Product Details

• Actors: Jo Brand, Richard Coyle, Dean Davies, Danny Dyer, Bradley Freegard
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: December 12, 2000
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000050IMK
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,486 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #97 in

  Video > Comedy > Urban

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Human Traffic wants to be a Trainspotting for the rave set, and so it has thick British accents, hip snotty attitudes, slick visuals, a propulsive electronic soundtrack, and unfortunately some very weak writing and drab characters. A band of friends, with the cute names of Jip, Koop, Nina, Lulu, and Moff, are sex-obsessed clubgoers having some sort of premature midlife crisis. Jip and Lulu are best friends, only their friendship is about to be threatened by sexual tension. Koop gets ravingly jealous about his girlfriend, Nina. Moff masturbates a lot and has a repressive dad. Jip's mother is a prostitute. Koop's father is a paranoid schizophrenic. What little plot there is revolves around whether or not they'll get into a particularly hip club. Critics usually complain that movies are too much like music videos, but Human Traffic could stand to be more of one. All the best moments are when the tepid dialogue stops and the driving beats and quickly edited images take over. A brief break dancing sequence is a moment of genuine dazzle. The actors aren't completely without charm, but the movie is just trying too hard to achieve the effervescent buzz it seeks. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazon reviewer doesn't get it, January 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Human Traffic (DVD)

Clubs, drugs, pubs, and parties... if you've been there, done that, you will get a huge kick out of this film, it is basically a coming of age story set in the lives of working class teenagers from Cardiff, and since it the late 1990s, they are into the rave scene. And why not? It's as well done of a film of this genre as I've ever seen, loads of slapstick humor, dream sequences, true-to-life dialogue & problems, etc. And it captures all of the frantic energy & buzz of an altered nite out on the town, as well as the inevitable comedown, without moralizing or judging its characters, emerging as a romantic comedy in the end! I loved it!

Some people don't seem to realize that a lot of people actually have or do live(d) like the characters in this film at some point in their lives, just because it stars British people and drugs are part of the plot doesn't mean it is a ripoff of Trainspotting, if Hollywood were honest then there would actually be Amercian films like this too. If anything it reminded me more of Go!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brett Fetzer is a dolt, August 5, 2002

By	David Stein (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Human Traffic (DVD)

If you have half a brain, you'd ignore the editiorial review. The man obviously has no heart and any sense of humor. Whatever he mentioned, go with the opposite. The writing? Wickedly funny. Attitudes? None whatsoever. In fact, the whole premise of the film is to show how alienated young people are made to feel these days and that the only means of making sense of it all is the love and support of their peer group. The only attitude they have is that they're trying to make sense of everyday reality and when you're in your early 20's, things are not always peachy keen. Brett is the epitome of what these 4 friends are trying to escape from. Free your mind Brett. Have you ever gone out to a club and felt absolutely carried away by the music? Have you ever danced for 4 hours straight? Have you ever experienced the beauty and stillness of a sunrise with your closet friends? Have you ever fallen in love with your best friend? Obviously not, otherwise the movie would have touched you greatly. Instead you just chuck in the "Trainspotting" category. Stupid. The only 3 things this movie has in common with Trainspotting: There are drugs. There is techno. It's set in Great Britain. That's it. Maybe I was spoiled club kid, but at the time (90-92), the only thing I had to look forward to in my bleak life as a college freshman was the weekend and going to dance parties with my best mates. Every weekend was a bonding experience and I'll never forget those times. This movie is a scrapbook for the acidhouse genration, told humanly and accurately, with a fanastic soundtrack (thank you Pete Tong!)
So Brett, you missed the boat, mate and I feel sorry for you.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Americans stuff it up, September 8, 2001

By	A. Rankine "arankine" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Human Traffic (DVD)

As of this evening I have seen both versions; the UK version and the US version. The former absolutely rocks. It is the closest to a great night out clubbing that you are likely to see on the screen.
Anyone who has ever gone out clubbing will appreciate the UK version of this film. For example, the scene where Felix is chatting with another spaced out clubber about how it is not as good as it used to be. I found this scene hilarious and the flashback to 1991 even more so. On the whole Human Traffic is one of the best "rave" (read: not completely anti-drugs) movies ever.
Now the bad news. This flashback scene, and many more like it, are completely MISSING from the US version. I dont know why the distributors think that the US audience are so tender and impressionable that they cannot handle such satire and wit. Regardless, US audiences are sadly deprived from a great piece of cinema. The edit has, in my opinion, spoiled the flow of the movie.
I'm not bitter, really! It's still a fantastic film, even surviving the American edit without completely disappointing.I suggest that you flip the proverbial bird to the distributors here in the US and get it from the source in the UK. (Of course you will need a region-free DVD player, plus multi-standard TV)
As a poor substitute you might want to check out "Groove", the more-alternative-than-thou movie about the SF rave scene. Great music, though give me the original Human Traffic any day.