Talk:Trainspotting (film)

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When Renton takes part in the treatment program for heroin addicts, wouldn't it make more sense that he is prescribed the real-life treatment opiate, methadone, rather than 'methadin'? After all, when spoken with a Scottish accent, methadone sounds like 'Methadun'. -- Jiggssaw


That's an awfully big quote. Is this fair use? -- Wapcaplet 03:00 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Not sure. It appears to have been copied verbatim from the imdb quote page. It even replicates the errors contained there. I have fixed the quote to conform to what's actually said on the Region 1 DVD. 209.149.235.241 22:17, 31 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Both this article and the one for the book are rather short. Wouldn't it be best if we just merged the 2 articles together? After all, they aren't really that different of subjects, at least not enough to justify having more than one article. -- LGagnon

I think the default on Wikipedia should be that when movies are adapted into books, both the book and the movie should be covered in one article. I would say that some film adaptations are so different to the book that they should be covered in seperate articles, and since I haven't read the book I don't know whether its one of those exceptions (although I suspect that it isn't). Saul Taylor 04:53, 21 Mar 2004 (UTC)
I have read the book. Most of the scenes in the film are taken from the book, but there is a fairly big difference between the two. It's not enough to justify two separate articles though. -- Jim Regan 06:27, 21 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Adminspotting

Should I make reference to Adminspotting?  :) - I'll mention it's a spoof | Adminspotting

Project2501a 13:55, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC) (Respond in my talk page, plase :)

i would class this as a stub, any objections? --AeneasMacNeill 14:49, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] something to consider

trainspotting has also come to mean taking an interest in trivia or some other form of esoterica... in the movie, sickboy originally gets off of heroin by becoming a sean connery/bond film buff (liberation through becoming a trainspotter). Furthermore, when taking this into context, the overarching theme of the movie can be interpreted as salvation through trainspotting: coming to appreciate the trivial aspects in life. In the case of the main character, renton, his opening monologue suggests that it is the triviality of life that he is rejecting...in the end, not only does he comes to appreciate these trivialities, but they actually become the guiding force in turning his life around.

The link to Andrew Macdonald on this article goes to a different Andrew Macdonald.

Tbe real one's bio is at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531602/bio and has nothing to do with Nazi Germany.

Captions from the movie [1] 70.181.65.95 08:30, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Um, the usage of 'trainspotting' to mean 'taking an obsessive interest in trivial things' comes from the actually hobby of train spotting, where enthusiasts write down the numbers and types of trains they see in a book, and predates the film by some time. People who were obsessively anal about things most people wouldn't think about were (and still are) pejoratively called 'trainspotters'. It's roughly synonymous with geek. I see your point though, and taking that into context, the film's title does make more sense. I'd always seen the title as saying that, if they hadn't rejected the norms of society, they would be too bothered by the trivialities and mundanities of life, just as trainspotters are. --Stevefarrell 23:10, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Renton is comparing his heroin addiction with the countless other addictions those around him indulge in. Having a house, a job, a family, these could all be classified as addictions. We work (most of us) 40 hours or more a week, all so we can earn money to live in our house and support our family until the day we die. To some, this might seem pointless. To others, it is the glue that holds our minds and bodies together. If these things were taken away from us, we would react in much the same way as a drug addict without his drugs. We would be lost, hurting and in complete and utter despair. Without our homes, our family, our money we are nothing. Without his heroin, Renton is nothing. He is lost, hurting and in complete and utter despair. The movie draws more clearly the similarities between what we see as acceptable addictions and unacceptable ones.

"The screenplay, by John Hodge, was adapted from Welsh's novel. It does not contain any references to the non-drug-related hobby of train spotting." Now, I may be missing something but...I don't know if these two sentences are linked to say that the actual screenplay doesn't contain any reference but the film definitely does. When renton is going cold turkey he has to stare at the children's train wallpaper. --Chrisjwowen (talk) 13:08, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] No Critical reviews??

I was disgusted to find that a film of this stature did not have a section on critical reviews. I have added a pretty in depth one, although I am sure more users will want to add to it. Notable additions, I assume, would be a negative review.


Well, if you were disgusted by not finding a reviews section then add it. You're as responsible for that section being missing as any of us are (also it would be helpful that you signed your comments.) --Screech 19:36, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
The negative reviews that are linked from the Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic pages are pretty unreliable - that is, they are "internet reviews", or are dead links, or are merely 100 words long.--Macca7174 00:24, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Inaccuracies in article corrected

Corrected the lines below for the following reasons

>>Renton urges people from all walks of life to "choose life" - meaning they should choose to live a traditional family lifestyle<<

Renton doesn't urge people to do that at all he simply states it. It sounded more like an ironic take on a marketing campaign to me.

>>Gail tries to reopen their sex life<< Gail says "let's see what I'm missing" so she obviously hadn't seen his penis before hence she was trying to start their sex life.

Not so, it can just as easily be read as what is she missing out this particular night. Which is the way I've generally seen it. Either which way, I don't believe it should be conclusively stated either way without other supporting statements. Mathmo Talk 08:50, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
Another editor already made that point so I amended the article at the time to reflect that. Valenciano 07:56, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

>>Dianne, is an underage high school student.<< There aren't any high schools in Scotland even if there were the essential point is that she's under the age of sexual consent.

>>Begbie puts up much of the payment money, having just won a large bet<< Begbie put 5 pound on at 16-1 so he won 80 pounds. He complains about not getting much from the robbery so it seems a fair bet that the rest of the money came from Sick Boy's pimping and pushing.

>>Taking the money and his passport, he leaves the country<< Not in the film where we see him walking through Central London in the last scene.

[edit] Location of locker

Subheader added. --Netizen 18:25, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
>>Spud, however, finds £2000 in a locker at the airport<< But after putting it there we see Renton walking through Central London. It doesn't seem logical that he would go to Heathrow airport on the edge of London then return to the centre afterwards. This also contradicts the point about him leaving the country above. Further it looks more like a train station locker to me.

Wrong, we see Spud pick up the money from the locker. Mathmo Talk 08:50, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
You miss the point. The point is not about him picking the money from a locker - it's the location of the locker which obviously isn;t in an airport. Valenciano 07:56, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
I think the point is that Renton wishes to leave Spud some money. Where exactly that locker is located I find to be unimportant. --Netizen 18:28, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
Absolutely, so we can just omit that info from the article. Valenciano 12:14, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

All the above may very well be in the book but as this article is about the film we should stick to what's in that.Valenciano 21:27, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

I think a large section of the introduction should be placed within the main body of the article. It's full of additional information that really doesn't fit as an introduction Canking 01:02, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

I removed 'parents' from the plot discussion, as Spud passes out in Gail's bed, hence her saying that she slept fine on the sofa.

[edit] Scotland

Why is 'country' listed as both 'United Kingdom' and 'Scotland'? Billy Elliot is not listed as 'United Kingdom' and 'England', so why is there any need for more detail here? Kohran 11:17, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Here --- Politics of Scotland TheAsianGURU (talk) 21:46, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hey Danny~!

9 years have gone & passed. Where is my sequel?! TheAsianGURU (talk) 21:49, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like MacGregor's too far up his arse to be bothered to make one. Shame really, because Ewan used to be a great actor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by The Rate (talk • contribs) 16:57, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Trainspotting movie.jpg

Image:Trainspotting movie.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 02:38, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Original research/uncited claims

This article contains several instances of original research and uncited claims. Examples:

  • Plot
"The cause of death is neglect while they were all present: an infant's distorted wails play over the preceding drug montage" - the cause of death is never explicitly stated in the film, nor is any 'distorted wail' apparent in the soundtrack for said montage. Any such inference, if uncited, would fall under the auspice of WP:NOR.
  • Renton's Narration
"At the end of the film he pledges to "choose life" (and go straight) but the £14,000 slung over his shoulder along with his recent reintroduction to heroin use, make his statement questionable, especially since during his last hit in the film he narrated, "there are final hits and final hits. Which one was this going to be?" - The statement that Renton's words are 'questionable' are the editor's personal interpretation. Also the question ending this section reads more like an essay and implies a personal agenda on the part of the editor.
  • Other versions
"Because of the strong Scottish accents and language of the characters, it was believed that American audiences might have difficulty understanding them." - any claim of motivation for an action needs to be cited.
  • Soundtracks
"The Trainspotting soundtracks were two best-selling albums of music centred around the film" - rather than using a general qualification like 'best-selling', it would be better to put cited figures showing sales figures for said album.
  • Locations
"Despite being set in Edinburgh almost all of the film was filmed in Glasgow, apart from the opening scenes of the film which were filmed in Edinburgh and the final scenes which were filmed in London." - this statement needs to cited.

Rather than tagging the article with multiple {{Fact}} templates I put these observations here.

LeilaniLad (talk) 17:08, 8 March 2008 (UTC)