8 Mile
Eminem and Kin Basinger star in 8 Mile, a rap story about a down and out white kid in the harsh world of low income Detroit.
Film making 18/25
Cinematography 18/25
Audio 18/25
Bonus Features 8/25
Total 62/100
8 Mile stars Eminem as Jimmy Bunny Rabbit Smith Jr., a poor white boy who grew up on the wrong side of 8 Mile road, a dividing highway between Detroit and its suburbs. Jimmy spends his days in a new job at a sheet metal factory and his free time trying to catch a break in the music business.
His first day on the job he is late because his car won’t start, he just froze at a rap competition and his girlfriend just dumped him so he had to move in with his mom. Jimmy has a great group of friends who not only believe in him but stick up for him when others just beat him down.
Jimmy’s mom lives in a trailer with a boyfriend that beats on her and fights with Jimmy at the smallest provocation and his mom just wants to drink. Jimmy is working toward recording his demo with a friend in his group but he soon sees that his friend is not really a friend at all.
Jimmy sees most of his friends talk big about breaking into the music industry but never seem to do anything about it, his friends stand behind him even though they may be all talk. Jimmy enters a rap battle against the group he has been fighting with throughout the movie and ends up winning two rounds to fight against the group’s leader.
The final round pits Jimmy against the previous winner of the battle Papa Doc and uses his past and the past of Papa Doc as ammunition in the rap battle. Jimmy ends up winning the battle by rapping about his own past and how he really has had a terrible life but has made it to the battle and is doing well.
Jimmy ends up winning when Papa Doc really cannot come up with a comeback especially when Jimmy uses Papa Doc’s own upbringing of a stable two parent home and his private schooling. The film ends with Jimmy walking away from the battle refusing to stick around and celebrate, secure in his own future.
8 Mile is a pretty good film, I was actually surprised that I would like it instead of thinking it was just stupid, I really don’t like rap music but this was alright. Eminem does a good job as a down and out white kid in a mostly black area of Detroit and in a predominantly black music field.
8 Mile was very well reviewed and made plenty of money at its release in theatres even though it did not release as a major film. The film made quite a lot of money, gross revenue is at $242 million and its budget was $41 million but it is still making money at sales of DVD and now the Blu-ray release.
The Blu-ray edition has the film in high definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and a few extra features with a couple making of features and a music video. The making of features are pretty good and the rap battle gives a look at the story behind rapping.
The Blu-ray edition does not really contain all that much extras but the making of is pretty good and the rap battle uncensored is worth watching. The rap battles feature is a making of feature that explains how much the rap battles mean to those fighting each other with words.
8 Mile is a pretty good film and worth watching if for nothing else than to get an appreciation for a different music coming from a varied culture. The film does a great job portraying the rap scene as it happens on the streets of Detroit and the extra features bring this to the screen as well.
8 Mile is a good film and worth watching, the whole movie can be summed up quite well with the last scene where Eminem is starting to walk away and his friends ask where he’s going. They assume he is going to hang out with them and celebrate but he tells them he is going back to work.