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I'll admit that I went into 8 Mile knowing nothing at all about Eminem. I've obviously been living under a rock (or at least don't have MTV), because I've never heard one of his songs nor seen any of his videos. Well, I'm sure I must have heard a snippet or two on the radio flipping channels, but obviously Mr. Marshall Mathers didn't make much of an impression on me, for I can't remember a single song title or lyric. I'm also not much of a rap guy. I'm as white as they come, a suburban Midwestern boy who grew up on Atari and techno-pop. Give me soaring melodies instead of drum n' bass and I'm happy. So going into 8 Mile was like visiting a foreign country. Which either makes me the worst candidate to review 8 Mile, or the best?

8 Mile is a reference to the distance between the middle-class white suburbs and the Detroit ghetto, the "color line," between what's authentic and what isn't. It might as well be 800 miles for Jimmy Smith, aka Bunny Rabbit (Eminem). He's just another young rapper with dreams of fame and fortune, but Bunny's got real talent. It's not going to be easy - he's white, his mom (Kim Basinger) does nothin' but try to bring him down, and he's trying to connect with Alex (Brittany Murphy), another casualty on the boulevard of broken dreams. But high hopes demand big risks. Can Bunny conquer his fears and triumph at the big "rap off" on his way to superstardom?

The success of 8 Mile hinges on Eminem, who acquits himself nicely in his motion picture debut. While not actually playing himself, it's a role that's pretty darn close to the real Marshall Mathers. He's good, but I'm not sure if what he's really doing is acting - he delivers his lines with his eyes to the ground and lots of scowling. Murphy is appropriately skanky as the shattered Alex, and compared to a Hollywood backlot, the locations, music and attitude look and feel authentic. But 8 Mile's ace in the hole is director Curtis Hanson, who manages to infuse every shot with style and energy. This is a cliched underdog story, but Hanson's restraint makes it feel fresh, even up to the big climax, which is not nearly as predictable as one would expect.

Yet despite the considerable talent behind and in front of the camera, is 8 Mile really credible as a drama? I dunno. I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a sparkling new rap version of Purple Rain. I may not know anything about rap, but I'd like to think I know something about authenticity. Isn't it just a little amusing that superstars like Eminem are now making millions, yet it's all supposed to be about "keeping it real?" (First J.Lo, now it's Eminem from the block.) I suspect Eminem no longer knows anything about the street except when his limo comes to pick him up at the MTV Video Music Awards parking lot. The film is filled with talk of dope rappers and of not being "wack," yet even it's lacquered doom and gloom feels like Urban Outfitters with a good beat. (Does anyone really believe Basinger as Eminem's trailer trash mom, a go-nowhere who plays bingo on the weekends?) I did like 8 Mile, but as fantasy, not reality - it's fun, inspiring and all rather silly. But I'm not sure if that's what was intended?

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Universal Studios Home Video is releasing not one but four versions of 8 Mile on DVD: skip-it pan & scan and 2.35;1 anamorphic widescreen editions, each with "Censored" and "Uncensored" extras. I checked out the widescreen versions, and both feature identical transfers and they're pretty great. Curtis Hanson and his director of photography Rodrigo Prieto employ some fairly standard techniques to give 8 Mile a gritty feel. Lots of low lighting, greenish-blue filters (just to make sure everyone looks slightly nauseous) and pumped up contrast. Yet even with all the trickery this is a very clean, smooth and film-like transfer.

The print is in excellent shape, with only the appropriate slight grain throughout to remind you that you're not looking straight out of a window. Blacks and contrast are excellent, which gives real depth to the image. Color purity is smooth and vibrant, with appropriately desaturated hues but a richness of tone that is very pleasing. Detail is also surprisingly good despite the pumped-up contrast, with fine texture visible even in the darkest sequences, which is over half the movie. Universal has also not overdone the video processing, with no apparent edge enhancement, and compression artifacts are not apparent. 8 Mile looks great.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

As great as the transfer is, I wasn't expecting the soundtrack to be just as dope. Ain't no wack job here, homey! Featuring both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround tracks, this is a somber film but the sound design is very clever. Given it's Hollywood polish, it's no surprise fidelity and dynamic range are as good as it gets. Despite being shot primarily on location, the sound recording and ADR are seamless. Given the rap soundtrack, the .1 LFE is excellent on both tracks (with the DTS getting a little bit of an edge) with some tight low end. But most impressive is the subtle use of the surrounds. There are noticeable discrete effects throughout, some that are quite starting. (The sound of a police siren in chapter 7 sounded so real I literally thought a cop car was coming up to my door.) Imaging is terrific, with transparent pans from front to back and all around that are very immersive. I also liked how prominent dialogue was in the mix; instead of overdoing the rap numbers, dialogue, music and effects are perfectly balanced throughout. This is a great soundtrack and far better than I expected.

Also included is an optional English 2.0 Dolby surround track, French 5.1 and Spanish 2.0 surround dubs, and English captions encoded as subtitles. There are no true Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Given the film's $100 million-plus success, the extras compiled here are pretty wimpy. (Yo, Eminem, what's up?) No audio commentary is included, nor any sort of real documentary or deleted scenes. It's all up to a few featurettes/music bits to deliver the goods, but they come up short. (All are presented in full screen and 2.0 stereo, with no subtitles or captions offered.)

First up we have the 10-minute The Making of 8 Mile, a standard EPK type of thing with onset interviews with Eminem, Curtis Hanson, Brian Grazer and Mekhi Phifer. It's not bad, but far too brief and overloaded with film clips. I did learn a bit about Eminem's attitude towards rap, but this is just an extended commercial. Next up are the much-vaulted Uncensored Rap Battles, which will likely be the highlight for fans. This 24- minute "day in the life" montage starts with more Hanson and Eminem interviews, audition and rehearsal footage, then behind-the- scenes material that is pretty interesting, especially if you're a rap fan. While the sound is pretty weak, we get to see some of these dope rappers at work (including my favorite, the sassy Joaquilla Nevelshon) then the complete uncut version of the film's climatic battle. As for the "Uncensored" part, it's just a few swear words, and will hardly shock anyone at all familiar with any rap album made in the last twenty years. And by the way, am I the only one who thinks this is really just a pilot for a rap version of American Idol snuck onto a DVD?

The rest of the extras are pretty dull. Included are Eminem's "Superman" music video, the theatrical Trailer in anamorphic widescreen, fairly good production notes, and basic cast and crew filmographies. While the back of the box touts "Eminem's Personal Insight into the Making of the Film!", I guess they were just talking about the EPK. Also disappointing is The Music of 8 Mile, which is just a text screen for the two 8 Mile soundtracks, with a song list that will take you to the corresponding chapter in the flick. Not exactly dope.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Pop the disc in the drive and a Universal Total Axess interface pops up. Embedded with basic DVD controls, the big attraction is the upcoming launch of the 8 Mile Total Axess web portal, set to launch when the disc streets on March 18th. Watch this space for an update...

Parting Thoughts