Entertainment Weekly, 09/27/2002, p.49-54, "...Eminem projects the downbeat sex appeal and scurrilous, dead-eyed yearning of a rap-world James Dean....It's a movie of catchy rebel-underdog power..."
New York Times, 11/08/2002, p.E1, "...The movie is a success on its own terms because the director doesn't condescend to pop music..."
Box Office, 11/01/2002, p.122, "...Eminem possesses a furtive instinct as a performer..."
Rolling Stone, 10/19/2002, p.113, "...Eminem shows real screen presence....8 MILE hits hard and provocatively close to home..."
USA Today, 11/08/2002, p.7E, "...The rap sequences are shot and edited with the excitement of a crisply broadcast sporting event..."
Rolling Stone, 11/28/2002, p.97-8, "...8 MILE qualifies as a cinematic event by tapping into the roots of Eminem and the fury and feeling that inform his rap....Eminem wins by a knockout..."
Sight and Sound, 02/01/2003, p.36-42, "...An illuminating addition to that hall-of-funhouse-mirrors that is Eminem's persona..."
Variety, 11/04/2003, p.27-32, "...Eminem is magnetic playing a version of himself....Basinger is entirely credible..."
Title Note
Theatrical release: November 8, 2002
Release Note
DVD Features:
Region 1 Keep Case Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French Dolby Surround - English, Spanish Dolby Digital DTS Surround 5.1 - English Additional Release Material: Deleted Scenes - 1. "Eminem Rap Battles" Making-of - 1. THE MAKING OF 8 MILE Featurette - 1. THE MUSIC OF 8 MILE Music Video - 1. Eminem - "Superman" Interactive Features: Scene Access Interactive Menus
DVD Features:
Region 1 Keep Case Unedited Unrated Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35 Letterbox - 2.35 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French Dolby Digital DTS Surround 5.1 - English Dolby Surround - English, Spanish Additional Release Material: Deleted Scenes: "Eminem Rap Battles" Music Video: Eminem - "Superman" Making Of: THE MAKING OF 8 MILE Featurette: THE MUSIC OF 8 MILE Interactive Features: Scene Access Interactive Menus
Product Notes
Controversial rapper Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) makes his big screen debut with 8 MILE, a bracing drama directed by the increasingly audacious Curtis Hanson. Set in 1995 in the bleak, urban battle zone of Detroit, the film follows the struggles of a young man who is desperate to make a better life for himself. Jimmy Smith, Jr., better known as Rabbit, is destined for a life of squalor. Living in a cramped trailer with his deadbeat mom (Kim Basinger), Rabbit works in a factory to make ends meet. His only outlet is hip-hop. Possessing a talent for freestyle rapping, Rabbit still hasn't managed to unleash his true potential. But his best friend, Future (Mekhi Phifer), is determined to make that happen. Future forces Rabbit to enter a freestyle battle that he blew the week before, giving him another chance at redemption. Hanson's stellar portrait of lower-class urban disillusionment, shot with uncompromisingly gritty realism by Rodrigo Prieto, proves that the issue is no longer about race, it's about money. Eminem delivers a bold performance as the troubled youngster who is still trying to find his place in a harsh, cruel world.
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