Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44855 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 242 minutes

DVD Description
Available for the first time on DVD

Special Features: - Features footage not previously released on VHS - DVD extras include Iain Banks interview and commentary from the producer, director and screenwriter

"Annoyingly better than the novel in so many ways"

Iain Banks

Synopsis
A young student is charged by his grandmother to find what happened to his Uncle Rory seven years earlier. Set in the west of Scotland and based on Iain Bank's cult novel.

Customer Reviews

Not as good as the book, but...
As an adaptation of one of the best novels I have ever read, this version unfortunately has to cut swathes of great stuff to concentrate on the central story, and I think there's a least one big, though plotwise irrelevant, change - probably for TV's sake.

Who cares? The casting is well done (though Ash is not how I pictured her) and its played brilliantly. Buy the book, read the book, love the book, then buy this and watch and love it.

Superb. This is quality.
My advice is actually not to watch this. Not at first anyway. Go and read the book first, it is even better, and then watch this video. This is a story about relationships, love, hate, death, growing-up and coming to terms with the harsh reality of life. There is a kind of light-hearted dark humour throughout, which is hard not to appreciate. It's also a murder mystery, with a few interesting and unexpected plot-twists.

The casting was almost perfect. The characters are realistic, and easy to relate to. Above all, it is very well made and true to the spirit and style of Iain Banks' novel. And when you've finished with this one, go and read Complicity (same author), and watch the movie of it (also well made, and starring Johnny Lee Miller).

Compelling drama against breathles Scots scenery
The plight of Prentice - at odds with his father on religious subjects, and living an odyssey in search of his long-lost uncle Rory. Joseph McFadden. Peter Capaldi, Bill Paterson, Valerie Edmond, Stella Gonet and all the cast are remarkably good. This is based on Iain Banks excellent novel, and BBC has achieved a superb adaptation. Impossible to consider all the elements (acting, art direction, music, production&direction) and not get involved in the story. A lot. And not to give it 5 stars. Thouroughly deserved.