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A DVD Review of...
 
Images (C) Artisan |
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Cast: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, Jeanne Tripplehorn, George Dzundza, Wayne Knight
Synopsis: Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Former rock star and San Francisco nightclub owner Johnny Boz is found murdered in his bed. Detective Nick Curran is assigned to the case; he has a history of alcoholism and drug abuse although he is clean now. The prime suspect is Catherine Tramell, an attractive and manipulative novelist who had been seeing Boz for a while. Police psychiatrist Beth Gardner (who happens to be Nick's ex-girlfriend) is brought in on the case when it is discovered that Boz's murder was copied directly from one of Catherine's novels. Nick starts to get too involved with Tremell and everyone seems to be a suspect.
Film Review: Ten years after its debut and this film is still being written off by some due to the wild and graphic sex scenes which even today are pretty hardcore for a mainstream film. Its a shame really as those people are missing out a superbly tight psychological cop thriller underneath which remains one of Verhoeven's best works and done in a way only he can do it as he gives a very American tale some European sensibilities of sex, love and shady characters. Based on Joe Ezterhas's complex and twisted, yet overall simple Hitchcock-ian script, Verhoeven gives us a game of cat-and-mouse between recovering addict Douglas and bisexual vamp Stone. Whilst Douglas does a better than normal performance as the driven and masculine cop, this is Stone's movie and she absolutely shines - taking the brilliant dialogue from the script and then adding all sorts of subtleties and a very natural performance to give us arguably one of the most unforgettable femme fatales seen on screen - she's very intelligent, clever, twisted, classy and gorgeous to look at - its an extremely empowering role and she handles it with deft touch as throughout the film we get the giddy thrill of watching her manipulate our hero with both looks and intellect, yet are unsure what game it is exactly she's playing at.
Tripplehorn also does a solid job as the brunette ex-love interest with more involvement than she first lets on, whilst support from the likes of Leilani Sarelle as the jealous blond lover Roxy is excellent (the dance club scene is an absolute classic). The action moves along at a fast pace without becoming bogged down and the various and very picturesque locations means it never gets boring or trite. The action is frantic, the violence excessive, the sex very physical and steamy, whilst the twists are unexpected and plentiful. DeBont's superb cinematography gives what could've been ordinary scenes some gravitas, whilst Goldsmith does one of his best musical scores ever which is very haunting and Bernard Hermann in style. This special 'Unrated Director's Cut' adds a few more seconds to the extremeness - the major new one being a surprisingly visible simulation of cunnilingus by Douglas on Stone, though the clearer version of the now infamous police interrogation scene shows off less than you might expect (so those who can't wait to freeze frame on you-know-what will be a little disappointed). Seriously this is one of the best thrillers of the 90's and one which, ten years later, holds up amazingly well if not better than it did back then. - Garth Franklin
"Basic Instinct: Special Editon"
DVD Details In Brief (Region 1)
Rating: Unrated
Runtime: 129mins
Versions: 16:9 Enhanced Widescreen, 4:3 Letterboxed
Aspect Ratio: 2.35: 1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2.0 Surround
Language & Sub-Titles: English, French, Spanish
Commentary: Track 1 by Director Paul Verhoeven and D.O.P. Jan De Bont, Track 2 by Feminist critic Camille Paglia
Documentaries: "Blonde Poison" making of 30-minute featurette, "Cleaning Up Basic Instinct" - a scene by scene comparison between unedited film and edited US TV version.
Clips: Theatrical Trailer, Storyboard slideshow
Other: Still Gallery, Production Notes, Biographies
Region 1 vs. Region 4: No Region 4 DVD Available. |
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DVD Review: Coming in one of the most uniquely packaged DVD casings I've ever seen (a transparent 'ice' casing containing the disc and a red pen in the shape of an ice pick), BI has been translated to disc with a deft touch. The film itself, which always seemed very high contrast and grainy on video and TV, has never looked so good. Scenes which were overtly red tinged or murky have now far more natural shades and tones to it and the widescreen aspect makes it much more cinematic in style (4:3 aspect ratio versions of BI gave us some close-ups so extreme its scary). The remastered audio is also top of the line with Goldsmith's superb score shining through whilst the dialogue is crisp and clear.
The special features start with a commentary track by Verhoeven and DeBont. Verhoeven must be a hell of a guy in person because he has to be one of the most fun filmmakers around - he speaks at a mile a minute, he's always joking and yet knows his style extremely well and has the more relaxed European/Australian style attitudes about sex and nudity on screen. DeBont gets in some words every now and then and though the fast talking can make the accents a little hard to understand at times, its darn interesting to listen to. Same can't be said for the commentary from feminist critic Pagia - exploring deeper themes of myth, femininity and so forth, this is great stuff for filmmakers wanting to do a college lecture or essay on the film. However for the average moviegoer though its a bit of a bore as by the crossed leg scene she starts breaking out into flower metaphors and its all downhill from there.
"Blonde Poison" is a better than average making of 20-minute documentary with recent interviews from all over with the likes of Douglas, Verhoeven, DeBont, Goldsmith and more about some of the more controversial scenes along with a large section dedicated to the outrage and protests expressed by the gay community and lobby group Queer Nation over the film. "Cleaning Up Basic Instinct" is just basically showing off how other actors voiced over the naughty words in the movie - by the tenth time it gets annoying and one has to wonder why anyone would put up with shitty US TV versions of films - but it is a good illustration of the difference in picture quality between this DVD and the TV version. Pan & Scan enthusiasts who take one look at this segment will quickly become widescreen advocates. Capping it off is standard still gallery, production notes, biographies, the cool trailer and storyboards for three sequences (the love scene, car chase and elevator murder). Overall its a superb release of a great film and a must have. - Garth Franklin
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