8 MILE - Blu-ray review

The world has been lacking when it comes to Marshall Mathers. He released his last studio album, "Encore" in 2004. Since then the multi-platinum artist has taken a break to raise his daughter and niece. He has dabbled around as a producer and been in the entertainment headlines for his rocky second marriage to Kim Mathers. "8 Mile" was released at the end of 2002 and Eminem has been rumored to star in the television update and big screen adaptation of "Have Gun Will Travel," but that project has either been stalled or canceled. Thankfully, 2009 bears witness to the Blu-ray release of his debut and partially autobiographical film "8 Mile" and the rapper will release two solo albums titled "Relapse" and "Relapse 2." Eminem has been missed and it has been a long five years, but guess who's back?

There were more than a handful of people surprised when Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem) and director Curtis Hanson collaboration rocketed past the $50 million mark on its opening weekend and found itself grossing nearly $120 million before the end of its theatrical run. The name "Eminem" is nearly synonymous with controversy over the past couple of years and a vast number of the population had banked on "8 Mile" being a vanity piece for the rapper as "Cool as Ice" was for Vanilla Ice. Early buzz from the director and mega-producer Brian Grazer was that Mr. Mathers was a fine actor and he would be in the running come awards season. Most of this early buzz was dismissed as a propaganda war to expand upon the rappers built in audience. Nobody really expected Marshall Mathers and "8 Mile" to become one of the top films of the years and surely, nobody expected the film to take home an Oscar AND capture the record for the highest-selling R-Rated DVD release.

When I had first heard of Eminem, I was not impressed, and I stayed away from the hype and controversy. Eventually I was pulled his music when I stumbled across his album, "The Eminem Show." I am generally very critical of the rap world, but quickly found a liking to what Slim Shady had to say and it only took me a few seconds to realize that the Slim Shady alter-ego was a joke and was meant for show. I´ll avoid a discussion on the music of the man, but once I listened to the entire album a few times, 8 Mile quickly rose on my list of anticipated films and I was certainly in line on opening night to see if the film would be good or bad. Fortunately, I was able to secure some tickets via the Internet, because I never expected the show to be an opening smash and had I not done so, I would have had to wait another day to see the anticipated film. My anticipation was met and I will say now that I quickly found the film to be one of the year´s best.

"8 Mile" is loosely based on the life of Marshall Mathers. It takes place in the neighborhoods he grew up in and the lead character Jimmy Smith Jr. has a similar background to Mathers. In "8 Mile", Jimmy Smith is a white rapper known simply as B Rabbit. He struggles from job to job and finds himself moving back in with his mother (Kim Basinger). All Jimmy wants to do is make enough money to get his own place and find a way to make a good living for himself. His aspirations are set on a rap career and he hopes that battles at a club called the Shelter are his ticket to meet those aspirations. His friend Future (Mekhi Phifer) is in charge of the rap battles and does his best to help him along. Jimmy´s color is largely used against him in his attempt to become respected in the rap world. He inhabits a run-down dump of a world and it seems that the more he tries, the deeper shit he finds himself in.

This is a very good film and some props must be given to the talent behind the film. Eminem really is great in this film. With all of the controversy that has surround his career thus far and the heavy degree of dislike in his public perception, he comes across in "8 Mile" as a VERY likable person. It is very easy to find yourself rooting for him from scene to scene. His interaction with young actress Chloe Greengfield, who plays Jimmy´s sister Lily shows some of Mathers´ human side and his apparent relationship with his real-life daughter. He comes across as a sincere and caring person, who is street smart and not afraid of defending himself or those he cares for. Mekhi Phifer is another actor that dominates the screen with his presence. I expect to see more of Phifer in the future. As far as the actors go, Basinger was believable as white trash, but her accent became tiresome very quickly and the only downfall to the entire cast. I´m not exactly sure why Evan Jones and his character Cheddar Bob was necessary, but it did provide good comedic relief and offered Mathers a few times to show his compassion towards others.

Hanson and Eminem worked together nicely to bring the dregs of Detroit to the big screen. At one time, Detroit was the target of a plethora of jokes. It was said there was no worse place to be than Detroit. From watching "8 Mile," it looks as if Detroit really is the asshole of the world. In "8 Mile," Detroit becomes one of the characters of the film and its grittiness and toughness adds much to the picture. The world inhabited by Jimmy Smith and his friends is not a place anybody would ever want to be. Hanson gives credibility to the underground rap scene and his interaction with Mathers is quickly apparent and I cannot imagine that either could have made this film the success it is without the other. Hanson needed Eminem´s knowledge and background and the rapper needed the director´s skilled hand at crafting a solid motion picture.

"8 Mile" is not a film for everybody. It is filled with enough expletives to make Eddie Murphy blush. The film is violent, but it is far from gratuitous. There is not a great deal of blood, though there are fights and gunshot wounds. As far as gratuity goes, there is a brief scene showing Basinger´s back, but the filmmakers did not even include the seemingly necessary breast shot. This is a film that was made to be sincere and honest to the world and story it tells, but it is a film that was made to be as serious as possible and not resort to cheap nudity and unnecessary violence to entertain. The story is very solid, but it is highly based on the world of underground rap. Many who are looking to find a good story and who cares nothing for rap truly can be entertained by this movie, while others who are looking for an entertaining movie may be turned off by the hardcore rap music.

Video:

Eminem and "8 Mile" make the jump to high definition with a good transfer that has the 2.35:1 framed picture looking better than the DVD release, but it is too gritty and dark to rival the best that Blu-ray has to offer. Curtis Hanson and director of Photography Rodrigo Prieto had the unenviable task of bringing the slums of Detroit to the big screen. The filmmakers have found a way to make something this damn nasty looking look beautifully shot. "8 Mile" is detailed and the camera has no problems with focusing in on every detail of the actors' faces. The blue-skewed hues are striking. Black levels and shadow delineation are important for this film and they are very strong. The gritty world of Detroit is rendered with a noticeable amount of film grain, and while it is clearly noticeable it does allow "8 Mile" to have just a little more visual character. I gave a glowing review a few years ago for the DVD release and I am still impressed with how this looks on Blu-ray, but the rough and tumble cinematography hinders this from truly shining on Blu-ray.

Audio:

When I reviewed "8 Mile" on DVD back in 2004 I gave the film a perfect score for audio. Needless to say, I was excited to see how the film would sound on Blu-ray with the new DTS-HD Master 5.1 mix. I think my score was influenced by my love for the film. "8 Mile" does sound very good and not just for booming rap tracks and heavy bass. The ambience of Detroit and the underworld rap scene is captured nicely by the sound design for the film. The rap music nearly fades to background noise for over half the film, but the sounds of cars, busy city streets and fabrication machines sound good. During the opening sequence and the film's pivotal rap battle, the .1 LFE channel amps up nicely and bass just pounds heavily. When the Free World Posse drive up in their black SUV, the subwoofer goes crazy. Dialogue is clean and you won't have a problem listening to Eminem's versus flow. Imaging is good across channels and while the rear surrounds aren't busy throughout the entire film they are used effectively.

Extras:

I was hoping for more than a port of the bonus features for "8 Mile." The Blu-ray release is essentially a port of the DVD release. The first of three supplements is The Making of 8 Mile (10:02). This provides Eminem's personal insights into the film as well as footage with Curtis Hanson and others. The insight of this is valuable and while it is short, it has a good amount to say. Exclusive Rap Battles – Uncensored (23:39) is the absolute best supplement contained on the disc. Of course, there are only three of them so that isn't saying much. However, this feature introduces the concept of rap battles and provides footage from a series of rap battles done for the making of the film. This is very good to watch to understand the film itself, but to see the skill of Mathers and others involved in the film. The "Superman" Music Video – Uncensored (5:02) was first shown on the DVD release and has been brought over to Blu-ray. It is still the censored version of the song lyrically.

Closing:

In the five years that have passed since I last reviewed "8 Mile" I find no love loss in my feelings towards this Marshall Mathers film. This is a great film and I still hold true to that belief. It is honest, entertaining and rapper Eminem is a very talented individual who is charismatic. His absence as an actor or recording artist has been noted and this is the year that Slim Shady is back. Beyond his tattoos and controversy, he is one hell of an entertainer. I don't know if he will ever get in front of the camera again as his followup project is lost in the void and rumored for a 2010 release. If this turns out to be the only time that Mathers had a lead role, it is memorable. The Blu-ray release brings an improvement to sight and sound, but the raw nature of the film doesn't place "8 Mile" among the elite discs in technical terms. The bonus features are good, but disappointing in being simple ports of what was offered on the DVD. I love this film and don't see why it isn't worth at least giving a chance to see why Eminem continues to be one of the more influential entertainers.