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8 Mile (Widescreen Edition)
Stars:
Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, and Mekhi Phifer
Writer:
Scot Silver
Director:
Curtis Hanson
Feature
length: 1 hour and 51 minutes
Extras:
Uncensored Eminem Rap Battles, Uncensored “Superman” Music Video, The Making
Of 8 Mile, The Music Of 8 Mile, Trailer
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1Theatrical Surround Sound and English and French Language
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 21
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Universal Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Grammy
Award® Winning and now Oscar® Winning Music Artist Eminem makes his feature
film debut in Curtis Hanson’s (LA Confidential) recent directorial effort “8
Mile.” As I understand it, the term “8 Mile” refers to a racial borderline
between the inner city citizens of downtown Detroit who are predominantly black
and the edge of the predominantly white suburbs. Eminem plays “James Smith,
Jr.” AKA “B. Rabbit,” a young man who has recently left his girlfriend and
now lives on the edge of the suburbs in a trailer park with his mother (Kim
Basinger) and baby sister. Smith aspires to be a rapper and he has a natural
talent for putting rhymes together and putting them to rhythm and music with an
improvisational style that could rival some of the world’s brightest comedians
and actors. The hip-hop scene in Detroit circa 1995 is dominated by local
downtown Detroit rappers, who spar off like boxers using words instead of fists
against each other at a club where the audience determines who the winner is.
This
is a culture and world that most of white America has probably never seen
because hip-hop and rap is a music form that developed among African Americans
in the urban centers and while there are plenty of people of all races who
appreciate this form of music, the reality is that they like the beat and may
mimic the style, but few are truly the genuine article. Thus it is not
surprising that Smith is met with a certain amount of resentment for even
trying. However he has a close nit group of friends that believe in him and have
their own dreams too, but Smith is tired of just talking about what he wants so
against the grain Smith finds his own voice, crosses the 8 Mile and squares off
against the champion win or lose.
I
am not an Eminem fan. I do not know enough about him or his music to judge him
as a rapper, but after watching this movie as well as the extra features on this
DVD I can honestly say I respect him and anyone else who can get up on the stage
and put words together the way they do and just go for it. I mean it is easy to
listen to a rap song and take it for granted, but imagine going up before maybe
a hundred or more people and have a coin toss to determine who decides who goes
first and then have 45 seconds or less to win over your audience and defend your
self against as well as put down the guy or girl who has gone before or will
follow you. The battles are vicious.
A
perfect example of these contests are depicted in the uncensored rap battles
(23:38) that show the free-styling competitions that occurred before the
producers of the film, who then select 20 semi finalists who performed in front
of a real audience and from there 4 finalists were chosen. These scenes are all
shown on videotape, but then we go to widescreen (2.35:1) film and see the
winners go up against Eminem and see just how it tough it can be even for an
established music star to fire back in 15 seconds. These scenes are not in the
feature film either. In both the “Making Of” featurette (10:02) and this
behind-the-scenes look at the film Eminem explains how important it was for him
to win at these free-styling rap competitions and how devastating it was to
lose.
Essentially
what makes “8 Mile” work is the traditional story paradigm of the underdog
who despite the odds strives on. If I were to liken “8 Mile” to any other
feature film, I would say it is sort of like “Rocky,” with the backdrop
centered around the Detroit hip-hop culture where words really do hurt people.
Kim Basinger does a great job in her supporting role as Eminem’s single mother
who has a guy leaching off of her until he gets his compensation settlement.
Brittany Murphy’s role is actually pretty small in comparison and is
essentially another of her variations of the flaky girl teetering at the edge of
ambition and self-exploitation. Mekhi Phifer has a very charismatic presence in
the film as Jimmy’s friend who hosts the competitions and believes in his
talent. The film is not a
candy-coated film where everything works out in the end, but rather a slice of
someone’s life and a more personal journey. A bleak and often dark looking
film, the DVD presentation is excellent with solid colors contrasting flawlessly
with the shadows. “8 Mile” is presented in an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1)
aspect ratio preserving the way the film was presented theatrically. I watched
the film twice listening to both the English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround
Soundtrack and the English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack and I have to
say that both offer excellent discrete mixes, but the DTS just has the edge with
a heavier bass and just more pulse pounding rhythm in the way the music of the
film is presented. Both are truly great mixes and there is a French Language
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack as well as English Captions for the
hearing impaired encoded as options.
There
is an option where viewers can select scenes from the film featuring music by
various artists from the “8 Mile” soundtrack CD as well as a listing from
the companion CD containing music inspired by the film. The uncensored music
video for the Eminem song “Superman” (5:03) from “The Eminem Show” album
is presented as well. The anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) theatrical trailer
(2:25) with full English Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack is included too along with
onscreen production notes, cast and filmmaker biographical information and
Universal DVD recommendations. Windows based DVD-ROM users have “Total Axess™”
to additional behind-the-scenes materials and whatnot.
The
main DVD menu is animated with motion transitions to standard interactive still
frame menus and all are easy to navigate. “8 Mile” is really an entertaining
and engaging film that is well worth a look now that it is available on DVD-Video
from Universal Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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8 Mile (Widescreen Edition)