This movie comes off the screen and blows up, just like the name Dirk Digler on a neon sign. lt gives new meaning to ''The Colonel's secret recipe''.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film after being persuaded by my Amazon buddy and friend, Clint Bronson to see this.

This 1997 film is loosely based on John Holmes the legendary porn film star of the 70s and 80s. Instead of John Holmes, the character is Dirk Diggler. A young bus boy, Eddie Adams, (Mark Walberg) is discovered by a porn film director, Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) at a San Fernando Valley night club. It is well known that the busboy sports a 13 inch you-know-what. He then changes his name to Dirk Diggler and becomes the most famous porn star. But along with that comes life in the fast lane---drugs and rock-n-roll. Dirk spirals out of control and takes others with him.

This film also stars Julianne Moore as the porno "queen mother" ---another great performance!

I never once blinked my eyes, even though it was a bit long. The plot moves very fast and is full of action, a must see!!! I believe, one of Burt Reynolds' best films.

Boogie Nights is a very entertaining film--the very impressive sophomore effort for director Paul Thomas Anderson. It's a great showcase for the acting talents of Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, and the fabulous ensemble cast. Indeed, Burt and Julianne were both nominated for Oscars for BN, as was director Paul Thomas Anderson for the screenplay. Burt almost partially redeemed himself for portraying Congressman David Dilbeck in Striptease. BN is a cautionary tale about drug use and its effect on the individual as well as the culture, especially during the late 80's and early 90's. It is about the adult film industry as it went through a transition from film to video, and also a cautionary tale about the adverse effects of working in that industry on interpersonal relations. Finally, it seems to be a story of an alternative family, a group of misfits that cling together after hitting rock bottom, searching for a family-like connection when their own families may have failed them, or vice versa.

Here are just a few observations on Boogie Nights: Film maker Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) is serious about film and resists compromising by shooting on video. Yet, from the clips shown from his films, they are out of focus and very amateurish. It is mocking his artistic pretensions at every turn. All the characters are mocked, especially the main character,

Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) who though he may be getting awards from the adult film industry is no Mickey Spillane when it comes to a private eye character he conceives for his films; and when he later tries to launch a career as a rock and roll singer it is clear that he has no musical talent whatsoever--yet he thinks he'll be signed to a major label deal any second now.

Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly) is an even more pathetic wannabe, who recites one of the worst poems ever written (come to think of it, I wrote a similar poem--but I was 4 years old!!!!). He hitches his wagon to Dirk Diggler's star and follows that wagon right into the gutter.

Buck Swope (Don Cheadle) works at a hi fi store, but he clearly doesn't understand anything about the technical aspects of stereo systems. He is turned down for a small business loan when he wants to open his own store because of his adult film background, but one doubts that he could make a go of it even if he had gotten the loan. Miraculously, he does achieve his dream, but only due to a highly implausible deux et machina. Not only that, he affects a black cowboy look that is so wrong, though he looks even more ridiculous wearing a Rick James wig.

Amber Waves (Julianne Moore) wants custody of her son, but is clearly unfit. She is laughed at in court by the judge and jury when she tries to wrest custody from her ex husband, played by John Doe from LA punk band X. She does, however, make a great mother for her surrogate dysfunctional family of Dirk and Rollergirl.

Little Bill (William H. Macy) is certainly mocked, and his wife (Nina Hartley) doesn't even have a name. She is credited only as Little Bill's Wife, just like Lot's Wife. We don't know what she was named other than that she was turned into a pillar of salt. Little Bill and his wife's tragic deaths cause barely a ripple on the Boogie Nights stream.

Scotty J. (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is certainly mocked for his unrequited crush on Dirk Diggler, not that he doesn't deserve the mocking. Last laugh: Phillip Seymour Hoffman gets the best actor Oscar for Capote. Take that, Mark Wahlberg.

I will say that Paul Thomas Anderson is certainly a director to watch out for. He seems to have come out of nowhere, but actually was born in 1970, so he is from the video generation, and is from San Fernando Valley. He went from grip to auteur overnight, and his access to films on video has given him an almost encyclopedic knowledge of film. He quotes from the masters, yet no copycat he, he is very original. He has made several other films that I have heard a lot about, and I am looking forward to watching them. In spite of his contempt for all of the characters in Boogie Nights, and his seeming disdain for the adult film industry, he does temper that contempt with empathy, and after making them suffer and hit rock bottom for their myriad inadequacies, he allows for all of the happy ending that his dysfunctional family unit will allow. And I was entertained. Bravo.

Dirk: Aren't you gonna take your skates off?
Rollergirl: I never take my skates off.

Films Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

There Will Be Blood (2007) Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for his tour de force performance as a driven oilman.
Punch-Drunk Love (Two Disc Special Edition) (Superbit Collection) (2002) The most radical thing about this was that Adam Sandler was cast in a dramatic role--and he could act! Who knew?
Magnolia (1999) A very complex film with numerous characters and intertwined stories. It garnered an Oscar nomination for Tom Cruise.
Coffee and Cigarettes (1993) Anderson got a refund from his film school tuition and made this instead.

Films of Mark Wahlberg

The Happening (2008) .... Elliot Moore
We Own the Night (2007) .... Capt. Joseph 'Joe' Grusinsky
Shooter (Widescreen Edition) (2007/I) .... Bob Lee Swagger
The Departed (Widescreen Edition) (2006) .... Dignam
Invincible (2006) .... Vince Papale
Four Brothers (2005) .... Bobby Mercer
I Heart Huckabees (2004) .... Tommy Corn
The Italian Job (2003) .... Charlie Croker
The Truth About Charlie (2002) .... Joshua Peters
Rock Star (2001) .... Chris 'Izzy' Cole
Planet of the Apes (2001) .... Captain Leo Davidson
The Perfect Storm (2000) .... Bobby Shatford
The Yards (2000) .... Leo Handler
Three Kings (1999) .... Troy Barlow
The Corruptor (1999) .... Danny Wallace
The Big Hit (1998) .... Melvin Smiley
Boogie Nights (1997) .... Eddie Adams - Dirk Diggler
Traveller (1997) .... Pat O'Hara
Fear (1996) .... David McCall
The Basketball Diaries (1995) .... Mickey

Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) quote from Boogie Nights:

Dirk: [in a documentary about him made by Amber Waves] What can you expect when you're on top? You know? It's like Napoleon. When he was the king, you know, people were just constantly trying to conquer him, you know, in the Roman Empire. So, it's history repeating itself all over again.

I have been quite a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson since this film originally came out. That being said, if you did not like his other films, this may not be to your liking either.

Unlike what most people may think about this film, it is not pornography. But it does examine characters in the context of the porn industry of the late 1970s, early 1980s. The characters are interesting and their stories allow you to see them as more than mere stars in Horner's productions.

A great soundtrack and the adorable Polly Anna-esque "Dirk Diggler" played by Mark Wahlberg make this movie entertaining and heart-wrenching.

I love this flim its just so different with the soundtrack & camera work, super cast great plot and story. I saw it on the first run at the movies and bought it on DVD.

Looking forward to Watching "There will be Blood" hoping Anderson gets his groove back.

This serves as a good introduction to the works of P.T. Anderson. It contains all the elements that make it a true Anderson film without being overly art-house. The acting is all pretty good and it tells a compelling and interesting story. Grade A-

A fascinating study of the human character, an interplay of a thousand stories, that's really one story, a portrayal of an industry and a parody of the said industry at the same time - this is P>T. Anderson's best movie. Mark Wahlberg is remarkable in it, but so is the rest of the cast. Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Heather Graham all give outstanding performances.

I think men and women alike love pornography, at least for the most part, and those of you who don't particularly like it, I am sure have indulged themselves in it at one time or another whether it be due to curiosity, or the inability to get a partner. Anyways, it's a controversial industry, and this movie proves to be pretty much no less controversial. And I like controversial films, those that push boundaries and ideals, and even morality as a whole.

But, ok, Eddie Adams is a busboy at a popular night club, frequently frequented by some of the biggest names in the pornography industry. Of course, it's a pretty good distance away from his home, so you pretty much get the gist of his 'gift', so to speak, and what he wants to do with said 'gift.' Director Jack Horner is enamored by Eddie nearly right away, even when Eddie offers to 'wax the dolphin' for 10 dollars. And Eddie (who transforms into the legendary Dirk Diggler), Jack, and Jack's coke-fiend lover Amber Waves (played exquisitely by Julianne Moore) all become a very successful happy family.

And, that's when the rags-to-riches saga starts to fall apart as the natural 'I'm the star, I'm better than you' syndrome becomes largely apparent. Eddie/Dirk develops a cocaine habit himself, falls in somewhat with a bad crowd, and it all falls apart, and it does so for nearly everyone else so tightly wound into the porno business.

We gratifyingly watch porn fairly often whilst visiting our local video rental places with their lovely adult titles, or porn shops ala V.I.P.,. and I'm sure even some of us have dreamed of being a porn star, of how wonderful it must be. I think this movie is a great portrayal of the side we don't get to see, because in the end, those still tightly wound in the porno industry have certainly lost more than they have gained...

4.75 stars. A great film, and nicely enough, it does have its gratuitous nudity to keep the male 18-49 demographic happy enough... ;)

A grand biopic on the pornography business of the 70's/80's. The ensemble cast is top notch. Porn star "Ron Jeremy" was hired as special consultant for this movie. Marck Wahlberg plays a simple down to earth unknown waiter to suddenly rises to porno stardom because a movie director played by Burt Reynolds hears about his well endowed member via hearsay. He gets him into the business. Mark Walhberg transforms into this screen name of Dirk Digler. He becomes famous and rich. He is unique in the industry for his ability to sustain long time erections, ability to come when the director demands it and offcourse the size of his member. He comes the directors preferred actor. We are also shown bit of the family life of Dirk and what leads him to this industry. The industry has all the evils of drugs and alchol. Juliane moore plays the female porn diva who is addicted to cocaine and abviously looses her custody battle on her child. Juliane is disillusioned and wishfully believes she is doing nothing wrong and that she should be able to have custody of her son. She far gone and has a mental breakdown. Dirk gets competition when the director (Burt) introduces a new face. Dirk disklikes the competition and fears the center of attention will slide from him. He has a showdown with Burt. Burt throws him out due to his outburst. Dirk then doesn't get any movie offers. He tries his hand at being a singer. Fails miserably. We see him get back to the poverty of life and trying to make ends meet doing real low stuff (like beating off to strangers who have the kinky desire to see such stuff for money. In the end he even finds himself in a robbery turned to mad mayhem killing where a friend of his hatches a plan to defraud a wealthy plan by providing him fake cocaine for money. After all this Dirk is completely down and he has no where to turn. He has become so humble and all the hot air has gone. He returns to the director,
sobbing and asking him to forgive him and take him back. They reconcile and Dirk will get back to the way he was. The porn industry always shocked me for being so freakish. The movie tries to address the issues of how the stars conduct their daily lives. It shows the drugs that go on. And also shows how fast you can get in and be number one and how fast you can get back to zero.

regards, Vikram

Awesome movie, a classic for all to enjoy. Very much a family film. NOT! LOL, it's not for children, but the parents who are not afraid of a little porn talk, some violance, lots of drug use, and nudity can really appreciate this film. It's kinda like Goodfellas meets Deep Throat.

This is the new July 2007 release. It's the third release that I know of besides the European versions. Now for a 2007 release of a tne year old film you would expect them to have come a long way since the original release on DVD. Not so in my opinion as the only bonus here is the second DVD with all the extras. The film itself is amazing and the actors are superb. The dialogue is clear but everything seems muffled and coming through the same channels. The only surround is when hearing music. The picture is a little soft as well. There does not seem to be a great improvement, if any, to the encoding from the original DVD to this one. It would have been great to have a Blu-ray version of this film...especially in 2007! If they do, hopefully they can remix the sound while they are at it.

In the end, I'm not sure why they chose to re-release this film for a third time. Aside from the extras, nothing is worth running to the store for. But if you haven't picked up this film before, it is really a great film that deserves all the credit and rants that it got. Make sure that you pick up this version of it, if anything, just for the extras.

I think this director is a genius and I loved this movie! It made me a Don Cheadle fan.

THE MOVIE IN FACT IS REALLY GOOD, BUT THE PROBLEM IS THE DVD, DON`T WORK THE SUBTITLES. IT'S A SHAME BECAUSE IT'S A SPECIAL EDITION.

Those who think of Boogie Nights as a porn movie (or even a movie about porn) or whose primary lingering impression of the film is a salacious remembrance of Mark Wahlberg's crowning glory in the last scene are really missing out on what made Paul Thomas Anderson's trip back to the adult film industry of the 1970's such a great story. Okay, let me concede right off that watching good-looking young people cavort skyclad in protracted segments of simulated swivying isn't without its appeal, but beyond that, Boogie Nights recreated a bygone time and place and non-judgmentally cast out a story about complex characters who lived amoral lives, and did all this in such a way that not only does any viewer with half a soul come to care about people who might otherwise easily repel him, but it also rapidly becomes apparent that these same people also care about each other. With its depiction of the rise and fall and apparent rise (hey, no pun intended, I promise) of a porn star named Dirk Diggler and the transition of the adult industry from film to home video, Boogie Nights races through subplots about ambition, societal punishment of deviation, the consequences of drug abuse and marital infidelity, unrequited homosexual attraction, and its revelation of how a family can be created from unlikely strangers. This truly is a movie about a lot more than just the making of porn. It was also supposed to do for Burt Reynolds's career what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta's, but this was not to be. Furthermore, seeing this 1997 movie in 2007 adds perspective, not only in that we are now an additional decade removed from the mores of 1970's, but as a means of reflecting on how we as a society have matured (or not) as based on how we are able to regard Boogie Nights today.

If you know and love the 70s, this will please you. I can't imagine what it would be like to see it now if you are too young to remember those days. The film stirred up a lot of attention at the time. The director rightfully received lots of attention and praise from the right quarters. The film's vulgarity has its own message. Casting Burt Reynolds was a stroke of genius. Who knew how completely Reynolds would fulfill the role of the porno film director? One forgets that smirk. Nobody can smirk like that; not, that is, until the arrival of George Bush on to the national scene. The cast is without a doubt one of the best in film history, Not since Coppola found Pacino and company has a film introduced so many major talents to the world. Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Don Cheadle, John Reilly: and the amazing thing is that they have all gone on to stardom. Young Hoffman, a brilliant actor in his own right, is hilarious as the paunchy gay boy. The film is profoundly revealing, deep, and at the same time a major entertainment, light airy, colorful, sexy. It is simultaneously an indictment and a celebration of the era, its perversions and its breakthroughs. We are both better people and far worse off since those heady times. The film gives us a glimpse into this past time of bewilderment, waste, and bravery.

Loosely based on the life of '70s erotic-film stud John Holmes, Anderson's surprisingly human second feature is an Altmanesque blend of wistful humor and naturalistic ensemble acting. Dirk quickly discovers his "real" family in the cozy, coke-fueled decadence of Horner's misfit milieu, where he's nurtured by maternal porn actress Amber Waves (Moore), and befriended by numerous quirky types played by a who's who of '90s A-listers: Heather Graham, John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Don Cheadle, and William H. Macy. An offbeat gem, with a tongue-in-cheek "money shot" that'll make your jaw drop.

I was pleasantly surprised by Mark Wahlberg's emotional depth in this film. Who knew he could act? The story is basically about a group of lonely people who get together and find a strange comfort in one another and decide to embark on a career in porn. Ironic, dark and sad, but very deep.

When this movie came out, I wondered how this could possibly live up to the hype it had generated. Boy was I pleasently surprised to see that this movie did just that.

Mark Wahlberg divorced himself forever from his former Marky Mark persona when he plays a fresh faced loser who works as a busboy at a disco. One night, he is approached by none other than Burt Reynolds, making him the proverbial offer he can't refuse. So he accepts, rechristens himself Dirk Diggler, and becomes absorbed into the world of adult films. Here he meets the family he never had, achieves the success he never thought he was capable of, and is on top of the world. His ego is out of control, and he dives headfirst into drugs. Based loosely on the biography of 70s porn star John Holmes, Dirk and his friends narrowly escape violence (while John Holmes would be ruined by his association with the Wonderland murders).

What is the point of this? Some were wondering, myself included. The true horror of this story is not just in Dirk's story, but in the antics of the other characters. Amber Waves wants to see her son but her ex husband won't allow it because of who she is and who she hangs around with. Burt Reynolds is trying to make art in an industry that is admittedly sleezy and is drowning in a sea of videotape and amateurs. One and his wife just want to get out of the industry all together and start over, but they hit dead ends in jobs and bank loans. Roller Girl just wants to be more than the girl on skates. And the characters that you see at the parties - young, innocent faces who are taken advantage of somehow.

The cocaine scenes capture the paranoia of drug abuse perhaps better than any other scene in movie history (with the possible second of Good Fellas when Ray Liotta thought he was being followed by the helicopter). And perhaps the most telling of scenes, for me, was when Burt (a.k.a. Jack Horner) takes Roller Girl out on the town in his limo, wanting to film a random encounter. It just so happens the man they pick up off the street was an old high school classmate of Roller Girl's. He's willing to do the deed with her just like every other pig frat boy man (hard and fast and not sexy), and he puts her down afterwards. She was attempting to be in charge, to show him who really had the power. While the crew beats him up, Roller Girl gives him what for. If that's not a microcosim of the porn industry thoughts and feelings, I don't know what is.

What is the point? The point is that they all just wanted to be loved. And the end? When they all come back together? It's the prodigal son story, all of them coming back together and reconstituting their family. This is where they find love. It's a happy ending after all. Strange? Well, sure it is. But not as strange as all the situations of people who have left their families or real friends to return for forgiveness. And we do forgive, and we become families again.

Although the movie is long, it never drags. The vignettes about the characters' lives are interesting, and the characters themselves are surprisingly likeable. But it does seem like two movies: the lighthearted first part and the second part, when things take a dark turn. Both sides of the story are necessary as they give a more complete picture of the porn industry and the people involved in it. But I think that some of the violence towards the end is unnecessary and not fully explained. Other than that, however, the movie is worth watching.

Very good movie starring Mark Wahlberg and an all star cast including Burt Reynolds and Heather Graham. I would recommend watching this movie at least once.

This review refers to the movie and not the dvd product

Indeed, there are many sub-plots that fuse into this film. At face value, you may be lost by the fact that is a story of an edowed male porn star that becomes an overnight star in his media and the action style martial art heroe that he manages to create as well... yet the movie is about the collective soul of the group who is united under the porn production leadership played, superbly, by Burt Reynolds... this small little odd group is not ill spirited, but indeed misguided, yet there is respect among its members, there is a sense of honor and Burt reynolds acts as the merciful father (of the gospell parable) as he takes his astrayed son back again... yet the finacer of the movies is accused of pedofile charges, he is cast out of his beneficieries and suffers miserably in jail.

It's about the porn industry and the ramifications that it hits upon on a group of people espeically a young man.


Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite directors. You know why? His sense of direction and his superb writing skills are what make him stand out from a crowd of other wannabe directors. The way he develops characters and feeds them lines that make you want to laugh, cry, or be amazed. He also can control multiple story lines at once in his writing and his direction. He makes it seem like that it is effortless to do that. It seems plausible to say that P.T. keeps topping himself in every movie that he makes. He keeps making better and better progress on each of his films in his direction style and scripts.

The acting, in the movie, was solid. I was surprised that Mark Wahlberg could pull out a performance like that and then go a bit over the top with the monologue speech at the end where he whips his...manhood, for a lack of a better word, out. He showcases the turmoil that the character suffers and feels and shows the irrational actions that he does. He shows that the character is still a child and that he cannot go through the world alone. The character has a lack of moral figures, but he is in the porn industry. John C. Reilly as Reed Rothchild, Dirk Diggler's friend, takes the role and makes it his. He makes the role as cool as Diggler's. He is the second best performance in the film. Julienne Moore is a goddess. She make all the fanboys giggle with excitement when she asked Dirk Diggler to come in inside of her. I mean, that line set off the dirty alarm in all of the fan boys heads, and she gives a excellent performance that only P.T. can draw out of her.

P.T.'s writing and direction have jumped from the Hard Eight days as it got more complex and a lot better than the writing in his earlier films. He makes his characters more richer and develops them more than they were in Hard Eight. I mean, he shows fantastic writing skills in the way the characters think, act, talk and feel. He has also done that in his third film Magnolia. He makes sure that the film seems authentic and it does with P.T.'s obsessions with pornography as a child. The film also has trademarks of him with the long shot at the beginning that introduces all of the characters in a seemingly original way.

Overall, it is one of my favorite movies. It is a solid movie that makes you seem impressed and feel like watching it over and over again. It takes you into a seedy underworld of porn and shows the characters that are in the industry and how they live their every day life.

probably the best movie of 1997, america got scared off by the theme and length of this movie. i never saw it during its initial release, and was hesitant about watching it now because, hey, im kinda averse to 3-hour movies. but this is a first-rate film set against the background of the porn film industry of a generation earlier, with a great star turn by mark wahlberg as a john holmes figure dubbed dirk diggler, LOL. tremendous supporting cast, including john c reilly, julianne moore, don cheadle, alfred molina, philip seymour hoffman, william h macy, and oh yeah, some guy named reynolds -- who was absurdly cheated out of his deserved academy award, much the same as he had been 25 years before for "deliverance" (after all, how could we admit that burt reynolds (haw haw haw) is an ACTOR? director paul thomas anderson had a success with "magnolia" a couple yearsafter this, but sadly has not had the career that this masterpiece presaged. a great movie, on all levels.

This movie is absolutely amazing. I first saw it nine years ago as a teenage film lover who was interested in movies about the 1970s. I didn't expect to see an earth-shattering masterpiece that ranks among the best movies of the decade, but that's just what I saw. Boogie Nights is only P.T. Anderson's second film, but it's so expertly made you'd swear it was made by a 40-year veteran. Every single frame of this film is full of intoxicating visuals that leave you mesmerized. For example, the opening 3-minute steadicam shot, of which there are many more throughout the film. Every camera move, every camera angle is so beautifully and artfully concieved, you will want to rewind just to admire them again. Boogie Nights has a visceral kinetic energy that ranks it alongside the best of the 1990s with Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction and Se7en.

In addition to the virtuoso direction, the film boasts stunning performances from its huge cast. Burt Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly: many of today's best actors are all here in one place, at the top of their game. It's not all fun and hijinks, though. The movie goes from light-hearted to dead serious at the drop of a hat. The many characters are all incredibly well developed, and you will grow to love them by the time the movie's over. There's also the excellent soundtrack. Typically you hear all the same predictable songs in movies that are set in the '70s. However, P.T. Anderson's soundtrack is very unique and always unpredictable. The tunes are used to great effect, and are very memorable.

Boogie Nights should be required viewing for every film lover. See it and learn what a brilliant director can really accomplish with a modest budget, a huge cast of great actors, and a great screenplay. It is one of the most exhilirating, enlightening, moving motion pictures I have ever seen. A masterpiece.

I just watched my videotape of `Boogie Nights' again. There were so many familiar faces that the real deal for me was appreciating the movie as a slice of hyper reality. The biggest irony this time was the "safe in the bedroom" phrase near the end of the movie. There are a few times when violence becomes an issue, and people tend to get shot in threes in `Boogie Nights.' When one character pulls out a gun and anounces to his buddies that they aren't going anywhere until they get what is in the safe in the bedroom, the main question for the viewer is likely to be, `Who is going to end up dead this time?' Having fire crackers going off in the house at that point seems to add to the absurdity: how could anyone live that way?

Some great songs can be heard playing, and the rich guy with a safe in the bedroom is one of the biggest appreciators of the music in this movie. I can't recall any songs by Tom Petty, but the transition from the 1970s to the 1980s in `Boogie Nights' reminds me of the song on the `Southern Accents' (1985) CD about a man with a dog collar on. "Hey, Spike, what do you like?" Tom Petty liked to ask questions that can go a little deeper than what the early part of this movie was trying to get at, and then hint: "Maybe we can help him see, the future ain't what it used to be." Julianne Moore has a great crying scene to sum up how she reacts to having a judge ask her some highly personal questions about getting busted. The system works by applying its own standards to people, and a major character is shown in jail or prison, maybe both, by the end of the movie.

Solid cast, Marky Mark is quite the actor, I don't know if all porn directors are as nice and concerned about their "actors" as Burt Reynolds portrays , but it's almost got a warm family feel to it. Of course they portray the down side too, the drug abuse, violence and sloth. But, porn is almost mainstream now, some of the porn stars are making it in popular movies, and have become household names without the stigma. After all, it's a business first and foremost. Enjoy!

Mark Wahlberg and Burt Reynolds star in this film centering on the heyday of the porn industry in the 70s and 80s.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Eddie Adams, a [..]bus boy working at a nightclub washing dishes. One of the club's most frequent visitors is Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), a porn movie producer who comes to the club looking for new actors. Rollergirl (Heather Graham) also works at the club and is one of Horner's most popular actresses.

One night, Jack goes into the back to talk to Eddie and soon the two become friends. Jack tells Eddie all about the porn business, and Eddie is immediately intrigued. Eddie has nothing to lose, since his parents threw him out of the house with just the clothes on his back. Eddie accepts jack's invitation to act in one of his films and soon he is submurged in the world of [..] movies.

His costar in his first movie is Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), a very close friend of Jack's who lives in his house with him. Eddie has a very successful session with Amber, and soon he sees his career begin to skyrocket. Due to his new-found success, Eddie decides to change his name. He settles on Dirk Diggler.

For several years, Dirk is living in the limelight, making lots of money, and filming lots of x-rated movies. However, success begins to take its toll, and Dirk delves into the world of drugs and alcohol. Dirk's hard-driving life catches up to him and he has a major falling-out with Jack, who has replaced him with a new main actor called Johnny Doe. Dirk's downward spiral continues, and he and his best friend Reed Rothschild (John C. Reilly) are involved in a shoot-out with an over-drugged thug who likes to listen to Night Ranger music.

Dirk survives, but he realizes his life is a mess. He decides to try to make amends with Jack, and Jack and Amber welcome him back with open arms. After their reconcilliation, Dirk resumes his role as Jack's main star.

I thought this was a very good movie. Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, and Burt Reynolds give fine performances. The plot is very good and does a good job of showcasing the porn industry at the height of its success.

I recommend this movie very highly. Watch and get a feel for what it was like to be a porn star.

'Boogie Nights' does for the disco seventies and the porn industry what 'Nashville' did to country music. It shows the underside of the glamour presented. The film shows us all the trappings that draw people to the "high life," then pulls the rug out from under it. We see the usual suspects and the usual draws: There's money, fame, lust, passion, and drugs. But these benefits provide an understated banality that comes to the fore. The seemingly long, drawn out conversations are only postcards of emotion that show the depth of personhood that seems to escape all of the protagonists. It is superficial, and all of life's best elements seem to go out the window.

There is the calculated cheesiness of the producer (Burt Reynolds) and his odd detatchment from his craft. He both revels and drowns in the lust and money that are presented to him. He meets a young aspiring hopeful (Mark Wallberg) who must overcome his poverty and alienation from home. His naivete' is striking, and he doesn't entirely change in his innocence, only becoming a casualty of it. (The way he practices to become the next Bruce Lee in the midst of his success as a novelty presentation is certainly a sad commentary about his life.) His new success doesn't make him all that happy, including his rationalization that his movies are making marriages more passionate. The aftermath of all the calculated lust makes everyone, except the calloused producer, a casualty in a different way. One fellow porn star (Don Cheadle) demonstrates that his true passion is for a loving marriage and a hi-fi business, but the decent, conventional world won't let him. Similarly, a fellow porn creator (William Macy) shows tragically that love transcends lust, even when it won't ever become realized. A female porn star is devastated by her cocaine addiction and an inevitable result of a custody battle. If we aren't convinced near the end of the movie, then a "candid camera" scene between "Rollergirl" and the man off the street certainly shows how the emotional baggage catches up to all of the porn industry's false promises for true happiness.

The initial draw to 'Boogie Nights' may be deceptive. It presents the glamour of all that the modern world believes to be desirable, but cleverly shows how the lowest common denominator can restrict our lives from even greater happiness.

This is a movie loosely based on 70's and 80's porn star John Holmes. In this version, a young man name Eddie Adams is approached by porn director Jack Horner. Eddie then turns famouse and leads into a downward spiral including drugs and violence. This movie features many stars of the late 90's and today, including Mark Wahlberg as Eddie Adams, Burt Reynolds at Jack Horner, John C. Reilly as Reid Rothchild, and Julianne Moore as Amber Waves. Burt Reynolds and Julianne Moore were nominated for oscars for their breakthrough performance. This movie was also nominated for Best Writing to Paul Thomas Anderson for an oscar.

The Extras on this DVD are good: 10 Deleted Scenes, a Music Video, 2 Commentary tracks, and the John C. Reilly Files.

A film about the porn industry in the late 70's early 80's. Great Cast, Great Performances, Great Story, just a Great Film. Unique approach to the subject, characters that are flashy yet human with real emotion ,characters played by Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Heather Graham, William H. Macy, and Burt Reynolds respectfully, are great to watch. This is a performance piece.

Given that pornography is a multi-jillion-dollar-a-year business, it's sort of surprising that it hasn't received the cinematic treatment more often, but Boogie Nights provides it with the sort of skewed, darkly comic treatment that it almost certainly deserves, and becomes a certifiable classic in the process. Following the story of Eddie Adams, a simple-minded, almost impossibly well-endowed teenager from suburban California who achieves porn stardom as Dirk Diggler before turning 20, Boogie Nights is both a time-tested star-is-born-and-almost-blows-it-all story and a loving tribute to a time and place that will probably never be replicated and the individuals who made it what it was.

Paul Thomas Anderson's directing is as excessive and stylish as you'd expect from a movie centered on the porno industry, with Anderson pulling out every trick in the book--long tracking shots, underwater closeups, montages, movie-within-a-movie views, and some moments that approach stream-of-consciousness (Dirk's vision of his professional name literally exploding off a neon sign being a prominent example). Naturally, Anderson also loads the movie up with period details, right down to the Farah Fawcett poster in teenage Dirk's room, the platform shoes, and the obligatory disco sequences. Its visual flair aside, though, Boogie Nights is also the sort of insanely quotable, watch-it-until-you've-memorized-it movie that seemed to come out in droves in the nineties (Trainspotting, Fargo, Goodfellas, Swingers, True Romance, etc. etc. etc.) but has been in disturbingly short supply this decade. This movie simply seems to have everything you can think of going for it, especially its murderer's row of a cast--Burt Reynolds (Jack Horner), Don Cheadle (Buck Swope), John C. Reilly (Reed Rothchild), Julianne Moore (Amber Waves), William H. Macy (Little Bill), Luis Guzman (Maurice Rodriguez), Tom Jane (Todd Parker), Philip Baker Hall (Floyd Gondolli), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Scotty Jay), and Alfred Molina (Rahad Jackson) all figure prominently--and even Wahlberg (Dirk himself) and Heather Graham (Rollergirl) have roles that are perfectly suited to their relative limitations as actors.

That said, what really gives the movie its resonance is the obvious sympathy with which it treats its characters, who are generally easy to laugh at but equally easy to like. The main characters almost entirely have hopes, aspirations, and attachments beyond the rather closed world of their profession--Jack's desire to be a serious filmmaker; Dirk's ridiculous pseudo-Karate and Reed's equally ridiculous poetry; Buck's goal of opening his own stereo store; Amber's attempts to get back in touch with her son, which she blatantly compensates for by mothering her co-stars--helping us see them as fleshed-out characters, not just plot devices in the story.

Since there isn't really a plot to speak of, the movie is told as a series of episodes, Goodfellas-style, with several extended pieces--the pool party at Jack's House where Eddie/Dirk gets introduced to the whole crew; the New Year's Eve party celebrating the start of the '80's; the fake drug deal gone bad at a Rahad's house--serving to turn the narrative in new directions. This last set piece--when Dirk, Reed, and Todd head over to Rahad's house to sell him some baking soda disguised as cocaine and it quickly degenerates into a laughably misguided robbery attempt--deserves special mention, as it's easily one of the most fascinating single scenes in recent film memory. It starts off almost surreal, with a skinny Chinese guy walking around randomly lighting firecrackers and Rahad (clad only in underwear, a bathrobe and slippers) discoursing semi-coherently as he sings along to not-so-classic 80's songs on a mixtape. From there it just gets progressively darker and tenser, with the lighting, acting, and direction all perfectly serving to ratchet up the feeling of desperation and horror as Todd kicks his ill-conceived robbery plot into motion and things spin way out of control. Molina's over-the-top performance, more than anything else, makes the scene, as he turns Rahad into a manic ball of drug-fuelled energy and, later, a shotgun-toting avenging angel determined to take his revenge. I wouldn't say Molina turns in the best performance I've ever seen in a movie, but it it probably the best performance I've seen from someone who only got one scene in the whole movie.

The '80's are, of course, the hangover from the joys of the previous decade, as the emergence of video downgrades the quality of the product, cocaine suddenly becomes addictive, and Dirk starts to become too big for his britches in more ways than one. Fittingly, as the disco era gives way to tougher times in the eighties, the movie takes a darker turn, becoming grittier, more downcast and a lot more violent, but no less compelling. All the unbridled energy and creativity of the first half is still present, just in a decidedly less sunny form. Even when people are getting beaten up and shot left and right, the movie's pedal-to-the-metal pacing makes it all but impossible to look away. Well, except maybe for the notorious money shot at the end, but by then I for one didn't care.

The setting of this film is in the late 70s, just before adult movie theatres were driven out of business by the invention of the VCR and the subsequent explosion of pornographic VHS tapes. Burt Reynolds plays a porno director who has the effrontry to try and be "artistic" in his craft. Heather Graham plays his psycho-starlet, and Mark Wahlberg plays a porn star who is....well.....let's just say, endowed.

Wahlberg's character quickly becomes a huge hit and encounters success he would have never dreamed of. Wahlberg's character seems to be a sort of oblique allusion to John Holmes, although I don't know if the film-makers would admit as much. At any rate, he becomes arrogant and begins to believe that he is loved for factors other than his "package." This hubris leads to his un-doing as the world of porn coalesces with the world of drugs and LOTS of shady characters.

This sounds like it would be the framework for a good movie. Well, it could have been, but all the way through there seems to be something missing. There are times the film "seems" to try and convey a message, but I'm not really sure.

One thing I do know is that I quickly remembered why I've never cared for Wahlberg. He has all the screen presence of a bowl of yogurt. Also, I was expecting a LOT more skin than what the film delivered. Given the context of the film, one would think that it would be an excuse to parade miles of topless women. That's simply not the case.

In the end, however, the biggest problem of this movie isn't Wahlberg or the lack of nudity. The difficulty is that it's just plain boring. I have more than a passing interest in the history of porn, and yet this flick failed to grab me.

Yes, my mock Amazon name is Dirk Diggler(long story),
but this is "Boogie Nights".
I can't say this movie was "over-looked", because it wasn't. In fact it is really amazing that a film with this content was recognised for what it was and is, "Fan-f**k-ing-tastic".
Burt Reynolds is back at the top of his game in years, Marky Mark can act(Dirk himself), Heather Graham, and all the rest are in top form.
What can you say?? Kinda a mock story of John Holmes/70's/80's porn scene, but you really start to care about these people.
Soundtrack represents the time and it all just works.
I can't hear "Sister Christian" by Nightranger without thinking of that scene.(Some of you know, others will)
Get the New Line 2 disc version. It's impressive.
If you have an open mind and can take it for what it is, this will become a favorite, I guarentee it.

I was very impressed with this story. I saw it in the theater, and also have this version on DVD. This is one of the most intense, longest, fulfilling movies available on the topic of the pornography industry in the 70's and 80's. Very stylistic and (un)believable. A (c)ockumentary of superior proportions. But it wasn't really a documentary, just a Hollywood movie, based on a time, when porn was coveted by the raincoat crowd.

When I say (un)believable, I mean the story truely is unbelievable, in that the porn industry is not a man actor's world, but clearly belongs to the female actor. She is the star in this industry. So, when I see a movie like this, I worry for the young men out there, who think that they are the next "Dirk Diggler."

While, I'm probably over worrying the concept, I still hope that my words reach some man out there. This is not reality. This is a fantasy, conceptualized by a Hollywood Director; and nothing more.

In reality, this could have easily been a story written about a female actress, such as Rollergirl? Interesting enough, the director fell into the cliche, making Rollergirl, a victim. Chastised by her Highschool classmates, and ran out of school. But in reality, we in the know, know that it is the Jenna Jameson's and Tera Patrick's who are the real starts.

I give this one 5 stars though, as it really is an over the top effort by the director. I was quite impressed.

Two hard ones up! This movie rocks!

MC White said: Check it out!!!

one word INTERESTING and for the ending VERY INTERESTING...

I was a bit iffy about this movie before i watch it but it was actually a good movie...