The Film

I’ve never done a single drug in my life. I don’t drink. I don’t find myself particularly dissatisfied with the notion that our society is organized around a repetitive cycle of work, play and responsibility. Even as a younger man, the notion of banal stability did not frighten me. When my friends were given the opportunity to drink or try drugs or rebel on their own — when they were able to ask “Why not?” — I asked “Why bother?” I’m not saying that’s always served me well. It just is what it is.

Trainspotting famously yells “Why not?” in a primal, visceral way, and it’s been shouting since its release in 1996. The film made director Danny Boyle and actor Ewan McGregor’s careers. It influences British cinema to this day.

I’ve not seen T2 Trainspotting, the 20-years-later sequel, but it seems needless to me: Trainspotting is brimming with nostalgic energy even as it tells its contemporary story of a wild child who embodies youthful decadence, a hedonist who does what he wants regardless of the cost to himself or others around him. His rejection of the standard life (his “choose” mantra) doesn’t necessarily mean he’s living a good life, moving from slum to slum and mistake after mistake, but he at least seems to believe his life is an honest one. It’s the way we wish we could live when we’re young and the way most people wish they could’ve lived when they were younger (minus the drug addiction, probably).

Along with Requiem for a Dream, it’s one of the great cautionary drug stories of the late 1990s and early 2000s, even if this one maintains a strange reputation for making heroin look “cool.” Perhaps it’s because Mark Renton (McGregor) is such a stunning performance. He’s someone we feel we could watch forever, getting into trouble and out of it again by the skin of his junkie teeth. He embodies a rebelliousness, an ego. No matter that the story’s conclusion has him doing heroin again and then escaping with thousands of dollars, ripping off his sketchy friends. He doesn’t seem bound for a happy life. Again: I don’t know what T2 says about Renton and I’m not sure I care.

Although he went on to win an Oscar and continues to make generally well-liked films, Boyle has never made anything with quite the same youthful, grungy energy as this. McGregor anchors the film, but it’s Boyle who really broke out with it, channeling an anxious and uncompromising energy that mirrors his main character’s insatiable lust for sensation.

The 4K UHD digital restoration for this Criterion set was supervised by Boyle and features both 2.0 surround and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks. I didn’t find there to be a significant difference in the 4K UHD and Blu-ray presentations of the films, at least to my eyes. Then again, I’m willing to accept there are always instances where a new restoration by a filmmaker means the film may look slightly different from its original release.

The Disc

I’ll admit I was taken aback when I first opened my copy of Trainspotting. Criterion usually packages its releases in a traditional clear hard-shell case (unlike the blue shell of a traditional Blu-ray or black shell of a 4K UHD disc). A few releases each year get special digipack cases, but those usually also include a slipcover to keep them from bending or looking strange among other standardized releases. These are the standard release models. Trainspotting fits none of those, instead opting for a presentation that mimics opening a small letter. It folds out like a digipak, but the discs are instead held in sleeves. The booklet is contained in a middle section and can slide out either side. The dimensions are the same as a regular DVD case rather than the smaller Blu-ray or 4K package. There is no slipcover. It glows in the dark.

I’ve attached some photos, as I think some fans may be surprised when their set arrives in the mail.

How do I feel about the packaging? I have my qualms. I’m wary of any disc sleeve that requires me to slide discs in and out of cardboard, increasing the risk of scratching them. Additionally, Criterion’s past sleeve-based releases (like their Godzilla: The Showa Era 1954-1975 set) have had issues with glue deterioration, which results in discs falling further into the paper and sometimes becoming coated with residue that affects playback. I don’t know if that will be an issue with the Trainspotting set.

However, I like the way the Trainspotting sleeve stands out next to my other Criterion editions, and it actually makes me wish the label would find more ways to experiment with its packaging. For a long time, my collector brain desired uniformity. Books with matching spines, Blu-rays with consistent size, shape and art direction. These days, I’m less enamored with that sort of thing. I see people online organize their bookshelves by color, for instance, and I just don’t get it. Each story is its own unique thing, and it seems needlessly anal to have 100 works by thousands of artists represented on a shelf defined by the visual vision of a single graphic designer. As long as the quality control is there, I hope Criterion brings this kind of creativity to future packaging.

Special Features

• New 4K digital restoration of the uncut version of the film, supervised by Boyle, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Audio commentary featuring Boyle, McGregor, producer Andrew Macdonald and screenwriter John Hodge
• Nine deleted scenes with commentary from the filmmakers
• New interview with production designer Kave Quinn and costume designer Rachael Fleming
• Off the Rails: The Making of Trainspotting, a documentary featuring archival interviews with cast and crew and behind-the-scenes footage
• Memories of Trainspotting, a documentary from 2008 featuring the filmmakers as well as actors McGregor, Kelly Macdonald, Ewen Bremner and Robert Carlyle
• Reflections from soundtrack artists Iggy Pop, Jarvis Cocker, Bobby Gillespie, Damon Albarn, Leftfield and Underworld
• Theatrical teaser and trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Essays by critic Graham Fuller and author Irvine Welsh, and Welsh’s glossary of terms from his novel