The Film
Bio pics of famous musicians tend to either be feel good stories about those who manage amazing comebacks, or are cautionary tales that end in tragedy. The story of punk rock icon Sid Vicious (played by Gary Oldman) certainly, and fittingly, falls in the latter camp. Yet, rather than the usual "live fast, die young and leave a good looking corpse," it is more of a slowly kill yourself on heroin, die young and leave looking like you should have died a whole lot sooner. But at least he actually made something of a mark for himself, whereas Nancy (Chole Webb) is presented as a mere hanger on.
In Sid & Nancy that latter half is also set up to be the anti-hero of the story and that's arguably the biggest problem with this film. Did an American junkie turned groupie really lead Sid- a train wreck of a musician to begin with - down the road to destruction? That's what director Alex Cox presents in this movie, which also serves as a condensed story of the Sex Pistols.
Sid's life changes when he meets Nancy, which coincides with his joining the group, and while their relationship is accurately shown to be toxic, at least he had his 15 minutes of fame - something dozens of other musicians would have hoped (and likely even died) for. Consider that the bio pics for Keith Moon (The Who), Bon Scott (AC/DC), Billy Murcia (The New York Dolls), Zeke Zettner (The Stooges) and even Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) haven't been made and maybe Sid should thank Nancy - because if anything this movie, which came out only seven years after his death, actually likely helped make him a bit more famous.
As with most bio pics, the story is condensed and highlights a few key moments. Was Sid always strung out, was he always outrageous and did the events play out as the movie suggests? Not likely, but again this is the story the fans want to see and Cox delivers. As Sex Pistols' manager Malcolm MacLaren says about Sid, "he's a walking disaster." But he found another disaster to share his tragically brief life with, and in this way it is a fairytale of star crossed lovers, just without the requisite happy ending.
The Picture
The punk rock scene of London in the 1970s - at least that scene as imagined by the director - comes to life in this 1080p HD MPEG-4 encoded transfer. The film really does a great job showing the grittiness of London and New York in that bygone era (the locations probably didn't look all that much better when the film was shot in 1985), and the Blu-ray allows this grittiness be seen in vivid clarity. Often missed on the old VHS and even Criterion Collection DVD, is the subtle imagery that Cox threw in to set the tone - such as a swastika pin worn on Sid's leather jacket, and the very realistic track lines on Nancy's skin. While a few sequences show graininess this seems to appear at the darker moments as the duo continue their descent into addiction, almost as if this was intended.
The Sound
There is no argument from most who knew the real Sid Vicious that his skills with a bass guitar were, in a word, "limited." And unfortunately the 5.1 DTS-MA soundtrack seems fairly limited as well. Chole Webb had described Nancy's voice as sounding like a chainsaw and in this mix there are times when it is hard to tell what the hell she is saying, and Oldman's slurring of words seems all the more slurred. There are few times when the Blu-ray audio seems worse than a previous release on DVD, but this is indeed on them. Perhaps this is due to the fact that there is a bit more discrete audio in this one, almost as if during the remastering someone decided the environment was more important than the dialog. About the only real improvement are those original songs - which play for brief moments - that make up the soundtrack. Many of these had been somewhat subdued in previous home video versions and now these musical cues stand out. Too bad the same couldn't be said for the dialog, or the rest of the soundtrack.
The Extras
On stage in the film Johnny Rotten utters the now infamous words to the audience "ever feel like you're being cheated." With this Blu-ray, which is labeled "Collector's Edition," it is in fact fair to say, "yes, indeed. You are being cheated." Whereas the Criterion Collection DVD was loaded with bonus materials including the 1976 Bill Grundy Interview with the Sex Pistols, interviews with the real Sid Vicious and even commentary tracks from Oldman and Webb, this version offers none of this. Instead this Collector's Edition features two 16-minute featurettes with various music journalist (most of whom were not writing when Sid was playing) commenting on "For the Love of Punk" and "Junk Love," the latter focusing on the real-life relationship of Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Cheated indeed!
Final Thoughts
As noted today it is likely more people know the Gary Oldman version of Sid Vicious than the real Sid Vicious, and for that this is both a great film and a bit sad when you think about it. Sid isn't Elvis and there isn't going to be another version of his life made. And yet it is still an enjoyable story about a character who lived every moment of his 15 minutes of fame to the fullest. It is just a shame that this 25th anniversary edition doesn't live up to it. If you have the Criterion Collection DVD this isn't much of an upgrade - it is almost the real greatest rock and roll swindle.
Product Details
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