Basic Instinct (1992)

[Chedney Honks]

I was listening to an episode of Wrong Reel on 90s erotic thrillers and this came up, naturally. My memory of the film as a teenage boy was a lot of fast forwarding, a lot of rewinding and a hell of a lot of wanking. I had very little grasp of the plot or characters or dialogue. I hadn't even remembered (or even learned) that Michael Douglas was a copper.

Anyway, on the podcast, they were gleefully describing the Joe Ezsterhas dialogue, the Hitchcockian touches and the San Francisco setting. Most of all, they were full of praise for Stone and the charisma she brought to the role. Douglas also came off well, acknowledging that he was at the top of his game as a vulnerable, unstable, thoroughly mesmerised fanny rat. I was quite surprised by the praise but by the end of the show, it was on my radar.

A recent 4K release had also got some attention. It wasn't wholly positive in terms of the colour grading, but it was pretty well received all in all, with a crispness and radiance accentuating the noir elements. The regular Blu-ray has also had the same remastered treatment, and after a recent internegative discovery, there were additional cuts restored, too. A sale came along and I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I watched it with my wife, she's into crime drama and most things murderous or titliating, and it was actually very entertaining. We were both surprised at how much we enjoyed it. Stone is certainly the best thing in the film, alongside the sweeping, swooning Jerry Goldsmith score. The dialogue is both noirish and nakedly provocative. Ezsterhas captures classic Hollywood sizzle and then puts cunt stubble on it. It made us laugh a few times, I think unintentionally, but you never know with Verhoeven, it's part of the fun. Either way, they nail what they're going for.

The mind games and twists and turns and vertical San Francisco seascapes are very much indebted to Hitchcock. The slowly unfurling back stories and archetypal coppers and dramatic meeting room confrontations are perfect thriller fodder. There are some great chase sequences involving Stone's Lotus Esprit and Douglas' Mustang GT. There's some capable support, particularly from Jeanne Tripplehorn, but few of the characters evolve beyond archetypes. And that's clearly how it's intended. Cops are hard-nosed, on the edge, stinking of Jack and Marlboro, completely cunt struck. The women are alluring, enigmatic, powerful, confident sexually and just out of reach.

I don't know if it's something I'd be inclined to watch again but it was much better than I'd expected. I've also got The Last Seduction with Linda Fiorentino which is also supposed to be superb. It's on the shelf waiting for the right moment but I might suggest it for next Friday's viewing.

Has anyone ever heard of the movie Basic Instinct or even seen it?

[idunnosomename]

Always fucks my hat Wayne Knight is in the fanny scene and no one seems to remark on it as it does contrast quite a lot with his later comic roles in Seinfeld, Jurassic Park and Space Jam.

[Keebleman]

Saw it on release and thought it was grubby, joyless trash.  I always thought that Stone had nothing to distinguish her from the assembly line blondes who filled out the cast on Dynasty etc bar a willingness to go further with sex and nude scenes.

[beanheadmcginty]

The first terrestrial broadcast of this is so indelibly imprinted on my memory that even now I can confidently say without checking that it was a Wednesday night on ITV. Ensuring that I was able to secretly watch this became the single most important endeavour of my life up to this point. I succeeded and was not disappointed.

[bgmnts]

I couldnt tell you the plot, any character name or motivation but I do remember lots of shagging.

Basic Instinct and Showgirls are the films that make me go hang on is Verhoeven a satirical genius or utter shite or both?

[Spiteface]

It's the "Satire" that people claim in an attempt to hide that the thing they just made is actually shit.

[El Unicornio, mang]

Always fucks my hat Wayne Knight is in the fanny scene and no one seems to remark on it as it does contrast quite a lot with his later comic roles in Seinfeld, Jurassic Park and Space Jam.

It is parodied in the Seinfeld episode The Package though, when Jerry is being interrogated for mail fraud

[Dusty Substance]

Bloody love it, but then I'm a huge Verhoeven fanboy.

It's difficult to convey just how colossal Basic Instinct was when it was released. The hype and controversy was gigantic.

[Dex Sawash]

I watched this on VHS rental when new. I didn't "see" anything,  just the film suggesting that the police did. Should I try to rent the Beta version? Just want to see it the way the director intended, obvs.

[Dusty Substance]

I watched this on VHS rental when new. I didn't "see" anything,  just the film suggesting that the police did. Should I try to rent the Beta version? Just want to see it the way the director intended, obvs.

Mate, I think you're gonna have to upgrade to LaserDisc tbh. Sure, they're expensive but a small price to pay to see a grainy beaver shot.

[dissolute ocelot]

It's very much in the tradition of twisty 80s/early-90s "neo-noir erotic thrillers" where unpleasant people often portrayed by Douglas, Costner, etc, do unpleasant things that generally involve sex. On that scale, it's better than average (c.f. Fatal Attraction, Body of Evidence, etc). Stone is excellent and Michael Douglas once again impresses by his willingness to play pathetic men, and the plot rolls along nicely without ever managing a good twist. I would say it's high-grade tosh, and Verhoeven and Stone are having a good time, but it's certainly no more than that.

Although in terms of bad Sharon Stone movies, The Specialist with Sly Stallone is much better (worse). (Total Recall obviously is a good Sharon Stone movie.) I don't know if she was destroyed by a Hollywood establishment that hated strong women, or she just didn't have much range.

[bgmnts]

My favourite Sharon Stone film is The Quick and the Dead, because that film is amazing.

[McChesney Duntz]

I always appreciated the absolute gall of the thing - gave you one ending, faded out, then faded back in to give you a different one. As if to tell you (correctly) that it just doesn't fucking matter.

As for the "satire" issue - Verhoeven's other American pictures are pretty obviously satirical (Robocop and Starship Troopers, for sure - Hollow Man may contain some critique of toxic masculinity, but I found it so overwhelmingly unpleasant I'm not willing to go back and reassess it), but the Eszterhas collabs muddy those waters a touch. It's quite possible that PV was indulging in over-the-top mockery of American thriller tropes without informing his screenwriter that he was doing so, which is a pretty nifty trick. (And I'm dead certain that Verhoeven was openly mocking Eszterhas with Showgirls.) I know that I, at least, always sensed a certain sly self-amusement here that tends to be absent from most of the sex-thrillers of the era (Sliver, written by Eszterhas and starring Stone but directed by the hackish Phillip Noyce, is a good example of how limp and ludicrous these things can be without it).

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I bet you can make out individual pubes in 4K.

[Chedney Honks]

Without being crass, we paused it and you actually can.

[Egyptian Feast]

I watched Paul Verhoeven's filmography in order last year and this was one of the few I didn't get on with. Catherine Tramell got on my tits with her whole "I'm dead good at sex, me. Love a right good shagging, I do. Does that shock you? Check out my fanny!" attitude. Very silly woman. I prefer Showgirls.

[mothman]

Always fucks my hat Wayne Knight is in the fanny scene and no one seems to remark on it as it does contrast quite a lot with his later comic roles in Seinfeld, Jurassic Park and Space Jam.

I seem to recall Spielberg saw him in this and knew he'd be perfect for Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park.

[jamiefairlie]

I bet it was her Fanny that gave him throat cancer. She's a patient murderess.

[Dusty Substance]

Wasn't it Dennis Pennis who said to Sharon Stone "I heard that the director didn't tell you beforehand about the leg-crossing scene but from what I could see you you were fully debriefed".

[Dex Sawash]

Whatever resolution HBOMAX has it streaming looks pretty great.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've not actually seen it but I reckon I could just about find my way around it as I have seen Carl Reiner's Fatal Instinct.

[Greg Torso]

Sharon Stone is a fucking piece of shit who said the 2008 Sichuan earthquake (where thousands of people died, including lots of little kids when their schools collapsed thanks to being built out of cheap cost-cutting materials [all the government offices stayed up though, it's good to have connections, lol]) was "karma" for Tibet. Fuck her, I'm glad her career went up her arse and into hell.

[greenman]

I always appreciated the absolute gall of the thing - gave you one ending, faded out, then faded back in to give you a different one. As if to tell you (correctly) that it just doesn't fucking matter.

As for the "satire" issue - Verhoeven's other American pictures are pretty obviously satirical (Robocop and Starship Troopers, for sure - Hollow Man may contain some critique of toxic masculinity, but I found it so overwhelmingly unpleasant I'm not willing to go back and reassess it), but the Eszterhas collabs muddy those waters a touch. It's quite possible that PV was indulging in over-the-top mockery of American thriller tropes without informing his screenwriter that he was doing so, which is a pretty nifty trick. (And I'm dead certain that Verhoeven was openly mocking Eszterhas with Showgirls.) I know that I, at least, always sensed a certain sly self-amusement here that tends to be absent from most of the sex-thrillers of the era (Sliver, written by Eszterhas and starring Stone but directed by the hackish Phillip Noyce, is a good example of how limp and ludicrous these things can be without it).

Watching the documentary with the recent UHD he did actually try and have it re written a couple of times before reverting to the original script which is played up as an artistically victory for  Eszterhas but perhaps because as you say taking a more conventional sex thriller script and directing it in a very over the top manner worked more effectively.

Beyond being so over the top I'd say the big shift from the scripts intension seems like the way Stone plays Tramell, I'm guessing it was envisaged more as a kind of battle of wits between her and Douglas but the way its filmed her character is obviously in control the entire time.

[Chedney Honks]

A propos of nothing specific, I'm not suggesting this film offers much more than an engaging, iconic performance from Stone. It's not something I think is due a reappraisal or a fresh critical eye, I was just surprised that it was pretty entertaining and seemed to revel in its archetypes. It doesn't feel like satire as much as a giddy, coked-up pastiche. It's aware of how ridiculous it is and it celebrates every cliché. I think that's the essence of Verhoeven.

[Huxleys Babkins]

but it was pretty well received all in all, with a crispness and radiance accentuating the noir elements.

They're all pretty well received all in all, with a crispness and radiance accentuating the noir elements by the time, etc.

[greenman]

A propos of nothing specific, I'm not suggesting this film offers much more than an engaging, iconic performance from Stone. It's not something I think is due a reappraisal or a fresh critical eye, I was just surprised that it was pretty entertaining and seemed to revel in its archetypes. It doesn't feel like satire as much as a giddy, coked-up pastiche. It's aware of how ridiculous it is and it celebrates every cliché. I think that's the essence of Verhoeven.

The UHD was the first time I'd watched it since the 90's and yeah it was a pleasant supprise, does half make me want to re visit a few more sex thrillers of the era but I get the feeling I'd be setting myself up for disappointment. I spose Body Double would kind of qualify and that was vastly better than I was expecting watching it for the first time a last year.

In terms of the look of the UHD honestly its the kind of film like Total Recall that I don't mind being given the "teal and orange" treatment, it looks a bit trashy but the films are naturally trashy.

[evilcommiedictator]

The 5 minute send-up of it in National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon I is better than watching the whole of Basic Instinct
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XWvPjjo3aw

Mind you though, Charlie's joke in Hot Shots 2 is snappier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abLJGYeCxkQ

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

I watched Paul Verhoeven's filmography in order last year and this was one of the few I didn't get on with. Catherine Tramell got on my tits with her whole "I'm dead good at sex, me. Love a right good shagging, I do. Does that shock you? Check out my fanny!" attitude. Very silly woman. I prefer Showgirls.

Yes, but because she's American, this means you are suggesting she got her bum out ( which she probably did as well, to be fair).

[Johnny Foreigner]

Seen it. Meh, not bad.

[jobotic]

Sharon Stone is a fucking piece of shit who said the 2008 Sichuan earthquake (where thousands of people died, including lots of little kids when their schools collapsed thanks to being built out of cheap cost-cutting materials [all the government offices stayed up though, it's good to have connections, lol]) was "karma" for Tibet. Fuck her, I'm glad her career went up her arse and into hell.

She sounds thick as shit

Well you know it was very interesting because at first, you know, I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And so I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don't like that. And I had been this, you know, concerned about, oh how should we deal with the Olympics because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?[106]