Basic Instinct (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)

One of the movies you should see in your lifetime! The bit where Sharon Stone uncrosses her legs and 'flashes' her pubic hair is really well done, so daring, yet without vulgarity. And what a nice body she has!Michael Douglas plays this part fairly well: he's been typecast in this kind of role for most of his acting career.This DVD came with a really interesting interview of Paul Verhoeven and Mario Kassar about the context in which they were shooting this movie: protests by gay and lesbian people that the movie was homophobic. They would demonstrate outside the studios/places which had been selected for shooting, and do things like blowing shrill whistles, which interfered with sound recording. Two representatives (male and female) of these gay and lesbian people, who were demonstrating at the same time (I think one of them even got arrested for breaking through the police barriers) are also interviewed: it is really interesting to hear their side of the story as well. They do a swell job of it, especially as they are 'low-key', i.e. they don't wave their homosexuality in your face or try to shock. Their point was precisely that Catherine's sexuality is abnormal full stop, and that this has nothing to do with being homosexual, which is also what Mr Verhoeven claims the movie was about.This movie really helped me understand some of the cliches and fantasies that some straigth people carry about gay people, as in my hometown, Paris, homosexuality and bisexuality are just as normal as heterosexuality. I had met homophobic people in the past, but they were Roman Catholic or Russian or Romanian orthodox. It's not until I moved to the UK (Bristol) that I discovered how much homophobia there can be in non church-going people, and how vile and base their 'fantasies' can be. As a lesbian lady told me: 'my partner and I, between the 2 of us, have had far less casual sexual encounters than the average heterosexual person, yet we can't donate blood'.

More than a nod to Hitchcock - soundtrack, locations, dialogue, car chases, cool blond - Basic Instinct has everything. Movie panned by the critics now rightly accepted as an iconic movie. Douglas and Stone were perfect

OK - I'm a huge Verhoeven fan and I was only ever interested in upgrading my copy of Basic Instinct if I was getting the almighty director's original cut as opposed to the (admittedly slightly) tampered-with US version.Needless to say that, as usual, Optimum have released yet another fantastic release on Blu-Ray in the UK.Firstly we have the director's cut in all its gory glory as Verhoeven originally intended the audience to see it.Secondly the UK Blu-ray release sports a superior transfer over any previous DVD versions and (rumour has it) even the US Blu-Ray version.Lastly, the audio is an improvement presented here in a lossless 5.1 DTS Master Audio mix.I always enjoyed Basic Instinct for its unflinching honesty towards sex and violence. Verhoeven brings out the best and ultimately worst in all of the characters in his homage to Hitchcock. In another director's hands this could easily have ended up a mess; look at the sequel for proof.The photography is stunning and not just for those masters of 'bation' among us (see previous childish reviews), but mainly for the shots of LA, Tramell's sea-view house and the night-club scene to name only a few. The car chase that takes place on roads carved into the side of mountain looks and sounds great on Blu-Ray and is still my favourite scene in the film for reasons I can't quite explain!Gerry Goldsmith's stunning score (surely a career highlight?) breathes free and easy on Blu and thanks to the film's age is given a full overture during the opening credits setting the scene for what is to come.I am incredibly pleased with this Blu-Ray release of Basic Instinct, my only complaint is that there are absolutely no special features. Now, as a student of Verhoeven I do not need things explaining, but the director/writer's commentary would surely have been possible? Verhoeven is open and honest in all of his commentaries and for that alone to have been added to this release would have made it five out of five stars for me.Thank you Optimum for releasing another excellent quality release and for using the director's cut.TS