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| Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, Jeanne
Triplehorn, George Dzundza, Wayne Knight |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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John
Correli (Wayne Knight): There's no smoking in this building, Ms.
Tramell.
Catherine (Sharon Stone): What're you going to do? Charge me
with smoking?
A
police investigator is drawn in by the female suspect in a brutal murder
case.
 Basic
Instinct is a film that has by now entered the public consciousness
to an extent it's truly impossible to voice a new opinion on the movie
or its effects more than ten years after its release. In 1991, this
movie polarized public and critical opinion, and it's still a movie
that's almost impossible to categorize or criticize without entering
into a debate about sexual politics in Hollywood film.
The main reason why the film is so problematic is that it's a terribly
bad movie that's incredibly well-made. Reading the plot synopsis or
even Joe Eszterhas' often turgid screenplay would normally sentence
it to the direct-to-video bin. But director Paul Verhoeven, directing
a big-budget adult thriller in Hollywood for the first time, attacks
the often ludicrous script with astonishing vigor, adding in visual
layers of meaning, coaxing brilliantly daring performances out of his
two stars, and infusing the entire production with a classical style
that makes his film a natural extension of the noir genre.
Jerry Goldsmith's memorably lush, sweeping score combines beautifully
with Jan de Bont's smoothly eloquent cinematography, and together, they
give the film a class that belies the softcore pornography and overheated
dialogues. Sharon Stone plays the role of her lifetime, a classic femme
fatale, cleverly restyled to top contemporary expectations, but
Michael Douglas is ultimately the more impressive actor, playing a far
more difficult role as the put-upon, irascible anti-hero with more than
a few weaknesses, and a dark side that makes their affair somehow believable
in spite of her dominating every single aspect of their relationship.
But ultimately, it's Verhoeven's direction that makes the movie fun
to watch. In many scenes, you can almost feel him thinking: 'I know
this is ridiculous nonsense, and you know it, but as long as we're making
this, let's give it all we've got and push it as far over the top as
it will possibly go, and really have some fun with it.' And that's what
he does. |
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First
released for both Region 1 and Region 2 in various unimpressive movie-only
versions, a remastered Region 1 Special Edition was released by Artisan
last year in an eye-catchingly transparent 'ice box' that included an
icepick-shaped ballpoint pen as a humorous extra.
The Region 2 version produced by Kinowelt and available through various
European distributors comes as a two-disc set with the same extras (apart
from the pen) but the added bonus of a DTS audio mix. The Dutch Region
2 release, distributed by RCV and packaged in a silver-embossed fold-out
digicase, served as a basis for this review.
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx.
2.35:1. The new transfer presented here is astonishingly good, unmarred
by the grain levels that plagues earlier releases. Colors and fleshtones
appear very natural, especially in daylight scenes (darker interiors
take on a slightly muddy, brownish hue), and there's only a little bit
of edge enhancement and some minor blips on the print to distract slightly
from what is otherwise an outstanding presentation.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound mix is very powerful, giving Jerry Goldsmith's
omnipresent score the platform it demands, and adding some explosive
directional activity to the film's action scenes and car chases. The
DTS track on the Region 2 release is even better, adding a good deal
more detail to the orchestral score.
Spread
over two discs for the Region 2 release only to make room for the DTS
audio track on disc 1, this release still carries a fairly impressive
load of solid extras. Of the two audio commentaries on board
this release, the first was recorded for the film's LaserDisc release
several years ago, and features director Paul Verhoeven and cinematographer
Jan de Bont. It's an informative, engaging track that covers all the
necessary basics on the production history and technical details, and
the two men, who have worked together since the very beginning of their
careers, have a pleasant cameraderie and are clearly at ease discussing
the movie together. But feminist author Camille Paglia's more recently
recorded commentary is far more interesting, delving into the film's
sexual politics and story thematics convincingly. Paglia is a great
admirer of the film, naming it one of her favorites, and though she
gets off to a somewhat shaky, hesitant start, she quickly gathers momentum
and conviction as the film progresses, picking out symbols, allusions
and references to films throughout the film and eloquently building
her case for the film.
 The
second disc carries the other extras on this release. The new documentary
'Blonde Poison: Making Basic Instinct' does an excellent job
of presenting the numerous controversies and difficulties that surrounded
the production. It features new interviews with Verhoeven, De Bont,
composer Jerry Goldsmith and several other principals of the production
crew. Oddly enough, lead actors Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas are
completely missing from this feature. The last ten minutes deal almost
exclusively with the war waged on the film's production by gay rights
organizations. Both sides of the story are presented fairly and understandably,
but it's affable Dutchman Verhoeven's closing comments about his final
judgment on the film as a 'slightly ridiculous, but nicely made movie'
that are the most convincing. The film's promotional featurette
is also present, running about 12 minutes and presented in anamorphic
widescreen. It's not much more than an extended trailer for the film,
but it does add some welcome 1991 interview footage from Douglas and
Stone, who actually have some interesting insights into the plot and
their characters. Verhoeven of course is also present, sporting an ill-advised
beard for his interview segments.
Further extras include storyboard designs for three sequences,
one of which resembles nothing so much as a pornographic comic strip
featuring Ken and Barbie dolls. All three have the final footage running
in a window at the bottom right of the screen, while the sex scene storyboards
can also be viewed as a separate sequence with an orchestral score.
Screen test footage has also been included for the two female
principals, with one 3-minute scene from Jeanne Triplhorn, and a 5-minute
collection of three different scenes with Sharon Stone (playing off
Paul Verhoeven). The film's teaser and theatrical trailer
round out these excellent extras. The
menu screens are presented as zoom-ins on individual falling ice cubes,
with brief animated transitions between the screens.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2002
Click
here for IMDB info on Basic
Instinct.
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to return to the front page.
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