection of mid 1990's Brit Pop. The music selection tells just as much of the story, and is just as important in painting the picture of the world where the characters live as the set pieces themselves are.
The story is centered around a drug addict who decides to come clean and change his life. The problem with becoming clean is the need to 'make a break' from all those around you who might try and sabotage your new sobriety.
Add great acting to Danny Boyle's incredible directing eye, and you have one of the best films of the 1990's.
There are many original camera shots and tricks that I saw for the first time while watching this film. Some of the musical montages and use of written text across the film frames help create what is a unique film experience.A triumphant masterpiece - adnanz
Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" is a film in which everything goes the right way. Few films are fortunate to 'be' at the right time and right place and take the world by storm as "Trainspotting" did, but the ultimate proof of this film's greatness is that if you watched it alone or with a large group of people, in 2008 or in 1996, it has the same effect- absolute power. This film is nothing more- or less- than one of the most effective and perfect artistic works ever committed to celluloid.
The film follows the lives of a group of drug attics in Scotland in the late 1980's but is constructed less as a conventional narrative and more as a series of vignettes connected by characters and set to the film's dazzling soundtrack (the fact that I mention the scenes being 'set' to the soundtrack is proof of its importance in this particular film). Almost every scene is as powerful as the next, with three montages in particular being possibly the definitive examples of how to do a memorable cinematic montage.
Pop culture has been kind to "Trainspotting", remembering it as a unique and great film, especially in Britain. I certainly do not disagree with this consensus, but I feel the film has been hurt by familiarity, with even television series like "Family Guy" parodying the film's well-known scenes (and badly). This doesn't mean that the film's popularity is being hurt, but that it doesn't feel as fresh and original to people now as it did back in 1996. This is hardly the thing the film's reputation suffers most from however, with the significantly large number of people who claim the film supports and promotes drug use. I have to ask, and forgive my rudeness, how stupid can you possibly be? No, drug addicts in this film are not vilified, but they are consistently shown in a brutally realistic and horrifically tragic context, and just because the film doesn't go out of its way to emotionally manipulate you into completely hating its characters doesn'Intense Look into Drug Culture - Filmgal
Trainspotting is not for everyone. For those who enjoy exploring the drug-induced world of Scottish youths, then this is the film for you.
A fantastic cast features Ewan McGregor in his first major role as Renton, a drug user and his gang of friends as they delve into their drug induced hazes. Drugs are a way of life for these people and when Renton decides to get clean, his world is turned upside down.
Many disturbing images but also some good laughs. The opening "Choose Life" sequence has become a classic and sets the tone for the rest of the film. The actors are fantastic and each character is compelling to watch. There is also a great soundtrack for the film and some more awesome directing from Danny Boyle.
Definitely worth watching if you haven't seen it, but just be warned of a few unsettling images. For an extra depressing evening, watch it with Requim for Dream.
Add it to your Ziplist and see why it's one of AFI's Top 100 British films.
Member Reviews
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Perfectly Executed! - farquh
This is one of my favorites!
This is a great example of a mid 1990's 'indy' film. While not exactly independently distributed, there are very few movies made DURING a particular decade that completely capture the essence of the youth from that time.
This ...A triumphant masterpiece - adnanz
Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" is a film in which everything goes the right way. Few films are fortunate to 'be' at the right time and right place and take the world by storm as "Trainspotting" did, but the ultimate proof of this film's greatness is that if ...Intense Look into Drug Culture - Filmgal
Trainspotting is not for everyone. For those who enjoy exploring the drug-induced world of Scottish youths, then this is the film for you.
A fantastic cast features Ewan McGregor in his first major role as Renton, a drug user and his gang of friends ...