Rating: 
Summary: CHOOSE LIFE
Review: Okay this is not a groundbreaking film or anything, but it is smart, catchy, and has excellent characterization. Nothing to mention that this is a all-around Fun Movie to watch, and has probably the best ending monolog for any motion picture you'll see anytime soon. I'd say if you haven't seen it do yourself a favor and make it your next rental cause you'll go back wanting the dvd.
Rating:
Summary: the worst toilet in Scotland
Review: i loved this film since the day it arrived in limited screen release back in 1996. i had never read an Irvine Welsh novel and wasnt quite sure what to expect. The only sense of British humor (including the great emerald isles, scotland and wales)i had seen in film before trainspotting is probably a fish called wanda. of course these two films are worlds apart from one another and an entirely different brand of comedy. the parts you are supposed to laugh at have you in gutwrenching hysterics and the parts intended to be a little more gruesome you're practically having to turn your head from the tv screen.
the characters are beautifully illustrated and are very true to the characters presented in Welsh's novel. Renton (played by Ewan McGregor when he was still wet behind the ears) is the narrator and main character. he is surrounded by friends who share the same ambition as him, looking for their next shot of heroin. the things they find themselves doing are inconceiveable to the sober mind.the emphasis is the world that heroin creates and most certainly stops itself from glamorizing its use. the setting is a very dismal and gloomy Edinburgh, Scotland which is ideal for the storyline. the thing most intriguing about the film is how you find each of the characters to be likeable and endearing in their own unique way. the world of "junkie music" is woven ingeniously into the film which clearly makes the two soundtracks an ideal accompaniment to the film. all of the performances are memorable and it created a new genre of filmmaking to come out of Great Britain. Visceral, hard edged, truthful and gritty are the words that will lean heavy on you once you've seen this film. Supposedly, Welsh is in talks currently to make a film out of the novel Ecstacy and should be out sometime next year. more scenes of pharmaceutical use and sheer pandemonium. Cant wait!
Rating:
Summary: No one promised you a rose garden
Review: This is a movie about heroin addicts. So why anyone shocked that the movie is dark gritty and shockingis beyond me. This story is told by Mark Renton aka Renton. He and his friends are hopless and addicted to heroin and it isn't pretty. It's real. Mark's life is ruled by drugs. This movie dosen't try to make drugs seem cool or nice. It shows what hitting up can really do, what it really does.I don't think (I hope) that anyone saw this and said. "Geezs I sure wish I had their life." This movie dosen't tell you drugs are bad. It dosen't have to. I mean would you want to be Marcus or any of this friends? I liked that this move covred both sides. It wasn't just about drugs it was about life.How we choose to spend it. How the actions we take shape it. to live it. Listen to Renton's speech at the opening. I mean did the people who didn't use have any better of a life? You also got the feeling they were telling you drugs weren't the only thing you can abuse. If you think this movie is about glorifying drugs you've missed the whole plot. If anything this movie is anti drugs.And I love the way they didn't come out in a after-school-specail-way to do it The sceen with the dead baby, the toxoplasmosis and the taxi cab sceen should all stick vividly in your mind as reason not to ever want to go anywhere near smack. Over all this was just a good movie. One you'll remember long after you've watched it.
Rating: 
Summary: "You're the man. The dude in the chair."
Review: Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting" is a film that chronicles the disorientation and bewilderment typically experienced by drug users. It attempts to get its point across by having the viewer experience visually what the abuser is experiencing firsthand. It does its job too well though as the end product is a disjointed and rambling mess. Renton (Ewan McGregor), Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Tommy (Kevin McKidd), and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) all lead empty lives and pass the time by getting high. Their daily routines consist of activities that are neither meaningful nor substantial. Then one day, Renton decides to join the real world by kicking his habit and becoming a rental agent. However, he cannot completely escape his past and soon finds himself mixed up in a drug deal. There are moments in "Trainspotting" that rekindle memories of Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" but these moments are fleeting and in short supply. The entire film is just a succession of disturbing images that have no cohesiveness to them when assembled. While this fragmented narrative ably symbolizes the chaotic and unfocused experiences of the addict, it makes for a frustrating viewing experience. The acting is fine with McGregor and Carlyle giving standout performances, but this is about all the film has going for it. The life of a drug user is a one-trip to nowhere. "Trainspotting" the film unfortunately follows this exact same path to nowhere.
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining Realistic Movie!
Review: This movie is great, it has a great mix of comedy, and some depressing stuff. The movie is very realistic, it shows the highs and lows of using heroin, the negatives certainly out wegh the pluses, and i would consider it a very anti-drug movie. Because unless you are a moron and think that the stuff that happened to him, his friend, and friends g/f was good. then you should probably go do it and die. Sorry for being so harsh but its true, you'd have to be really dumb to watch this movie and think its pro-drug use. Although they do use alot of drugs in the movie, thats really not what its about. Well it is, but it isn't; its basically just about a group of friends, 3 of which happen to do heroin. And the others 2 aren't that great of being friends in the first place. The good friend in the movie, shouldn't of done what he did. Lots of lessons to be learnt from this movie. The comdey in this movie is something else, omg. It is so hilarious at times, i laughed so hard. That one part, with spud is the best, omg i laughed so many times, i still laugh whenever i see it. And the part while he's at the interview, hilarious.
Rating:
Summary: Deeper than a heroin addiction
Review: I'd like to begin this review with my pre-viewing expectations - - ZILCH! I had never heard of this movie, had not viewed the trailer or read the box, I just sat down on my sofa as my husband pressed "play" on the remote and jumped right in with both feet. The first few minutes made me squirm, I was thinking "oh no, a movie glorifying drugs, with lots of F-words and thick accents", but the narration of the main character, Mark Renton, was intellectually stimulating, so I listened more closely and allowed myself to become immersed in the story. The characters in this story are ugly, heroin-addicted losers, but they are portrayed as very real people - - yes, they are bad, but they are not evil. Their lives are extremely grim and repugnant. I've always wondered how people addicted to heroin can live their lives thinking they are living normally, and the addiction is so powerful it renders them powerless to live any other way, but then I realized almost anything can be considered an addiction - - we all wrestle with something, be it our weight, our ethics, our punctuality, etc.. Moments when we convince ourselves it will be the last time, until the next time. The film makes some interesting comparisons between a "normal" life, and the twisted lives of these characters. You notice small hypocrisies, such as the friend in the pub railing against drug use, while he obviously has an alcohol and an anger-management problem. This film also addresses the issues of loyalty, culture, politics - - with some scathing commentary on consumerism and capitalism - - and some digs at the "Just Say No" and "Choose Life" rallying cries. I particularly liked the ending - - there were no sweeping revelations for the characters, they remained true to their weaknesses, true to their characters. There are plenty of sad, sick moments, and there are some very funny moments, even through the darkness, and the wit of each character is fantastic. Some of the most imaginative sequences I enjoyed immensely, but felt as though they could've done without the extremism and still kept a good flowing story. Still, they certainly made a strong point in the scene involving the most disgusting toilet in Scotland. As for the dialogue, I am going to have to watch it again, just to make sure I caught it all. My husband and I finally admitted we weren't understanding the dialogue as fully as we would've liked, so we switched to the "hearing-impaired" sub-titles about 30 minutes into the film. The Scottish accents are the thickest! The acting is terrific, across the board. I was shocked - - just flabbergasted! - - as the film ended and I saw Ewan McGregor was Mark Renton! He looked so gaunt and ill, not the charming and handsome Ewan McGregor of 'Moulin Rouge'! Definitely not a movie for the kids, 'Trainspotting' is a film everyone should see once, even if the topic is unsettling. Plus, I give it extra stars for utilizing my favorite descriptive noun - - "wanker". I also appreciated the integration of Iggy Pop's song "Lust for Life", knowing that it was written after Iggy had kicked his heroin habit and had a newfound lust for life. I'm just glad to hear that song used anywhere other than car commercials!
Rating:
Summary: I was glued to this movie
Review: I was first drawn to this movie because of Ewan McGregor, so I didn't know that much about the storyline, just that it had to do with heroin addiction. When I finally saw the movie, I was really amazed at how well the actors protrayed the addicts. The plot focuses around a group of friends living in Europe (I think Scotland) who are heroin addicts. Ewan plays the main character, Renton. Her narrates throughout the movie. The movie just follows the paths of all these characters through their addictions and the consequences of them. The DVD box says they plan a big heist, but it's really near the end of the movie when they plan to sell a whole of heroin for money, that's the big "heist." This movie was a little depressing, so if you don't like being a little depressed, then don't watch it. But all and all, I recomend this movie to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: re-view over and over...
Review: great plot great acting great sounndtrack, what more do you want?
Rating: 
Summary: TRAINSPOTTING SHOWS SOME OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG ABUSE.
Review: In 1996, "Trainspotting" took the world by surprise; it was a film that was compared to the classic Stanley Kubrick's film "A Clockwork Orange", due to it's kinetic energy, and fatalistic insight. This film is not a popcorn movie; it's a movie that requires patience and whether you like it or not, it will provoke you different emotions and thoughts. "Trainspotting" tells the story of Renton and his buddies Spud, Sick Boy and Tommy; all these guys are junkies and they are stuck in a constant debate between choose a "normal life" (what is normal, anyway?) and the life style of a drug addict. So as the story unfolds, we see how they promise to quit drugs and almost immediately fall again in the addiction. Also, they hang around with the local psychotic drunk Begbie; he is not a junkie, but he loves to drink and to provoke fights with the slightest opportunity. The movie shows some of the main consequences that the drug abuse brings: how you lose the perspective of the things that happen around you, how you affect your family and your closest friends, how you become a drug slave, how your body deteriorates, how you can become a threat to all the people, and how pathetic you can be once you become a junkie. And yet, in "Trainspotting" we see that everybody has always choices: "Choose life or choose not to choose life". However this movie is not a preach...the only purpose of "Trainspotting" is to show you what can happen to you...after all, the choice is yours.
Rating:
Summary: DVD Easter Egg revealed!!![.]
Review: Trainspotting was one of my favorite movies when it came out. I have to say this DVD is [bad] when it comes to extras. The only good thing you'll get out of this DVD is that it is the original Director's Cut. Even though it doesn't say on the case, it is. There's a website I found with DVD Easter Eggs. This Director's Cut of Trainspotting is the Easter Egg with cuts restored from the Theatrical Version. However, I have the Canadian DVD, and it's better, because it has Deleted scenes and interviews. It's very Rare now, but there's a website somewhere that still carries limited copies. Be warned. The Canadian DVD version is cut, though you still get the features I mentioned above. I recommend you buy both. This is a great movie no matter what.
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