Basic Instinct

I remember first seeing Basic Instinct in the cinema when I was 17 (shhh! I looked old enough to get away with it!) when it was first released. The film was the 'scandale du jour' because of its graphic sex scenes between Michael Douglas's Nick Curran and Sharon Stone's Catherine Trammell and some rough sex between Curran and Curran's girlfriend, Beth,wonderfully enigmatically played by Jeanne Tripplehorn.I wasn't all that bothered with the film at the time: I was too young to have watched much Hitchcock and hadn't read much in the way of pulp crime novels, in spite of a nascent love of the genre. Even a couple of years later that had changed and I realised that in many ways Basic Instinct is the Star Wars of neo-noir pulp crime movies. Like Indiana Jones and Star Wars, Basic Instinct takes an established genre and celebrates it and builds on it. There's no postmodern deconstructionist self awareness on display; just a love of the the genre.The story is fairly simple one the surface: a cop with a history of booze and white powder addiction investigates a violent murder that took place 'in flagrante delicto' and gets involved with the main suspect. However there are so many levels to the film. The suspect, played to perfection by Sharon Stone, knows far too much about Curran and Curran's whole belief in the substance of what's real around him begins to crumble as he suspects he's being manipulated by multiple different forces. This could be a ruthless cat-and-mouse game between cop and serial killer, this could be the second half of Vertigo and Sharon Stone's infamously white-clad seductress could be a manifestation of a comatose Curran's drug addiction.Regardless, the film, thirty years on, away from the controversy of the time, has aged like a fine wine. It's like the works of James M Cain, Mickey Spillane, Gil Brewer, David Goodis, Donald E Westlake and Ed McBain all got put in a cocktail shaker and created a truly potent brew! Director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Joe Ezsterhas would make a few more films each, before coming a cropper with the spectacular failure of the cult classic sleaze drama Showgirls. Many of Verhoeven's Hollywood films have become timeless cult classics, notably Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers. 83-year-old Verhoeven's latest film, the French movie Benedetta, is being released on Blu-ray shortly and he's lost none of his love of stirring up controversy. Joe Ezsterhas, who wrote classics such as Jagged Edge, Music Box and cult potboilers such as Sliver (starring Sharon Stone) and Jade eventually stepped away from Hollywood. His memoir, Hollywood Animal, is a classic.As for this 2021 Blu-ray release, this 4K restoration is a marvel. There has been some controversy about the grading, which is substantially different from how the film has looked down the years. On home video and in the cinema, it always has a somewhat cold, blue tint. The restoration is much more lushly saturated (some complain it's the dreaded 'teal and orange') and I absolutely adore it. It gives Jan de Bont's gorgeous cinematography a real boost. The colouring suits the 4K restoration to perfection. The sound is spot-on, beautfully balancing dialogue and Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful Hermannesque score. The nightclub scene shakes the room.This is a wonderful release. It's a worthy upgrade. The original Blu-ray was very poor quality, arriving in the early days of the format and no DVD or VHS can do this justice. If you haven't seen the film before the 2021 Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray are the way to go. If you've seen the film a hundred times or a thousand times, you'll still want to upgrade to this release. Just buy it. You won't regret it!

A terrific early 90’s thriller which has been given a tremendous boost on 4K, I watched it back to back with the Blu-ray and really appreciated the difference in colour, sharpness and sound.Modern movies look so good on Blu-ray that they often don’t need the expense of a 4K upgrade, (John Wick films are a very good example) but older films such as Basic Instinct look amazing in 4K sometimes, and the quality of the restoration on this film is top notch.

Paul Verhoeven's feral '90s thriller gets the 4K treatment courtesy of STUDIOCANAL and the French authoring lab HIVENTY.Much has been moaned and bitched about on forums of late about the authoring, and therefore look, of this 4K version - and some of the whingeing I agree with, other parts less so. Yes, there are a few technical glitches in the encoding of this 4K pass that should certainly have been fixed before pressing this disc, but really they only amount to fleeting moments across the 2-hour running time, and in the grand scheme of things they are trivial nitpickings only, in essence.Bottom line is this - Basic Instinct looks tremendous in 4K - a little too dark for sure, but this seems to be de rigeur with 4K scans - but it has a lovely, rich, inky and sophisticated colour schema thanks to Dolby Vision that definitely bests the accompanying bluray disc it sits alongside, which by comparison appears thin and too brightened.The real value here lies in the film itself, a wonderful affectionate homage to Hitchcock [ and in particular, to VERTIGO ] expressed through the beautiful northern Californian settings of the Bay Area, the elliptical and circular construction of the plot, the blonde femme fatale and the sensuous and sinister score by Jerry Goldsmith, one of his best I think [ and his own tribute to Bernard Herrman ].Speaking of femme fatales - I was particularly struck watching Basic Instinct this evening by the central performance of Sharon Stone who delivers simply one of the greatest pieces of acting in all cinema as the enigmatic sociopath Catherine Trammell. A truly unforgettable performance.In the accompanying new French feature on this disc she talks with some candour about this role and the long-lasting effects it has had on her, professionally and personally. Very interesting.Douglas is his customary [ and familiar ] excellent self in this movie, a true star, but the film also has a fine supporting cast - in particular Leilani Sarelle as Roxy who delivers a performance almost as subtle and complex as that of Stone's. Her introductory scene opposite Douglas and Dzundza surely ranks as one of the best in all film. [ 'You're looking for Catherine, not me...' ]A great intelligent Hollywood thriller which has aged well, on a sumptuous 4K disc featuring two of the all-time great female performances on film. What isn't there to like?

Just got it to see a glimpse of her muff. Wasnt worth the money

Beautiful restoration of the 1992 hit neo-noir with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone under the direction of Paul Verhoeven. Through the 4K scan and restoration the movie gets his intended film look and the HDR makes the colors more natural and realistic. There is also more detail (which is very visable in Sharon Stone's face for instance at her first scene at her beachhouse) then before with the Blu-ray which looked more like a cheap upscale of the great DVD. The soundmix is the same DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 as the previous Blu-ray, in my opinion it's good, but not great because of the atmospheric music the dialogue are hard to hear. The music gets too loud in many scenes. That's for me the only letdown of the movie, a new, better soundmix would be better, not necessarily Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, but a new, better balanced 5.1 mix is helpful enough for this steamy masterpiece. Also includes the standard Blu-ray from the same restored source and a Special Features Blu-ray disc. Comes in a slipcover, all a great set for a very "no brainer" price. Recommended for the fans or as a 4K Blu-ray collector.

Not one to watch with young children, god I saw it firsttime when I was young and I blame an older family member