Back in 1996, I was a teenager who wasn’t old enough to see an 18-certificate film at the cinema but, somehow, through the lost art of group purchases and someone else buying the tickets – there was no internet my friends – I got into a screening of Trainspotting. This was the ideal time for such a film, alternative music was my life, new age cinema and intrigue of other lives were exhilarating encounters and Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting brought forth such a stimulating experience (even if my brother passed out – not a fan of needles) – we were all watching such a grimy, disturbed story – and it was glorious.

And now, nearly 30 years later Trainspotting gets an epic 4K UHD release, so we can dive into the drug and alcohol-infused storyline, both darkly comic and distressing, but oddly timely and nostalgic all in one. Based on Irvine Welsh’s novel, with the screenplay by John Hodge, Boyle takes those central characters and tell us the story of the dysfunctional friendship of Renton (Ewan McGregor), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Spud (Ewan Bremner), Tommy (Kevin McKidd), and the infamous Begbie (Robert Carlyle) as they drag themselves down into self-destruction through addiction, not forgetting the likes of Kelly Macdonald, Shirley Henderson, James Cosmo, Susan Vidler and Peter Mullan.

So, you could hear all this and think why would I want to watch this? But Trainspotting is unusually brilliant, and even some of these despicable characters become likeable, or even relatable – maybe not in a drug-fuelled downfall, but in an everyday life sense with a killer script from John Hodge and superb direction from Boyle. Throw in a soundtrack with the likes of Blur, Pulp, Iggy Pop, Sleeper, David Bowie, Leftfield, New Order, Underworld and Lou Reed – and they also produced one of the iconic soundtracks of the 90s, up there with Romeo + Juliet and Pulp Fiction.

From that quick-cut running down the street intro, with Renton and Spud trying to escape the Police – after they’ve clearly nicked something – married perfectly with Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life, there’s energy, invention, and originality. Don’t underestimate that explosion of immediate excellence, it sets the tone with the now iconic ‘Choose Life’ speech (originally half-way through the book) and gives us Renton’s voiceover as the lead for the story we’re about to dive down the toilet for.

And that’s what’s fascinating about the film, Trainspotting doesn’t really judge its characters, this is a subjective insight, and you get to decide what you think of it all – as objectively sickening or shocking, or simply just how life can turn out, depending on what happens to you, or where you grow up. What you might also forget, if you haven’t visited for a while, is how many now-iconic scenes fall one after the other and even as troubled as they are, and this surely wouldn’t be somewhere you’d spend time by choice, I think maybe that’s the point. Trainspotting is quite simple in many ways, and that’s why it’s so addictive to watch.

And, of course, how is it in 4K UHD? This is a fine new 4K digital restoration of the uncut version of the film, supervised by director Danny Boyle, that’s not only presented in Dolby Vision HDR, it also features its 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (& there’s also a Alternate 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack) that belts out Renton’s world and merges the music in almost effortless brilliance.

And what this does is really enhance that gritty, grimy vision from Boyle and cinematographer Brian Tufano, with a shooting style that’s oddly punchy and uplifting, considering the central subject matter. I also loved taking in those colour schemes with this digital restoration, as the darkness of the shadows become a front-focus, and only when they hit the moors is there much light beyond the murky living of their day-today.

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Special Features:

This Steelbook release also has a fine design, and it beautifully picks out that original poster colour-scheme, and they’ve reinvented it in a fascinating way. See the images for a closer look, and while there’s not much more with the case itself, I’m a fan of the style here.

The other Special Features come with the extra Blu-ray but, as far as I can tell, are from a previous release which I don’t have, and there doesn’t seem to be anything up to date included this time. While there’s a decent amount, they’re clearly from 1995 to 2002, and still hold that somewhat dated, grainy DVD-look, despite now being transferred to Blu-ray.

I can’t say you’d just expect new ones, as this isn’t s Second Sight or Criterion release, it may have been nice to have a few new things to enjoy, but what’s there does cover a lot of the original behind the scenes setups, with cast, crew and the director both at the time and looking back – which is actually quite special in itself.

In ‘Memories of Trainspotting,’ it’s a good feature to dive into as it talks about all the elements that helped the film come to life, via the novel and Hodge’s screenplay. Did you know that the style of the film was inspired by Goodfellas? And, also, that football team you see in the other opening credits were a group of ex-addicts whose insight and help really made the film what it became? In truth, it tells a story that’s ultimately mundane and tragic, despite some thinking it’s glorifying something, when it’s clearly not if you sit up and watch.

It was also great to hear from production designer Kave Quinn, who shares their huge storyboard, visual boards, and colour scheme ideas, plus the approach to how those visuals both on screen, on set and beyond came together to form such a unique overall experience. ‘Behind the Needle’ looks at the prosthetics created for the obvious reasons, and still look life like together, there’s some great Cannes Vox Pops with Martin Landau (yes, that one!), Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn and Ewan McGregor – as well as snapshot of their time at Cannes overall.

You’ve also got some archive interviews with Boyle and McGregor from 2002, plus the additional deleted scenes, an older interview with Irvine Welsh, the usual trailers and gallery (used to be a classic DVD extra), and then more featurettes on the ‘Look and Sound of the Film’ both ‘then’ and ‘now’ but, again, being the older original features. Don’t get me wrong, these are still in-depth, but the next anniversary might add a few new interviews to look back even further, especially after the second film and its valid success.

Extras: ★★★

Trainspotting 4K UHD steelbook is available to buy now: https://amzn.to/3Z600n3