Skip to content
The Dominator reviews
Polygram Video
- Cert: 18
- Running time: 89 minutes (not including extras)
- Year: 1995
- Cat.no: TGE 60342
- Released: 8th September 1997
- Sound: Dolby Surround
- Widescreen : 1.77:1
- Price: £12.99
- Extras :
- 9 scenes not included in the final film.
- 2 trailers (one teaser trailer and one theatrical trailer).
- Video promo for Underworld
Director:
- Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave)
Producer:
- Andrew MacDonald
Screenplay:
- John Hodge (based on a novel by Irvine Welsh).
Music:
- Various artists including Iggy Pop, Heaven 17, Blondie, Underworld, Pulp,Damon Albarn, Lou Reed, Elastica and Sleeper.
Cast:
- Renton: Ewan McGregor (Brassed Off, The Pillow Book, E.R. (TV))
Spud: Ewan Bremner (Deacon Brodie)
Sick Boy: Jonny Lee Miller (Hackers)
Tommy: Kevin McKidd (Small Faces)
Begbie: Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, Carla’s Song, Go Now (TV))
Diane: Kelly MacDonald
Mickey: Irvine Welsh
Drug Buyer: Keith Allen (Shallow Grave, The Comic Strip Presents… (TV))
Himself: Dale Winton (Supermarket Sweep (TV))
Chooselife, choose a job, choose a career, choose a family, choose a fuckingbig television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players andelectrical tin openers, choose good health, low cholesterol and dentalinsurance, choose fixed interest mortgage repayments, choose a starter home,choose your friends, choose leisure wear and matching luggage, choose athree-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics, choose DIYand wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning, choose sitting on thatcouch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing gameshows stuffing fucking junkfood into your mouth, choose rotting away at the end of it all pissing yourlast in a miserable home nothing more than an embarassment to the selfishfucked-up brats that you’ve spawned to replace yourselves, choose your future,choose life, but why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to chooselife, I chose something else, and the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needsreasons when you’ve got heroin?
This package brings together all the elements of the 25 quid box-set releasedlast year for only half the price. Not only do you get the film in widescreenformat, but also nine scenes not included in the final version of the film, plustwo trailers for the film and the promo video for Underworld‘s classicdance anthem Born Slippy.
The film tells the tale of Renton, a man with a chronic heroin addiction, whois trying to kick the habit. Not easy as you might imagine, but inventivevisuals from the director make his journey almost as real for the viewer as itis for his character, and he is played superbly by rising starEwan McGregor who has been chosen to appear in the newStar Wars prequels.
Also thrown into the mix is Diane, Renton’s new girlfriend, who has one majorsurprise for him; Sick Boy, who aims to kick the habit at the same time asRenton – not for any particular reason, other than to completely piss Rentonoff as to how easily it can be done; Spud, Renton’s best friend, who isn’tvery good in job interviews, and even worse at trying to keep his bedsheetsclean; Tommy, a sex-mad drug-hater, who makes XXX videos with his girlfriend;and last, but not least, Begbie, played by the always-excellent RobertCarlyle, currently being seen in The Full Monty, as a completemadman, always getting drunk and looking for the next fight….oh, and swearinga great deal too…
Picture and sound quality are nothing short of excellent. The picture qualitybrings out the clarity in the different scenes, most of which are surprisinglycolourful for a film about heroin addiction, and the widescreen framingpreserves the director’s intended cinematic ratio. The previous releases ofthis film stated a ratio of 1.77:1 (aka 16:9), while the sleeve of this onelists 1.85:1. I understand it’s actually 1.77:1 though.
The sound quality is fantastic too, really coming into its own when blastingout classic tracks such as : Iggy Pop – Lust For Life; Heaven 17 -Temptation; Blondie – Atomic; and Underworld – Born Slippy, the promofor the latter being at the start of this video and being one of those songsfrom last year which started off as one that I couldn’t stand, but soon endingup as one of my Top 50 favourites of the year.
It’s unfortunate that this, or any UK PAL version of the film will be cut forfourteen seconds of drug abuse. I presume this is for viewing the actual needlepiercing the skin while injecting, which is the same thing that PulpFiction suffered from when released on UK PAL video and laserdisc.
On a side note, the original American release of this film had the firsttwenty minutes dubbed into American accents (!), and some sex scenes removed.When the MPAA (the USA equivalent of the BBFC) asked director Danny Boyle whatDiane was doing to Renton while on top and reaching down with her hand betweenhis legs… he said “Tickling his balls”. The MPAA were not amused, andinstructed him to cut the scene. Since then, an unrated NTSC Laserdisc has beenreleased in an uncut widescreen format with a Dolby Digital soundtrack, the ninecut scenes featured here, a brief (and I mean brief) interview with the writerof the book, Irvine Welsh (who incidentally makes an appearance early on inthe film as Mickey, a dealer who sells Renton his “final” hit), and an audiocommentary from the director.
Other cameos include Keith Allen, who showed up as the temporary flatmatein Shallow Grave, and appears here as a drug buyer; and Dale Wintonplaying himself as a game-show host.
However, despite the cuts, how much do I recommend this package? To paraphrasefrom the Renton’s own words…
and choose the video of
Trainspotting: The Green Edition.
You won’t regret it.
Film: 5/5
Picture: 5/5
Sound: 5/5
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1997.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.