Customer Reviews

Basic Instinct: Ultimate Uncut Director's Edition

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Basic Instinct is a 1992 American erotic thriller film. Film centers on police detective Nick Curran (Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wealthy rock star and he becomes involved in a torrid and intense relationship with mysterious prime suspect.

Not a Michael Douglas fan but it was a bit of thriller and had some plot twists to it that were interesting. All in all a good movie.

It's hilarious how worked up people got when this movie came out. The PC crowd decried the fact that a lesbian was the killer and, therefore, must have been the villan. The right wing crowd then immediately accused the PC crowd of being too hysterical about the alleged prejudice against homosexuals. Basic Instinct, they contended, was bad because it was a dirty movie. The producers, of course, loved all this publicity because EVERYONE went running to see the move and, in the words of Liberace, cried all the way to the bank. Telling audiences to not see a film because of homosexual activity and graphic sex scenes is like trying to scare ants away from a picnic by pouring sugar on the ground.

First of all, Sharon Stone's Catherine Trammell who is the killer lesbian (actually bisexual) in question, IS THE MOST SYMPATHETIC character in the whole film! EVERYONE is a slimebag! From Michael Douglas' hot tempered, tourist killing, chain smoking, cocaine snorting, oversexed police detective to Jeanne Tripplehorn's neurotic, kinky police psychiastrist who is more messed up than any of her patients to the rest of the morally compromised sleazes who pass for cops who laugh at murder victims and have the compassion and sensitivity of storm troopers, EVERY single character in this movie is a cesspool of a person! The way I see it, Sharon Stone is the most sympathetic person in the entire film -- at least she makes no bones about being sleazy. If you take the position that lesbians should be offended by their negative portrayal in Basic Instinct, then you could say the same for psychiatrists, cops (especially members of the SFPD), mystery writers, drug addicts, San Franciscans, smokers, country/western fans, chilli eaters, Mustang drivers and basically all human beings in general.

Of course, the right wing is just as clueless when it comes to Basic Instinct. I went to see Basic Instinct BECAUSE of all the sex in the movie! Anyone who tells you that they saw Basic Instinct for any reason other than to see loads of nudity and sex is so full of it, they should be slapped! I went to see Sharon Stone's nether regions in the police interrogation scene. I went to see the sex scene between Douglas and Stone that seems to go on for about half the movie (although I had to wait until the home video release to see ALL of the sex scene -- what a rip-off!). I went to see Sharon Stone display the wares she only hinted at having in Total Recall. I WANTED TO SEE SEX AND NUDITY AND, BY GOD, THAT'S WHY I WENT TO SEE BASIC INSTINCT!!! So many hypocritical prudes tsk tsk at all of the sex in movies today. Get a clue! This movie is like a huge bug zapper: drawing us in with loads of sex and nudity even though we're going to get zapped when we realize what a piece of sleazy trash we're watching (Joe Ezsterhaus must read tons of pornography in order to form his views of women).

But please don't get me wrong, this is INSPIRED sleaze that I am wholeheartedly recommending you at least rent, if not purchase. It may be sleaze, but it's really, really enjoyable sleaze which will have you "standing at attention" for a long, long time afterward (even after you see not one, but two, gratuitous shots of Michael Douglas' butt). And for those of you who have moral objections to Basic Instinct, please, go out and get a life!

BASIC INSTINCT is easily the most over-rated film of the 90's. I didn't like it in 1992, and watching the full uncut DVD version in 2004 I still feel the same.

BASIC INSTINCT tries to be a Hitchcock type film in many ways. Firstly, it has an annoying 'suspense' music score that plays throughout the film even when a scene doesn't warrant it. Next, the film reveals the killer but attempts to leaves you wondering if he/she is the real killer. The problem with BASIC INSTINCT is that it is so obvious that Sharon Stone is the killer. Not that we really care, afterall the storyline is so sleazy, that you feel no empathy for any of the characters.

The film relied on lots of erotic images to sell the film, and there is a reason for that. The Director must have realised from the begining that it was very ordinary storyline, and needed something to make it appealing. Problem solved: include lots of erotic images and a naked Sharon Stone ... and people will go to and see it for that alone. Clever marketing.

DVD SUMMARY: Basic Instinct has been released three times now on DVD, its first release way back in 1997. The version I saw was the second version which sports a DTS soundtrack, and some interesting special features. These include a "comparison with TV and Uncut version", and a documentary on the "making of" which reveals the problems that plagued the film set in San Fran. The DVD copy I have has a very soft film print which I would consider similar to VHS quality (it's that bad), however it is in Widescreen (five points for that).

I just watched this again and still found it enthralling.
Not the best Micheal Douglas show.
Sharon was intense and WAS completely "this author", living all aspects she had arrived at or in.

4 of 5

Basic Instinct 2 lost its way early and I felt I was following "bad" vampire story (not a bad vampire story).

Mr D

This movie has a big interest. I love this movie so much when it shows Sharon Stone crossing her legs. The white outfit Sharon Stone wore is the biggest knockout any woman would want to have. I agree with this movie and I am a big Sharon Stone fan. The leg crossing is not in the sequel.

I can't believe I waited so long to see this movie! It left me nearly speechless. The sex! The plot twists! The madness! How can it all be processed into words. First, the love scenes (if I can even call them that) would make Billy Bob and Hallie blush any day of the week and the famous "interrogation" was all that it was cracked up to be. By the end of the film I didn't know whether to be aroused or in complete shock. I thought I had it all figured out, but I was thrown for a loop (probably because of Stone's privates and Douglas's bottom all in my face). The last word: a must see, but not with your mother.

It's hilarious how worked up people got when this movie came out. The PC crowd decried the fact that a lesbian was the killer and, therefore, must have been the villan. The right wing crowd then immediately accused the PC crowd of being too hysterical about the alleged prejudice against homosexuals. Basic Instinct, they contended, was bad because it was a dirty movie. The producers, of course, loved all this publicity because EVERYONE went running to see the move and, in the words of Liberace, cried all the way to the bank. Telling audiences to not see a film because of homosexual activity and graphic sex scenes is like trying to scare ants away from a picnic by pouring sugar on the ground.

First of all, Sharon Stone's Catherine Trammell who is the killer lesbian (actually bisexual) in question, IS THE MOST SYMPATHETIC character in the whole film! EVERYONE is a slimebag! From Michael Douglas' hot tempered, tourist killing, chain smoking, cocaine snorting, oversexed police detective to Jeanne Tripplehorn's neurotic, kinky police psychiastrist who is more messed up than any of her patients to the rest of the morally compromised sleazes who pass for cops who laugh at murder victims and have the compassion and sensitivity of storm troopers, EVERY single character in this movie is a cesspool of a person! The way I see it, Sharon Stone is the most sympathetic person in the entire film -- at least she makes no bones about being sleazy. If you take the position that lesbians should be offended by their negative portrayal in Basic Instinct, then you could say the same for psychiatrists, cops (especially members of the SFPD), mystery writers, drug addicts, San Franciscans, smokers, country/western fans, chilli eaters, Mustang drivers and basically all human beings in general.

Of course, the right wing is just as clueless when it comes to Basic Instinct. I went to see Basic Instinct BECAUSE of all the sex in the movie! Anyone who tells you that they saw Basic Instinct for any reason other than to see loads of nudity and sex is so full of it, they should be slapped! I went to see Sharon Stone's nether regions in the police interrogation scene. I went to see the sex scene between Douglas and Stone that seems to go on for about half the movie (although I had to wait until the home video release to see ALL of the sex scene -- what a rip-off!). I went to see Sharon Stone display the wares she only hinted at having in Total Recall. I WANTED TO SEE SEX AND NUDITY AND, BY GOD, THAT'S WHY I WENT TO SEE BASIC INSTINCT!!! So many hypocritical prudes tsk tsk at all of the sex in movies today. Get a clue! This movie is like a huge bug zapper: drawing us in with loads of sex and nudity even though we're going to get zapped when we realize what a piece of sleazy trash we're watching (Joe Ezsterhaus must read tons of pornography in order to form his views of women).

But please don't get me wrong, this is INSPIRED sleaze that I am wholeheartedly recommending you at least rent, if not purchase. It may be sleaze, but it's really, really enjoyable sleaze which will have you "standing at attention" for a long, long time afterward (even after you see not one, but two, gratuitous shots of Michael Douglas' butt). And for those of you who have moral objections to Basic Instinct, please, go out and get a life!

Is this film trashy, exploitive and misogynistic?
Yes.
Is this film exciting, thrilling, titillating and fun?
Yes.
Is this film basically just a sexed-up version of Hitchcock's "Vertigo"?
Yes.
Does it work anyway?
Yes.
Did this film do us all a favor by introducing the world to Sharon Stone, who, as an actress is hit-or-miss, but as an icon and diva is one of the greatest?
Yes.
Could I go the rest of my life without ever having to see Michael Douglas' butt again?
Yes.

Imagine someone telling a dead baby joke as unappealing as the idea is. But also imagine this someone trying to spice up the joke by adding 5 syllable words, Shakespearean quotes, and French expressions like "coup de grace" or "piece de resistance". Now I ask you, is this erudite relating of a dead baby joke still a dead baby joke. Yes, it is. Using this frame of mind, let us apply it to any of those Cinemax Friday After Dark movies. You know, those movies with the low budgets and a whole slew of people with great bodies who can't act their out a wet paper bag. Let us now take one of these FAD films, budget it with tens of millions of dollars, and cast it with the famous Michael Douglas and the up-and-coming Sharon Stone. Did we make a better FAD film? No, but we sure did purdy it up like we did the dead baby joke.

Basic Instinct is a measley effort to make something that has no inherent class classy. It's like that old saying about how you can't polish a ... well you know. Douglas is here playing a "cop on the edge", a role he did way three years earlier in the underrated Black Rain (I love the Ray Charles karaoke scene myself, but back to the point). And you have Sharon Stone as a [appealing] writer whose books mirror the murders that are being committed. As you can already see, it won't be long before these two hook up and make the bedsprings sing in 4/4 time.

So let me ask you one more question, friends. What is Basic Instinct's claim of fame? Is it the Oscar-calibre performances of its stars? Is it the crisp sharp direction that echoes Kurosawa and Fellini? Is it the inventive high concept plot that makes A Clockwork Orange seem like Friday the 13th part 68 - Jason vs. Lumbago? No, incorrect, and el wrongiente. It's the interrogation scene where Stone forgot to bring her undergarments. It's a pretty sad commentary of society when such a scene is held in high regard. I almost forgot about Douglas' completely unprovoked mooning of the audience. Don't tell anyone, but the 3rd Infantry found thousands of copies of the latter scene in one of Saddam's WMD bunkers. What was he going to use it for?

This cinematic aberration was made by none other than Paul Verhoeven (who directed great films like Robocop and Starship Troopers {which I rather enjoyed thank you}) and the atrociously overpaid, overrated and under-useful Joe Eszterhas. The relationship between Verhoeven and Eszterhas fell apart after their infamous next collaboration Showgirls. Verhoeven may still have a few good films left in him, but someone needs to tell Eszterhas that his local Wal-mart needs more cart pushers.