Rating: 
Summary: Dirk Diggler -- a powerful name!
Review: Mark Wahlberg is a star as Eddie Albert-turned-Dirk Diggler, porn star extraordinaire. Naive teenaged Eddie flees his awful homelife in the 1970s and becomes a porn star (due to being very well-endowed). He lives in a house with a star porn director (Burt Reynolds) and his actors (Julianne Moore as Amber Waves, Heather Graham as Rollergirl -- who always wears roller skates), each with their own issues and problems. The film spans 10 years of the rise and fall of the fortune and career of Dirk Diggler ("the name is just so powerful" says Eddie, his eyes shining in such a way that you see he really believes it) and his cohorts. It is a clever film, well-directed and well-acted, about a little-known and much-talked-about industry.
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal
Review: Easily one of my favorite five movies. Great cinematography (which is something I usually never notice, much less care about), great cast, great non-derivative storyline -- it wraps up nicely at the end, if not happily. Having seen the contents of both the original and the 2-disc DVD, I will echo other users' comments it's not worth spending the extra cheese for what little you get. I feel this is a far more gripping movie than the director's follow-up, "Magnolia". I badly wanted to like it, but could not. That film convinced me that there is a very good reason that directors shouldn't get carte blanche on final cut, as P.T. Anderson had for that film. Finally, the two music soundtracks for this movie are excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent movie! Terrible commentaries...
Review: My 3-star rating is for the DVD itself, not the film. First & foremost, this is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I would rate it alone at 5-stars without question. Both P.T. Anderson's writing and direction are unsurpassed. I've never seen a more perfect screenplay and character presentation. I was so happy to see that this issue of the DVD had not one but two commentary tracks on it; one with Anderson, the other with the actors. The unfortunate thing is, both are horrible. Anderson begins by saying how important commentaries on old laser discs were to him in his career upbringing, and yet goes on to pontificate on everything but the movie we're watching, and I must say his vibe borders on narcissism. The actors' commentary track does no better. People expecting to hear about what the actors thought of the scene on the screen will be very disappointed there as well. But alas, this file remains an all-time favorite with me. Mr. Anderson's work is admired in highest regard. His attitude I could do without.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVE this movie
Review: Folks seem to pretty divided on this one, but I think it is really an amazing film. The attention to detail in the production design, music, etc. is brilliant. The screenplay is outstanding and all of the performances hypnotic. Moore, Reilly,and Wahlberg lead the way in this one. It's big, it's long and you're gonna love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Touching, funny, violent, dumb, porn in all its ragged glory
Review: "Boogie Nights" was P.T. Anderson's first film after "Sydney." It starts with Mark Wahlberg as a going-nowhere-slowly kid from Torrance, California who works as a dish washer and sometime DJ at a strip club in Reseda. His home life is parched. His mother is an abusive, frustrated woman who hates her husband and berates her under-achieving son almost without surcease. Finally, one day, Eddie, Wahlberg's onscreen character, meets Jack (Burt Reynolds) at the club. Reynolds "sees something" in the good-looking underage kid and eventually offers him a shot to star in one of his porn films. The basic come-on for this is the fact that Eddie has an unusually large [penis]and absolutely no problem with showing it off and using it with almost super-human stamina on anything and anyone at anytime. He becomes a star and accomplishes his dream of showing people who don't believe he has anything at all (here we refer to his harpy mother) to give the world, that he can be somebody. But Eddie, whose miraculously arrived-at onscreen name "Dirk Diggler" comes to him in a dream, knows he has something, and he truly believes that his role as a porn star is his way of doing good in the world. That is the basic conceit of the film, and P.T. Anderson traces the rise and fall of Dirk Diggler with uncanny precision and an unblinking evocation of the shallow, inescapably ignorant, touching, arrogant and deeply wounded aspects of that world and the people who occupy it. Walhberg is excellent as the completely sincere and desperately innocent Dirk. Burt Reynolds, in what I think is the finest performance of his career, is the center of this world and he is the only one in it with an actual understanding about how it all works. Julianne Moore, an actress of an almost transcendent talent, plays the unlikely role of a porn queen (though, frankly, she does not look like one at all) with a thoughtful and vulnerable touch. Heather Graham, who does, in fact, look like a porn star, is fine as Rollergirl, an actress who never removes her roller-skates. Ever. But my favorite performers in this picture are John C. Reilly, the top star in Jack's stable until Dirk comes along, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, an overweight gay grip in the movie company. If awards were given for the actor who shoves the most into the smallest role, Hoffman would win it hands down. He is simply brilliant in the few scenes in which he participates. Reilly is at his best in this film when, after some funny, childish competitions with Wahlberg, he becomes best buddies with his rival. P.T. Anderson is very careful to show us how really young these two are. And how incredibly naïve as well. There is nothing sophisticated about the porn industry as seen through Anderson's basilisk lens. Several scenes stand out. The coke insanity of Julianne Moore and Heather Graham whose cocaine dialogue is meticulously written and painfully, perfectly performed. It's a scene in which everything about coke is described with an almost manic simplicity. The other scene I want to mention is the Second Act closer. In this scene Wahlberg, Reilly, and Thomas Jane, who plays a completely unraveled coke head with a lot of bad ideas and a dangerous mixture of stupidity and violent anger, attempt to rip off a rich junkie, played marvelously by the inestimable Alfred Molina. This scene is a stand-alone masterpiece of tension and violence and represents to me what a scene should do. It's riveting and terrifying. The tension it creates is physical for the viewer. Of course all P.T. Anderson buffs already own this film. It would be unthinkable not to. But even if you are not a particular fan of Anderson's, it is worth the time and money to at least rent this film. For some it may be just too difficult to watch. There is little that is not explored here (and what there is of that is explored in the next oeuvre of Anderson's, "Magnolia"). Dirk's descent into becoming a common street hustler is hard to watch. And the vapid, often unattainable, sometimes downright moronic dreams of all the members of Jack's troupe are so heartrendingly portrayed that the viewer is hoping against hope that these wretched denizens of the movieland underbelly can at least find a tiny piece of what it is they are looking for. As a DVD aficionado I would have liked a bit more supplemental material. The best of these are the color bars and the John C. Reilly stuff. I would have liked a little more of the daily set-ups and the shoot itself, but for that you have to get Magnolia which has an excellent movie "diary" included. I would be remiss if I did not mention the fine work of the always-excellent William H. Macy who portrays an associate producer with a wife who cheats on him publicly and often. And yes, in the final scene, we do finally get to see what Dirk Diggler is so famous for.
Rating:
Summary: Watchable,will leave you thinking for days
Review: I like Boogie Nights for two main reasons - it has an interesting storyline, and a fantastic soundtrack. The movie focuses on the porn industry of the 70's and offers an almost raw insight into the highs and lows of such an industry. Heather Graham shines as Rollergirl, and Julianne Moore is brilliant as 'mother' to them all. Mark Walhberg does an impressive job of a young man entering the porn industry. We travel with him through the good and very bad times - the drugs, the loss of stardom etc etc. Boogie Nights isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed it. It will leave you thinking for a few days afterwards. Makes you appreciate that you're not involved in drugs!
Rating:
Summary: like riding the bus?
Review: or going to work/school? and i quote: " I thought that I had fallen asleep during this film and missed some important scenes, but no, I was conscious throughout. If I had the choice I would have opted for the unconscious state of mind whilst this film whirled round my dvd player. The film just did not have any flow, it was just scenes, and boring scenes at that. You did not get to know any of the characters so could not sympathise with what was going on. " go figure.
Rating:
Summary: Boogie-Woogie
Review: Paul Thomas Anderson's peek inside the adult film industry of the 1970s, BOOGIE NIGHTS, is a fine piece of filmmaking. In fact, I think thefilm is still the famed witer/director's best work to date. Adult film producer Jack Horner, (Burt Reynolds) wants to take his films in a new direction. He is tired of being looked down upon by the mainstream. Soon Jack meets young actor Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), giving him the stage name "Dirk Diggler", the 2 set out to make Jack's dream a reality...But at what price? Soon, "Dirk" finds out that having fame and fortune is not, all it's cracked up to be. PTA gives us a pretty ugly depiction of the industry. Sex, drugs, and violence rule the day. The ensemble cast, is for the most part, really good. Besides Wahlberg and Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Heather Graham, make the auduence remember that they are good at what they do. For example, Wahlberg starts the film as a shy but determined young man (very against type), who goes from unknown, to star, and back again, with much more skill than I usaually give him credit for. The film is quirky. Some may find that it is a bit too melodramatic at times, however, it wont lose you, as say PTA's way over-rated MAGNOLIA (say what?). The most surprising thing about the the 2 DVD set, is how much of it remains a lot like the single disc, in terms of extras. Looking at both editions, there really isn't much of a difference between 'em. That said, I waited to purchase the title, until I could find a copy of, what the director calls "The definative version" of the film. With all the boasting about how this is the version to own, I find it odd that, not even the theatrical trailer can be found on either disc. You should like BOOGIE NIGHTS, just the same. Recommended effort by PTA.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: The DVD Was awesome Great extras and good soundtrack.
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Summary: Movie for the Whole Family.
Review: This is just one of those movies that comes out every now and then that really impresses me. Paul Thomas Anderson is a great director and this was a very well captured film. The story was excellent, I'm always attracted to stories that have a lot of characters. Those movies have a lot to tell. I was kind of disappointed with the 2 disc release of the film because it was not all that different from the original 1 disc release. Most of the material here comes from the Criterion Collection laserdisc plus a little bit more extras, but still it deserves a better treatment (there's not even a trailer!). It's a lot like the Magnolia DVD. The 2 disc DVD is still pretty good though. Also, beware of the hidden feature that appears 20 seconds into the Color Bars, it's more grotesque than the last shot in the film. If you liked this movie, take a look at P.T. Anderson's Hard Eight and Magnolia.
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