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8 Mile (Widescreen Edition)

8 Mile (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brittany Gets Lucky
Review: The press were not sure whether Eminem would be good or not in his debut as an actor. But his acting is great and the fact that he wrote most of the soundtrack shows that he's one of a kind.

I did enjoy this film; I liked it better on my second watching. Although the insults and rapping was good during the rap battles, you could see the rappers literally spitting the words if the camera went in too close. Also, the handshake between Jimmy Rabbit (Eminem) and his friends gradually got on my nerves. The worst part of the film is when Jimmy gets beaten up, and Lily is screaming in the trailer. I cannot watch that part; it's so horrible. I was constantly turning the sound up and down during this, particularly when Rabbit and his mates are out driving in the car, you can hardly hear their lines as whatever they're playing is far too loud. Also, when they're in the Shelter, and the crowd is so noisy! And then I couldn't hear what Brittany Murphy was saying, so the volume was turned back up, and then I had to quickly turn it down in the next scene!

Well known for her roles in Girl Interrupted, Cherry Falls, and Drop Dead Gorgeous, this will be THE film of Brittany Murphy's career. Although she normally always has dark hair, in 8 Mile and Just Married, she attempts going blonde and it really suits her. There's chemistry between Brittany Murphy & Eminem and she definitely acts like she's enjoying herself during their sex scene! Lucky Brittany!

Kim Basinger plays Jimmy's mum, downtrodden and without makeup, embarrassing her son with her sex life.

Eminem's various and prominent tattoos are notably absent during this film, most importantly during the topless shot - the makeup artists must have had fun trying to cover up those!

During 8 Mile you can also see and hear the progress on the song that is the theme to the film - "Lose Yourself", which is perfect for this film.

The finale is the highlight of the film, worth watching just for that - and Eminem looking sexy in a vest top!

The DVD contains: the making of; exclusive rap battles; the music of; "Superman" music video; theatrical trailer; production notes; cast & filmmakers; recommendations and DVD-ROM features. Definitely better value than some DVDs you can get these days, which don't have much more than the trailer - if that - on them! The "Exclusive Rap Battles" is narrated by Curtis Hanson (director), and also features Eminem talking about his first time doing a rap battle. The whole sequence wouldn't be what it is without the extras; they are definitely part of it. Curtis Hanson gave four of the extras a once in a lifetime opportunity to battle against Eminem. During this, Eminem was actually losing his voice, so he mimes his words, but some of the winners start really ribbing him during their rapping, so understandably, he raps back, making this the best out of the DVD extras. It's a very brave girl who goes up to battle against Eminem, who totally ribs her during his rapping, but he hugs her afterwards.

My other favourite about the DVD extras is the video to "Superman", the song which made me go out and get "The Eminem Show" album. It's one of the best songs that Eminem has done, for me, and seeing the video sheds new light on the song. The only thing I didn't like about the video was the female starring alongside him - when you see close up shots she looks a LOT older than she looks from further away. The lyrics, like most of Eminem's songs, are fantastic, and I'm constantly humming it. All the video is brilliantly shot especially the shots of Eminem with 50+ women in their underwear - you can barely see him most of the time!

8 Mile is a must see for all Eminem fans and recommended even for non-Eminem fans. It shows Eminem in a different light, to that of his hard man, woman hating rapper persona. You need to see this.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Don't be fooled by "Censored Bonus Features"
Review: Pardon my frankness, but some people are going to get the mistaken impression that 'censored bonus features' means that they will get to see some extra racy scenes that were censored in the theatrical release (such as Brittany Murphy without her top on). That just isn't the case. This version offers no deleted scenes or anything racy; it just includes some rap battles and a few videos that aren't available on the original version. The term is very misleading and people are bound to get burned...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "I heard you were a dope rapper."
Review: I hate Eminem. I listen to rock and heavy metal, not rap. I have to admit, this is one good movie. I'm not going to give you a synopsis, because you all know what it's about. I am going to say that the blondie Marshall gave me a movie worth the admission price and that is more than I can say about most movies I have seen lately. I even bought this DVD in spite of being an Eminem hater. I don't care what kind of music you listen to, if you like or hate Em, this is a flick worth seeing. Now.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Equality Between the Good and the Bad
Review: I admit, I'm not an Eminem fan. If you think that effects my review of this film, skip it now, although personally I don't think it influenced my opinion anymore than a person who loves Eminem would be influenced if reviewing this film. But anyway, onward...

This film is good. In fact, despite my dislike for the guy, Eminem gave a really nice performance. He shows vulnerability at all of the right moments, and his anger explodes during understandable situations as well. His timing and screen presence are both on the spot. However, I need to see him act in a role that doesn't so closely resemble his actual life before I give him full credit. I am relatively sure I could do a decent job playing myself too if I had the opportunity (although admittedly probably not as well as Eminem did in this situation).

The high points are the moments with his little sister, where his humanity and more importantly, his vulnerability really shine. In what appears to be an attempt to at least somewhat clear his name as a homophobic fanatic, his defense of and respect for a gay man that works at the stamping plant with him seems sincere and adds a nice element of maturity to both the fictional character B. Rabbit and to Eminem himself. Oh, and how could I forget about the rap battle at the end of the film? Even I can't deny the talent behind that scene.

Then we come to the low points... the mentally slow friend Cheddar Bob seems to exist either as comic relief or to further add on to the idea that B. Rabbit/Eminem contain a great deal of humanity inside of their rough exterior. Unlike the subtle touches of humanity and vulnerability that I just mentioned previously, this takes it over the top to a point of ridiculousness that wasn't intended. Also, Kim Basinger gives a surprisingly weak performance as the mother, bringing melodrama to all new extremes. I think she needed to study the art of the subtle performance by watching Eminem for a few scenes.

Is this a bad film? Not at all. Is it all it's hyped up to be, worthy of a near five-star rating? In my humble opinion, no it's not. I would rent it before purchasing it, to see if this inspirational tale really inspires you or just makes you nod your head for a few minutes.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very Inspiring
Review: 8 Mile shows how Marshall Mather's (a.k.a Eminem) life was before he got with Dr. Dre. 8 Mile shows Eminem's frustration and anger at his mom in every day of his life. The plot of the movie is very surprizing, it makes you so excited and thinking on what Eminem is going to do next. In 8 Mile Eminem plays as Jimmy Smith (a.k.a B Rabbit), who has a hidden talent for rapping but cannot express it in front of rap battles because he is scared. In his first battle he gets stage fright with people booing at him since he is the under-dog. He works as a mechanic, lifting parts of cars. He raps around his friends and on the streets and makes a big show at a lunch break by battling this other rapper that was dissing a lady who was rapping called Vennesa. He meets a girl called Alex who he secretly likes, she gives him a little inspiration on becoming what he wants to be. He doesn't go to any rap battles anymore because a friend of his called "Wink" told him that he could get him a record deal. Later he has problems with his Mom when he had a fight with her because he didn't want his step-dad treating her like garbage. His friend "Future" signs him up for a rap battle at the shelter, but Rabbit doesn't want to go so they start a fight. He goes later to a radio station where "Wink" said that he could get noticed there. He goes up and in another room he sees "Wink" making out with Alex, Rabbit gets frustrated and beats up "Wink". Later at Rabbit's trailer "Wink" shows up with his friends known as "The Free World" and they seriously beat him up. He realizes later that no one can get him to have a record deal except himself. He goes to the shelter for the Rap Battle Championship. He sees "Future" there and Rabbit apologizes to him and they become friends again. After that, the biggest Rap Battle showdown begins, he viciously disses the first 2 rappers, and he goes to the finals. B Rabbit goes first this time and disses the third rapper so hard that he chokes when its his turn and forfeits the battle. B Rabbit is the champion now but doesn't want to battle anymore and returns to doing his job as being a mechanic. This movie is very inspiring. A must-see movie for all rap fans. Plus it has the never-before-seen "Superman" Video, and production notes, and the making of 8 Mile.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Love this White Boy
Review: I love Eminem, with his controversy baby! Doesn't that keep you more interested?

I loved the rap-off's man it made you reflect on when rapping really hit the scenes how heated it was and not deadly!

I liked the movie his compassion for his sister, and his hope for himself as well as his mom. He didn't try and come with a rags to riches tale and I believe that is what cinched it for me.

Okay I did get lost, who is the one that is suppose to be his wife????? The one he left or Britany's character?????

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: love it
Review: I loved the movie Eminem is a great actor! I like how he took good care of Lily

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The life of continuing to rap and survival
Review: Well in this all-about a rap type of movie Jimmy Smith Jr(Eminem)
is an rapper w2ho has friends who all living with they're mom's So all these friends are relaying on him to rap battle so through the movie its all about surviving in the hood but along the way his mom Stepanie(Kim Basinger)has a boyfriend named Greg and Jimmy always has to deal with him So,this movies about voice and surviving

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Is he a great actor aswell?
Review: In Eminem's old days, he had many rap battles, where 2 two people insult each other, using rap. Now see Eminem in he's own film, when he wern't famours. When he lived in a tralior. This film is 1/2 true. Have to see it! Brillent! *****!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Some modest evidence of the strength of Western culture
Review: Rap music, popular for a couple of decades now, has taken a lot of heat lately, primarily due to it being interpreted as "gangsta" rap, and held responsible for breakdown in social order. The group labeled as "right-wing conservatives", however inaccurate this term may be, has been quoted as being against the "phenomenon of rap music", for the reason that such music instills debauchery, violence, lack of ambition, and disrespect for family values.

I viewed this film while on vacation, and the splurges in free time that accompany such endeavors instigate that new things be tried: that one entertain oneself with the unusual. The persons with me on the vacation were curious as to the content of the movie, and so with popcorn, beer, and an open mind, we sat down on a not-so-comfortable couch and concentrated our attention to what some have called "proof" of the decline of U.S. culture.

What we viewed was interesting, and not what we expected. But art has the habit of bringing you out of equilibrium, and this piece of art, this movie, was a pretty strong perturbation. What was observed was a character with a strong work ethic: working by day, rapping by night. A character with deep concern with his baby sister's care and well-being. A character whose ambition to break from his routine and find something better bordered on obsession. A character who insisted on being genuine, on being honest with himself, and not masking your origins or upbringing.

[Are these not "family values"? Will Western civilization decay because of the practice of values like these?]

Was he a "perfect" character? Well, no: he broke with his girlfriend when learning (or making the assumption) she was pregnant. He was violent at times, and followed the crowd without question at one point (the burning of the vacant house). He let himself be intimidated (at first) by an audience.

This character clearly believed in the value of a focused life: his extreme note-taking for his eventual musical rap confrontations. A random walk through life was not going to get him where he wanted to be. Playing bingo, like his mother, and not planning...not working, was not the way.

The harsh language in the rap confrontations is balanced by its inventiveness, its creativity. It is actually very fun. One can get intoxicated with its free play. All discovery originates this way: the formalities come later, and these are then etched in stone, with later generations to question and possibly rebel against.


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