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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 2.35:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer (RSDL 65.48)
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • English: DTS 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, Hebrew, Dutch, Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish
  Extras
  • Teaser trailer - 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Hulk
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Featurette - 10 min
  • Animated menus
  • Behind the scenes footage - Rap Battles, 24 min
  • DVD-ROM features
  • Web access
  • DTS trailer - "Piano"

8 Mile

Universal/Universal . R4 . COLOR . 106 mins . M15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Review instructions: Find instrumental B-side on hip-hop single. Press play. Rap.

Yo.

From the early days of cinema producers have been keen
To take a current music star and put them on the screen
Louis Armstrong to The Monkees, The Beatles to the King
They’re guaranteed a starring role as long as they can sing
Since his records started selling it was never “if” but “when”
That a studio would come up with a film for Eminem
But determined that it wouldn’t have an exploitative flavour
They’ve hired a director who’s considerably braver
No way this movie’s gonna get the rep of Dirty Dancin’
When the man behind the camera is the bitchin’ Curtis Hanson.

Check it out, y’all.

The movie tells the story of a white rapper called Rabbit
He’s living in a trailer park but trying to break the habit
Of thinking that his life is one long miserable trial
All existence, no subsistence, somewhere near Detroit’s 8 Mile
Rabbit, played by Eminem, hangs with a loyal crew
And rhyming in rap battles is the thing he wants to do
Eventually he’ll cut a demo for a record label
Then money and respect will put some real food on the table
But the present day’s the problem - his job is on the line
His girlfriend’s gone, his mum’s drunk and he choked at battle time
The rival crew want vengeance and his best friend can’t be trusted
And firing paint guns at police is sure to get him busted
Adversity won’t let him be, but he’s going to be tested
He’ll overcome his bullshit life, or else he’ll get arrested.

Yeeah.

The danger of a movie with a star from MTV
Is they’ll be crap and cannot act and just be eye candy
But yo, this Marshall Mathers, he can actually act
De Niro and Pacino would agree that that’s a fact
The script is by Scott Silver who did ‘99’s Mod Squad
But unlike that big turkey with its 90 minute plod
The writing here is good enough to work well on the day
And what works best, ironically, is when it does cliché
If Shakespeare’s what you’re after, then go and watch the bard
‘Cos here the dialect is rough, the language is well hard
There’s cursing everywhere in here, and homophobic insults
But yo, that’s the street - it seems the plan is real authentic results.

Word up y’all. Uh-huh.

Directed with a captivating minimalist style
It’s likely that in time you will appreciate 8 Mile
Okay there ain’t much story here, you’ve heard it all before
They’ve done this play in Hollywood a thousand times or more
But Eminem’s got talent as an actor and a singer
And playing his mum’s a comeback for our old friend Kim Basinger.

Yeeeeeeah. Now break it down y'all.

Brittany Murphy, it ain’t no furphy, she rocks as Alex, Rabbit’s new girlfriend
The script isn’t perfect, she’s not got much to do, but she ain’t no two-dimensional bookend.

Now big it up, big it up.

Curtis Hanson’s tight directing, shit - you gotta be respecting it
He’s got the tone down, every bit, and plenty of compelling grit
Predictable the film might be, but that’s a cynic crying
If Eminem’s the one for you then 8 Mile’s well worth buying.

Check it. Yo.

  Video
Contract

Since the early days of DVD there’s been a role reversal
Now the best and brightest transfers seem to come from Universal
As you’d expect, this disc reflects the director’s decision
To use the wider picture that you get from Panavision
Presented at a ratio of two three five to one
It’s sixteen nine enhanced as well for extra high tech fun
A lot of effort’s been put into quality advancement
So all there is to bitch about is subtle edge enhancement.

Yo, compression in the house.

The authoring is excellent; it’s work second to none
Completely free of artefacts, it’s guaranteed to stun
The green tinge is deliberate, the director’s intention
In case you think your TV’s broke we thought that’s worth a mention
The movie gets the pleasure of a dual layered disc
Which means the picture quality is fine, there is no risk
A small pause interrupts the movie at the layer change
But it’s well placed, easily faced, and you won’t find it strange.

Yo.

  Audio
Contract

Universal wanna make sure that the soundtrack sounds the best
So we’ve got Dolby 5.1 and also DTS
Both tracks are fine, hear every rhyme with crisp and full detail
Though centre channel dialogue is sometimes hard to nail
You’ll be keen to know the difference between DTS and Dolby
But both are just as good despite what all the hype has told me
‘Bout DTS providing greater spatial definition
You might hear that, but you are gonna really have to listen
Admittedly the bass in DTS is more extended
But if you’re stuck with Dolby you’ll in no way be offended.
Like other Universal discs, you can’t switch on the fly
Between DTS and Dolby, though we’ve got no idea why.

Yeeeeeeeeah.

  Extras
Contract

There ain’t as many extras here as some folks may expect
But still we’ve got a handful for reviewers to inspect
Now don’t be disappointed when you play the featurette
‘Cos an EPK-style promo blurb is all you’re gonna get
They’ve arrogantly titled this The Making of 8 Mile
Ten minutes long, it’s not all wrong, but this ain’t doco-style
Next up, 24 minutes of some Exclusive Rap Battles
Taped on the set by camcorder, the quality might rattle
It’s interesting in passing but it’s really for the fans
Who want a hip-hop version of a Battle of the Bands
The Music of 8 Mile is basically a soundtrack promo
For two albums - and before you run away and yell out “oh no”
This section’s got a plethora of “music highlight” items
Those wondering about soundtrack songs, well, this info enlightens.

Yo. Yo. Yoyo.

Next up a music vid, an Eminem song, Superman
Which isn’t in the movie any more than his hit Stan
You only get to see this clip here on this DVD
The nudity and rudeness being too much for most TV
See how the film was advertised - the theatrical trailer
With crisp 5.1 audio the quality won’t fail ya
Two other trailers help increase the extras section’s bulk
One for 2 Fast 2 Furious, the other for The Hulk.
The ROM bit, Total Axess, sounds like a natural stayer
But to work on your computer it needs the Interactual Player
If you install the software you can reach a secret site
But don’t ask us, the disc won’t read, we’ve tried for half the night.

Secret site y’all. Yeeah.

  Overall  
Contract

Respect to all who’ve made it through this undemanding rap
Compared to the real thing of course it’s absolutely crap
But luckily the real stuff’s the real fuel behind 8 Mile
Which may be flash soap opera but at least it’s done with style
It may not be original or challenging or new
But it’s better than you’d think, and there are far worse things to do.
Universal’s DVD is not the perfect extras feast
But it looks and sounds fantastic, that’s the nature of this beast.

Yo.


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      And I quote...
    "Yo. "
    - Anthony Horan
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Sony DVP-NS300
    • TV:
          Panasonic - The One
    • Receiver:
          Sony STR-DB870
    • Speakers:
          Klipsch Tangent 500
    • Centre Speaker:
          Panasonic
    • Surrounds:
          Jamo
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Monster s-video
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