Search - Boogie Nights on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Profanity, Substance Abuse Movie Release: 1997 DVD Release: 08/29/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 2 hrs 35 mins Studio: New Line Home Video Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Comedy Drama, Period Film, Showbiz Drama, Ensemble Film See Also: Boogie Nights, Boogie Nights

While set within the milieu of the Los Angeles adult film industry, Boogie Nights is less a film about pornography than the serio-comic story of a group of misfits, losers, and lost souls who are embraced by Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), a director who makes "adult films, exotic motion pictures." In 1977, while hanging out at a disco, Jack spots Eddie (Mark Wahlberg), the new busboy at the club, and tells him he's convinced "there's something wonderful inside those jeans waiting to get out." Jack knows his business well and his expert eye has not betrayed him; Eddie is a pornographer's dream -- good looking, remarkably endowed, and willing and able to do as many takes as might be needed. The product of a woefully dysfunctional upbringing, Eddie is not terribly bright but is very ambitious and eager to prove he has a "special something" to share with the world. Eddie changes his name to Dirk Diggler and quickly becomes the biggest star in hardcore. Working alongside "Dirk" in Jack's films are Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), a porn actress who applies her misplaced maternal instincts to anyone who needs nurturing; Rollergirl (Heather Graham), a cheerful but blank-faced high school drop-out who never removes her roller skates; Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), a none-too-bright actor, aspiring magician, and failing songwriter; Buck (Don Cheadle), a black actor fascinated with cowboy iconography who wants to open a stereo shop; Scotty J (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a stocky and awkward soundman infatuated with Dirk; Little Bill (William H. Macy), Jack's assistant director, who has trouble dealing with his wife's brazen infidelity; and Colonel James (Robert Ridgely), Jack's backer, who has a weakness for young girls. In the brief, late-'70s moment when porn was chic and sex films seemed poised to break into the mainstream, Dirk becomes a star and Jack a respected name. But a few years later, drugs and pride have taken their toll on Dirk and many of his friends, while the advent of the VCR radically changes the adult movie business; Jack goes from being a "filmmaker" to manufacturing and wholesaling videocassettes, a wealthy but emotionally broken man. In his second film, wunderkind director Paul Thomas Anderson juggled a broad range of characters in a manner reminiscent of Robert Altman's ensemble films, making Boogie Nights a sad but funny story of a makeshift family of damaged people and what happens before and after their brief moment in the sun. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Mark Wahlberg - Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler
Burt Reynolds - Jack Horner
Julianne Moore - Amber Waves
John C. Reilly - Reed Rothchild
Don Cheadle - Buck Swope
Heather Graham - Rollergirl
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Scotty
William H. Macy - Little Bill

Paul Thomas Anderson's unflinching look at the world of 1970s adult cinema has been polished up for this "special edition," which improves on New Line's previously released DVD. The picture is perfect, presented in a widescreen anamorphic format with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The day-glo colors of '70s California never looked so radiant. Also, from the hit parade of pop classics to minor details like the whirring of film through a camera, the sound design is one of the best out there. Dolby Digital 5.1 allows viewers to experience every minute sound with perfect clarity. Extras are a real pleasure as well. New Line has kept Anderson's original commentary, while adding a new one featuring selected members of the cast. The second disc offers ten deleted scenes (bumped up from the original's nine), and the music video for Michael Penn's song "Try." A curious but welcome addition is the "John C. Reilly Files," a collection of extended scenes that prominently feature the actor. They're fairly amusing and give a good insight into the loose, almost improvisational feeling that pervades the movie. ~ Jeremy Brown, All Movie Guide