Top 10 Trainspotting scenes

Trainspotting is undoubtedly one of the greatest British films of all time, cramming brutal realism and riotous humour into a 90-minute slice of pure entertainment. Plus it has a banging soundtrack. Needless to say, we were extremely excited when director Danny Boyle confirmed this week that a sequel is on the way.

Despite Sick Boy's unifying theory of life that "we all get old, and we cannae hack it anymore", we have faith in the cast to pull it out the bag 20 years on from the release of Trainspotting. In honour of the gang getting back together, we recall 10 of our favourite scenes from the first film.

Trainspotting's brilliant opening sequence sets the scene for the themes explored through the film, with Renton's narrative diatribe against the mundanity of living reflecting the enthusiasm for life that heroin saps from users. The football game meanwhile perfectly introduces the character of the five main cast members, showing Renton's self-destruction, Sick Boy's deceit, Begbie's sadism, Tommy's doomed ambition, and Spud's uselessness in just one short clip.

Strangely reminiscent of Sunday at Glastonbury, Renton's journey into "the worst toilet in Scotland" is probably the film's most iconic moment. A surreal clip depicting the depths Renton will sink to in the pursuit of drugs soundtracked by Brian Eno's ethereal 'Deep Blue Day'.

This scene's exploration of nationhood remains pertinent today following the failure of the Yes campaign in last year's Scottish Independence referendum. It's a critique of English colonialism, but it's also damning of the frailty of Scottish nationalism that they would allow themselves (and now actively choose) to be ruled by such "wankers".

Spud, a character so useless that he's incapable of even appearing incapable without an amphetamine aid. Worried that Spud will somehow pass fit for work and lose his giro benefits, Renton loads him up on speed before he faces the job centre panel. Ewen Bremner's delivery in this scene is flawless.

A hilarious and harrowing scene that encapsulates the film's expertise at weaving polarised tones together. Renton and Spud hit the town for a big night out that ends disastrously for the both of them. On one end of the scale, Renton drunkenly pulls Diane, before discovering in the morning that she's a 15 year old schoolgirl with a propensity for blackmail. On the other, Spud's night of drinking ends with him copiously shitting himself, before spraying the contents of his bowels all over his girlfriend and her family.

There's no imagery quite so striking as that of a dead child. Whether it's in alleged Ernest Hemmingway stories that are passed down generations to mythical status, or devastatingly real Syrian war photos that turn the tide of cold, right-wing opinion. This scene deftly portrays the humanity heroin use drains from addicts, turning them into selfish, single-minded consumers. Renton's only reaction to the unimaginable horror he's facing is "Ah'm cookin' up", and there's no way the grieving mother in desperate need of something to numb the pain is going before him.

Begbie showcased the film's wider exploration of the darker side of human nature, paralleling addiction with the inclination for violence: "Begbie didn't do drugs either, he just did people." In this scene Robert Carlyle fully established Begbie as a cult figure, venting a master class in swearing that makes Malcolm Tucker look genteel.

The construction of this scene is so on-point. The high class heroin restaurant dialogue retaining a comic edge, the cinematography as Renton sinks six feet under and the camera embodies his drugged perspective, the misdirection of the ambulance siren before he's bundled haphazardly into a taxi, the juxtaposition of the uplifting Lou Reed soundtrack, and Renton's naughty school boy body language hunched between his parents at the end. It's stylish without glorifying the events onscreen.

Boyle presents the horror of cold turkey heroin withdrawal in a series of alarming images. Even with the exorcist-necked dead baby and disconcerting Dale Winton cameo, Begbie threatening to "fuckin' kick [the heroin] oot" Renton's system remains the most terrifying aspect of the scene.

The film's ending is pure euphoria with Underworld's trance classic 'Born Slippy' sound tracking Renton's triumphant stroll into the sunset after (spoiler alert – if you've never managed to see this film, that is) he robs his 'friends' blind and finally decides to "Choose life". Or perhaps just blow it all on skag the next day? Roll on 2016 and Trainspotting 2 with the answers.

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