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Movies / On DVD / Basic Instinct
Basic Instinct

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Basic Instinct (1992)

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59 %
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Reviews Counted:41

Fresh:24

Rotten:17

Average Rating:6/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 30 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: This steamy thriller to end all steamy thrillers stars Michael Douglas as Nick, a boozy San Francisco police detective who finds himself drawn to the prime suspect in a murder case--manipulative,... This steamy thriller to end all steamy thrillers stars Michael Douglas as Nick, a boozy San Francisco police detective who finds himself drawn to the prime suspect in a murder case--manipulative, sexually uninhibited novelist Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone). Catherine's latest book features a murder uncannily similar to the one Nick is investigating, and as the pair engage in a mating dance of dangerous one-upmanship, more murders occur, all described in her current work, about a boozy cop in love with a killer. Nick's psychiatrist (Jeanne Tripplehorn), and cop partner (George Dzundza) are both worried about him, and Catherine's jealous lesbian lover (Leilani Sarelle) may be trying to kill him, but Nick is just too turned on to care. Director Paul Verhoeven shows an admirable lack of restraint in this ludicrously enjoyable thriller, a sort of postmodern noir with Joe Eszterhas's script coming off like Mamet by way of Penthouse. Stone and Douglas exhibit fine chemistry (and most of their bodies), and there's some lovely Bay Area scenery courtesy of cinematographer Jan de Bont (who went on to direct films such as SPEED and TWISTER). Wayne Knight (Newman from SEINFELD) and Mitch Pileggi (Skinner from THE X-FILES) are precinct heads who question Catherine in the infamous leg-crossing scene. [More]

Starring: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn

Starring: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Leilani Sarelle, Wayne Knight, Mitch Pileggi

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Director: Paul Verhoeven
Screenwriter: Joe Eszterhas
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Aug 26, 1997

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Basic Instinct

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
06/10/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Truly bonkers, and perhaps something of a guilty pleasure.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/08/08
Mark Dinning
Mark Dinning
Empire Magazine

Despite (or maybe because of) his obligatory nods to Hitchcock, this is slick and entertaining enough to work as thriller porn, even with two contradictory denouements to its mystery.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
02/08/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The worst things about Basic Instinct, though, are the explicit "love" scenes. They're supposed to contribute to a heady equation in which sex, violence and psychology are fused; instead, they're gratuitous, exploitative, and entirely unerotic.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/08/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This erotically charged thriller about the search for an ice-pick murderer in San Francisco rivets attention through its sleek style, attractive cast doing and thinking kinky things, and story, which is as weirdly implausible as it is intensely visceral.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/08/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It actually works in a nasty, tasteless sort of way.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A lurid psychological thriller that's sexy, nasty and a lot of fun...And you were expecting subtlety from a film written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Paul Verhoeven?

comment Comment
02/16/06
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
FulvueDrive-in.com

Douglas and Stone are superb, and George Dzundza (as sidekick Gus) delivers another classic hard-boiled cameo.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Stephen Garrett
Stephen Garrett
Time Out

Can any movie live up to its hype, first about the bidding war over the script ($3 million), then protests by gay activists about the stereotypical portrayal. Despite sleek visuals, this is a hollow erotic suspenser; Hitchcock on a very bad day.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
12/03/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
03/02/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Another over the top classic from Paul Verhoeven.

comment Comment
01/14/05
Blake Davis
Blake Davis
KFOR Channel 4 News

No review available.

comment Comment
09/17/04
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

The cinema of the teenage boy finds its purest expression.

comment Comment
07/14/04
Martin Scribbs
Martin Scribbs
Low IQ Canadian

No review available.

comment Comment
06/25/04
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

No review available.

comment Comment
05/14/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
03/23/04
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

Shocking and effective but doesn't quite live up to all the hype.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
01/01/04
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

No review available.

comment Comment
11/27/03
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

Very effective thriller. More scary than sexy.

comment Comment
11/13/03
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

Basic Instinct transfers Mr. Verhoeven's flair for action-oriented material to the realm of Hitchcockian intrigue, and the results are viscerally effective even when they don't make sense.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Basic Instinct

November 12, 2007: Paul Verhoeven Directing Thomas Crown Affair Sequel?
Two years after first being announced, the sequel to 1999's Pierce Brosnan-led remake of The Thomas Crown Affair is still in development -- but if you've been impatient to see... More...

April 30, 2007: Directed By...Sir Paul Verhoeven?
Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director who brought us such films as "Basic Instinct," "Starship Troopers," and "Showgirls," has reportedly been... More...

March 30, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Slither" Is Certified Fresh, "Ice Age 2" Is Lukewarm, "ATL" Is Hot, And "Basic 2" Is Very, Very Bad
This week at the movies, we've got a pair of sequels that will appeal to widely disparate demographics ("Ice Age 2: The Meltdown," "Basic Instinct 2"), a... More...

February 15, 2006: Trailer Bulletin: Basic Instinct 2
We've been hearing about the possibility of a "Basic Instinct" sequel for several years now, and the thing's finally finished with and ready for release. It stars an... More...

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