Trainspotting

Trainspotting (1996)

Plot summary

(3 votes)

Trainspotting is the tale of Scottish heroin junkies and their lives in Edinburgh. The motley crew of addicts (Mark Renton, Spud, Alison), an unhinged man whose drug is hurting people (Begbie) and the clean ones, (Tommy, Gail, Lizzy). Mark makes a decision to quit heroin and is joined by his friends (one of which just comes off it to prove to Mark he can do it easier than he can). While off the skag, the friends go through numerous unfavourable events, prompting them to resume their addiction, but a tragic turn of events makes Mark resolve to leave his old life behind and go to work in London. He soon finds out that he can't always leave his past behind that easily.

Continuity mistake: When the boys are in the hotel room setting up the heroin deal, there is a sink but no mirror above it. Then when Renton steals the money from them, he goes to the same sink and switches a light on above the mirror - neither of which was there before.

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Mark "Rent-boy" Renton: Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?

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Trivia: Ewen Bremner, who plays Spud, performed in the production of "Trainspotting" as Renton for a year before landing the role of Spud in the film.

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Question: I've seen this movie over 100 times and I know every single word, but when I watched it a few days ago on Netflix I noticed straight away that the talking sounded completely different and some words where changed, in the cold turkey scene Renton was supposed to say "i don't feel the sickness yet but it's in the POST, that's for sure", but on the Netflix version he says "I don't feel the sickness yet but its in the MAIL, that's for sure", why was this changed and did all the actors have to re-do the whole film in audio?

dan coakley..

Chosen answer: I can only assume it would have been done for the benefit of international audiences. To Brits, 'post' is commonly used as a noun describing any item received that was posted in the mail system, rather than just as a verb to describe the act of sending something in the mail. Typical small changes of word meanings that makes perfect sense to someone in Britain may easily confuse a viewer from another country.

Purple_Girl

Is this for real they don't think people are smart enough to know the post is the mail? Like we have post offices it's not like it's so far out there we couldn't figure it out my god.

Bear in mind "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was retitled entirely to "Sorcerer's Stone" in the USA. Movie studios are desperate to avoid audiences being confused, whether that's warranted or not.

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