Sid & Nancy: 25th Anniversary Edition [Blu-Ray]

The mythology of the Sex Pistols is such that what's fact and what's fiction are no longer relevant. Every time the stories are retold from a different viewpoint, it becomes less clear what the truth is, and that's why it doesn't matter that Sid & Nancy takes a few liberties. It might not be the perfect Sid Vicious biopic, but it's as close as anybody has come. While it might have been disowned by all of the people it depicts, Sid & Nancy is a great film. Director Alex Cox's take on Vicious and Nancy Spungen as the punk Romeo and Juliet works because it manages to capture the nihilistic energy of the period, but also adds a cohesive narrative where it might not actually have existed. The story of the Pistols is put on the backburner and the focus is on the duo's relationship, from their early days to their destructive climax. Naturally, it's all about the drugs and because of that, Cox shows little sympathy or affection for either of the title characters, and it's this detachment that allows him to resist the temptation to smooth the rough edges. The movie is dominated by the lead performances. Gary Oldman, in one of his first ever film roles, is mesmerizing as Sid Vicious; he walks the line between manic and over-the-top perfectly, adding a level of pathos that would have been very easy to leave out. While Oldman is good, Chloe Webb is even better as Spungen and she thoroughly deserved the accolades she won in the role. The chemistry between the two of them is wonderful and it's hard to take your eyes off the screen as their relationship spirals out of control towards its doomed conclusion. This is an uncomfortably powerful film, but, for a "Collector's Edition," the package is incredibly barebones. There's no title menu – the movie just starts – and the meagre extras are only accessible from a pop-up menu. Those extras contain only two 15 minute featurettes: one on the movie, although the majority of those interviewed did not participate in making the film, and the other on Sid and Nancy's relationship, which is the more interesting of the two. There is also the original movie trailer, but nothing from the Criterion Collection version that was released more than a decade ago.