First time on Blu-ray … that would be reason enough
to check out director Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biopic, 24 Hour
Party People, starring Steve Coogan
(Oscar-nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Philomena) as
Factory Records founder Tony Wilson.
But when it was revealed that MVD Entertainment
Group had bestowed the coveted crown of Marquee Collection on the June 25
Blu-ray release, it suddenly became an imperative to check out 24 Hour
Party People as a Blu-ray product offering.
The mercurial Tony Wilson taps into the punk rock
scene, develops the recording group, Joy Division and launches Factory Records
all in the space of four years … and just when it looks like success will come
his way, Joy Division’s lead singer, Ian Curtis (played by Sean Harris) kills
himself. A minor set-back, new name —
New Order — and the hit single “Blue Monday” (which went down in history as
featuring the most expensive packaging in the music business … Wilson’s Factory
Records actually lost money on every unit sold (hell of a way to run a
business).
But Wilson is just hitting his stride. He opens The Haçienda in Manchester and it
soon becomes the focal point for the “Manchester Sound,” another new group —
Shaun Ryder and Happy Mondays — and sex, and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
It was the place to be; it was a musical Camelot
fueled by drugs. Tony Wilson, Factory
Records and The Haçienda … and by the end of the 1990s it was gone; he lost it
all.
Bonus features include commentary by Steve Coogan,
who is joined by Andrew Eaton (Emmy-nominated for The Crown) and
a second commentary option featuring the late Tony Wilson. There are also 11 deleted scenes and a pair
of featurettes — “Manchester: The Movie” and “About Tony Wilson.”
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