Review of Basic Instinct: Special Limited Edition (Unrated)

Introduction

This is a story by Joe Eszterhas, well known for writing previous huge films such as Flashdance and the Bridges/Close thriller `Jagged Edge`. Michael Douglas plays Detective Nick Curran, investigating the murder of a retired rock star and Sharon Stone plays the femme fatale author Catherine Tramell who becomes the prime suspect. As Curran investigates, the story unfolds and Tramell seduces him, drawing him into her web of psychological games.

As Eszterhas puts it, "[Basic Instinct] is a gigantic mind game that extends into the bedroom - a strange and twisted love story about homicidal impulse." Basic Instinct is erotic, graphic and exciting in equal measure, and Paul Verhoeven directs it all with care, with references to the films which influence him and his style.

This film was made almost ten years ago, so how does it fare today with other thrillers? I think it does quite well, there hasn`t been a film as stylish in the same genre as this that I can think of. Everything about the look and feel is unique and very memorable. Good sets and locations, all well dressed and lit. It`s good to hear the commentary with Paul Verhoeven and Jan De Bont talking about the framing of shots, the issues with production and so on. I love the long shots used, definitely a feel that we`re involved in what`s happening on screen bringing us closer to the characters. It feels quite intimate and deliberate. Add to this the fantastic composition of Jerry Goldsmith and we`re talking about a cool film.

The locations serve the story well and there are constant references to the city skyline in the exterior shots, all nicely framed with excellent use of light and space. It certainly has a film noir feel with nods to Hitchcock`s Vertigo.

The acting talent is top notch. Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone set the screen alight in their roles with electrifying charisma and steal scenes between each other. Douglas has a distinctive dark edge while Stone exudes charm and sexual chemistry, who can forget the infamous interrogation scene? :-) Apart from Douglas and Stone, the supporting cast too turn in a sterling performance. I`d forgotten how violent this movie is too and this made me jump a bit, all good stuff though.

Video

On the whole, the quality of the anamorphic 2.35:1 video is very good with minor film flecks that you get from older films. The colours come out well and Jan De Bont`s cinematography is great all the way through with good vibrant detail. All the scenes have been well thought out in terms of colour and what it represents, and there are some visually stunning scenes in Basic Instinct. It`s good to finally see the detail coming through after all this time, even the laserdisc was sharp, but not like this!

Audio

This disc has both a new DD 5.1 mix as well as the original 2 channel mix and I have to say that the new 5.1 mix is very good. It has more presence, bass and clarity than the original Dolby Stereo sound. I found Jerry Goldsmith`s wonderful score sounded as sharp and as haunting as ever through the speakers. You can feel the tension in the music and the finale sounds especially good.

Features

This has really nice animated menus, with looped video and each with a different portion of Goldsmith`s music in the background. So what do we get? Two audio commentaries, one with Paul Verhoeven and Jan De Bont and the other with feminist critic Camille Paglia. There`s Blonde Poison: The Making of Basic Instinct; Cleaning Up Basic Instinct; Storyboard Comparisons; Photo Gallery; Trailer, Cast and Crew Information and Production Notes.

Blonde Poison: The Making of is good, though I thought a little short at 25 minutes. It would have been even better to get new interviews with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone about the movie and the way they felt about making it. There`s comment from gay rights activists about their stance and how they wanted to force changes to be made during production, and Paul Verhoeven is as animated as ever when talking about this and other production issues. As it is, this is still a good documentary which was made for this Special Edition.

Cleaning Up Basic Instinct shows the ways in which the film was changed for television airings, or `cleaned up`, in order to conform to network standards. Some of it`s quite amusing! The Storyboard Comparisons compares the storyboard of three scenes to the final scenes shot for the movie.

The Photo Gallery is a silent slideshow with various pictures of the stars and crew on the set. I`m surprised that it doesn`t have any music playing. Cast and Crew Information contains up-to-date info on the leading players, plus Paul Verhoeven, Jan de Bont and Joe Eszterhas. I won`t mention the hidden feature, but there is one (I only found one), and it`s good. :-)

The commentary with Paul Verhoeven and Jan De Bont is very good and doesn`t let up for a moment. It`s full of information which I found to be interesting with references to Hitchcock, Fellini and Welles. Camille Paglia, the feminist critic, also does commentary on a separate audio track, but for me this proves to be too subjective and heavy going.

Oh, and there`s a JVC commercial in the Setup menu...this must be something to do with the JVC competitions being run in recent Artisan releases (for USA only).

Conclusion

I think there`ll be some who like the movie, some who don`t. I like it, and I urge you to buy it if you liked Basic Instinct the first time around. Those that haven`t seen it might be pleasantly surprised, it makes for a good movie with outstanding performances from Douglas, Stone and Tripplehorn. There are two commentary tracks amongst loads of other extra features, all on one disc. Lastly, a note about the packaging. Artisan have again come up with the goods when it comes to novelty value! There`s a pen shaped as an ice pick included within the light blue case, interesting, and different. I watched this movie four times in the past week or so to write this review, and I enjoyed all of it! Basic Instinct Special Edition is a stylish adult thriller and comes highly recommended.