Basic Instinct: 30 Years Later

The movie doesn’t hold up as a classic

But, Sharon Stone is electric and carries the whole movie. The whole lipstick lesbian was hot and very new to ordinary people.

It's great entertainment.

Incredibly trashy movie. Michael Douglas spends the entire movie looking like he smells like pussy and aftershave. I miss the Michael Douglas movies where he fucked everything in sight.

Have you ever fucked on cocaine, Nick? It’s nice.

It was the first R-rated movie I saw in the theaters! I told my mom I saw some other, tamer movie. Then one day after church, a guy around my age mentioned the he had seen that other movie. So my mom said "Oh, [my name] saw it, too!" The guy then launched into a friendly interrogation, as that movie had left him confused and he wondered if I made sense of it. I could only lower my eyes and mutter "I really don't know..."

It completely hold up for me. I always get a kick out of it when I see it. Of course it's totally ridiculous, but as has said many, many times, that's sort of the point.

The unsung hero of the movie is Jean Tripplehorn's Beth. She adds a nice layer. Incredibly tied into the plot, but most people naturally remember Stone and Douglas. Gus and Roxie are good side characters.

I love how brutal and shitty all the cops and detectives are to each other. Just gleeful testosterone fueled one upmanship.

As stated, great score, and good cinematography showing great vistas and also the quick transitions from urban grit to gorgeous natural scenery of the Bay Area.

"The unsung hero." I meant "hero" in the sense that the character makes the movie good and entertaining, not that she's the actual hero in the plot.

It was a boring movie. It's only "beloved" because you got to see 1/4 of a second of snatch

I love that Dorothy Malone was in it. It came out when I was a kid and of course all the straight guys my parents were friends with couldn't wait to see it. There were TV news segments about angry gay protestors, which added to the intrigue.

Once I finally watched it as a teenager I expected to find it horribly offensive but didn't. It's a masterpiece compared to "Jade" and "Sliver."

Everyone talks about the pussy shot, but there's a cock shot too. Granted it's on Johnny Boz's dead, blood-spattered body, but it's still a nice cock.

r5, I LOVE YOU. LOVE YOU.

Saw it at the theater on 19th and Broadway in nyc opening night. I was 19. I thought it was great pulpy trash. I already loved Verhoeven because of Robocop, Total Recall and The Fourth Man so I was excited to see it

The score is still a favorite of mine. It’s SO swoony and perfect for SF at night …full of lush romance and danger.

Also, makeup effects by Rob Bottin!

Camille Paglia's commentary on the DVD is great.

One of my favorite movies!

Wayne Knight made that whole interrogation scene too.

I love everything about that movie. I remember thinking that’s exactly how I want to be when I grow up! Not being an icepick killer but just being able to seduce men like that with no fucks given.

My also big learn from that movie as a child was telling the truth can be as manipulative as telling a lie.

Thank you Catherine.

Wayne Knight is the definition of a sweaty pervert. His presence really upped the sleaze of the pussy flashing scene.

The pussy flashing scene was such a big deal in those pre-Internet days. Now anyone can see pussy in two seconds.

Another great secondary character. Dennis Arndt as Lt. Walker. Lots of rage, barking, good put downs.

No love for Douglas's ass? Looking at it now I realize he doesn't have the best ass (especially compared to Baldwin in Sliver two years later), but baby gay me who ate up every shot of a naked man in a movie loved it. (Ah, the days before Internet porn when we had to take what we could get.) It still kind of does it for me. Love the way you can see his dick flopping around from between his legs, and the cockiness in his strut. Good stuff.

And the sex scene before that where his dick is visible. Ass looks great.

Never watched it. Neither Stone nor Douglas interested me then. I might give it a go if it's on YouTube

Unfortunately, lipstick lezz turned out to be an urban legend. Have never seen one in real life.

Saw it in the theater and quite enjoyed it.. Stone looked beautiful, the beautiful home she had on the cliff outside san fran, and musical score...

the only thing i did NOT like and I laughed at then and laugh at now? michael douglas being "sexy" and his wrinkled flat ass! embarrassing and unintentionally funny and ridiculous!

oh yeah, and that first beefy hairy stud at the beginning that is stabbed to death and they find his cum all over him and the bed when they find him still tied and dead, he was HOT HOT!....

Cum? Where, where?

It's a masterpiece!

[quote]there's a cock shot too. Granted it's on Johnny Boz's dead, blood-spattered body, but it's still a nice cock.

Sounds thrilling. The next time I want to masturbate over a dead, blood-spattered body, I'll know where to go.

This dance scene is classic, especially with "Rocky" punching the air.

I couldn't wait to come of age to be in a nightclub like this with Lords of Acid blasting, moving lights and beautiful lesbians.

Funny, I just watched it this week for the first time since seeing it in the theater. It really has some nice SF and Northern California scenery. I hadn’t seen that area shown so nicely in a film in a long time.

Was only 10 years old when it came out but my friend’s stepdad rented it for us on VHS.

The script never quite make sense but it was masterfully directed, superbly cast and oh that score.

I'm probably in the minority here but I found Douglas really sexy in the movie. I masturbated to Basic Instinct for years despite also downloading tons of porn with Kazaa and Limewire.

R27, like you when I came of age in the mid-1990s I couldn't wait to go to clubs and see all the glamour that Basic Instinct had promised. Also like you I was disappointed. With that said, my friends and I would play 'Basic Instinct' at partys and fight over who got to be Roxy at the club.

I love the dance off scene in a nightclub like the Limelight

Roxy dancing like a Fly Girl, Sharon’s beaded dress, the perfect lighting. I too was disappointed in clubs when I was old enough to go.

[quote] I'm probably in the minority here but I found Douglas really sexy in the movie.

I get it; he’s inherently likeable. Even with the pancake ass, I would have, back in the day.

I think Douglas is very sexy. He was hotter in Fatal Attraction because he wasn’t as worked out as he is here (plus watching it in 4k he looks a lot rougher here but it adds to his performance).

Roxie, Catherine and Nick dance to

Channel X - Rave The Rhythm

LaTour - Blue

Nasty sociopathic trash.

Sharon was gorgeous

Glorious schlock that was much imitated, but never truly duplicated. Sharon Stone was a STAH.

Body of Evidence starring our dear Vadge HAS to be the worst Basic Instinct rip-off. But it's funnier than Basic Instinct on the camp level, IMHO.

All I can remember is that I saw it. I don’t remember much else, maybe I’ll watch it again.

its hilarious that they keep talking about Sharon Stone's character like she's some trained psychologist. Early on they say she has an undergraduate degree in psychology. Not even a masters.

R38 Actually, Body of Evidence is one of the BEST erotic thrillers of the 90s. Had an actual director, great cast--Willem Dafoe, Julianne Moore, Joe Mantegna, Udo Kier. This is a genre filled with lots of garbage, you gotta take the quality where you can find it. Oliver Stone was a fan. He correctly pointed out "Madonna has no second level." He said it as part of a backhanded compliment.

For anyone who hasn't seen it but enjoyed Basic Instinct, check it out. I am pretty sure you won't get bored.

[quote] "Have you ever fucked on cocaine, Nick? It’s nice."

My favorite line, R4. I randomly quote it to friends on occasion. That scene is definitely electric. I could've done without the flash, but I'm not part of thr target audience.

The only thing I remember about Body of Evidence is that Madonna kept getting called a cunt.

LGBT groups hated this movie and Silence of the Lambs back in the day and protested the oscars because of them

Body of Evidence is shit. Frumpy Madonna just isn't sexy or alluring, and her monotone voice cannot convey the femme fatale of her character. Willem Dafoe looks embarrassed throughout.

I actually have a crazy first hand memory of seeing Basic Instinct. People may not remember but at the time the movie was very controversial and had angered the gay community because the suspected villain was a lesbian or, actually, bisexual. So I'm standing in a long line at one of the theaters in Westwood, not in the Westwood Village, but the one south of Wilshire, whose name I forget at the moment. Anyway I'm standing in line and there's this little bearded gay guy staging a protest of the movie and his protest consists of walking up and down the entire line telling everyone in this very effeminate voice "Catherine did it...Catherine did it..." Giving away the ending of the movie. I guess in hopes of ruining the movie for all of us. He also said, "This is the worst movie of the year." Later on I came up with the perfect response to that: "You obviously haven't seen Stop or My Mom Will Shoot" which came out the same year. I still kick myself that I didn't think of it at the time.

A great looking movie with an uncertain last scene. Yes, Catherine did it because the director eventually told everyone that's what the ending meant, otherwise we'd still be wondering.

Cool story r46

Don't look so hurt, Alan. I fucked you, I fucked Andrew, I fucked Frank. That's what I do; I fuck.

That's an awesome story r46. Love it.

And I saw the movie having known the ending but it didn't ruin it for me. Because there is still a bit of ambiguity to it.

Johnny Boz was played by DL icon Bill Cable.

Stone is a very inconsistent actress, but her star quality is undeniable in this movie. It's hard to take your eyes off her.

[quote] Yes, Catherine did it because the director eventually told everyone that's what the ending meant, otherwise we'd still be wondering.

I thought the ending was pretty obvious?

This movie was stupid. No better than Jade..

We didn't even get to see Dafoe's massive cock in Body of Excrement. What a WASTE! At least it gave us a Julianne Moore/Madonna bitch slap.

[quote] I thought the ending was pretty obvious?

Must you upspeak even when you write?

SHE'S EVIL! SHE'S BRILLIANT!!!!

R56, that's such a good line reading from Dr. Beth Garner (Tripplehorn). Beth is scared, thrilled, even envious. And like someone else said - Catherine is supposed to be a criminal mastermind who can play with people at will because of her BS/BA in Psychology. Lol. Not that people can't be masterminds without degrees, but the other characters make such a big deal about the degree. It's just so wonderfully stupid.

That wasn't Catherine's ice pick. It was Nick's.

I was 11 and not allowed to watch R-rated movies unless it was at home on video where my parents could censor if need be. But I did see Basic Instinct in the theater, thanks to my older, juvenile delinquent brothers. It was also among the first movies I snuck into with them.

I always assumed it was Catherine. Who has an ice pick under their bed except a psycho killer? What else was she reaching for?

I love the ending. It's such a great example of how to tell a story with visuals. No long killer monologues about how and why she did it. It ends on a great cliffhanger.

I think the sequel said poor Nick died, but not at the hands of Catherine. Guess she really did like him.

I mean she does reach down and... maybe she changed her mind?

You get to see her Stone's fake tits and horrible extensions in Basic Instinct 2.

Charlotte Rampling is the good thing about this that film

Madonna’s obsession with Sharon’s character kind of gave her sociopathy away. If you were smart enough to be paying Attention.

I worked at a theater as a summer job in 92. The other people working there who'd been there in spring when BI came out said they were constantly having to shoo gross old men out of the front row who came into the theater just to wank off to Stone.

The movie is kind of dopey and ridiculous. But, as others have noted,.the score’s divine.

It was the time where Sharon Stone was the world's favorite beautiful, mad ex-girlfriend. Now she just comes across as old and mad.

The main theme is one of the greatest noir melodies ever.

Never saw it

Wasn't Kurt Russell first choice for this movie or was it the horrible sequel?..

would LOVE LOVE to have see a Horny Russell rutting with stone (when Kurt was still handsome and in shape of course)..

In the film industry this movie was famous for being turned down by all name actresses. The first choice was Greta Scacci (who had got a lot of attention in Presumed Innocent with Harrison Ford.) Then they approached Michelle Pfeiffer, then it was offered to practically everyone.

That’s the only reason a B Level actress like Stone was at the time got it.

[italic]THE INDEPENDENT: You turned down Basic Instinct. Why?

SCACCI: There were lots of reasons, but the most important was that I didn't like the script. The money was very tempting but I felt that I shouldn't play another male-fantasy role. The part had nothing to do with being a woman. When the film came out, I was appalled that some of the great feminists of the time such as Camille Paglia and Naomi Wolf said the character was an icon for women.

Sometimes, I might regret turning down the role financially, but there are other things I regret more. I turned down the same amount of money - a huge amount - to do an advertisement for Pirelli tyres. And then Sharon Stone did it. In retrospect, I realised that she was welcome to Basic Instinct, but I wished I'd done Pirelli.

My favorite character was Jeanne Tripplehorn's Beth. She was obviously nuts. I regret that there were no scenes between her and Catherine. Both were lying psychos, for sure, so I would have liked to see their interaction to decide which bitch was the craziest.

Who stalked who? The movie would have us believe that the glamorous Catherine was the one being stalked, but psychopaths prefer to do the stalking, therefore, I've always had my doubts.

If Catherine was the killer, which the final scene says she was, then she was the liar and Beth was telling the truth. Beth was a decent person in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong ex-boyfriend. Tripplehorn did give a lot of life to a very underwritten part, though.

When Nick investigated Beth, he discovered that she'd lied to him about the breakup of her marriage (she'd been seen around town making out with a woman). She'd sworn she'd never been with women before. Nick also caught her in other lies. In my opinion, both women were liars; it's just a matter of degree. Catherine was obviously a murderer, but Beth was a neurotic headcase in her own right.

True, but in the early 90s a woman lying about being bisexual made more sense, as bisexuality wasn't nearly as mainstream as it is now. When Beth says she was embarrassed to be admit she'd slept with a woman, early 90s audiences understood.

It’s a great movie. Who gives a shit about Greta Scacci. She would have been boring in the part. No sizzle. Sge was dull in the player. The universe got the right actress in the role.

Stone is more beautiful in her screen test than the actual movie. Maybe it’s just that it’s lower definition.

A couple of days ago, I found out about NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour doing a podcast series called Screening Ourselves. One of the episodes is about Basic Instinct and they covered the controversies attached to it and the Catherine Did It protesters were mentioned.

It's too bad it took them so long to make the sequel. If it had come out in 95, when Stone was still relatively young and sexy and riding high because of the Oscar nom for Casino, BI 2 might have been a hit.

The movie is camp at best. It was really bad imo. However, it rightly gave Stone instant superstardom. She was perfect.

The sequel was beyond ridiculous, starting with Catherine driving her sports car 100 mph while getting her pussy fingered and climaxing while driving off a bridge. There's fun camp and then there's really bad camp.

This is an obscure, trivial question and I'm acknowledging that up front but every time I watch Basic Instinct I'm curious about it. When they find the dead body of the "retired Rock n Roll star" Johnny Boz, Michael Douglas turns on the stereo and a Rockabilly song (presumably one of Johnny Boz's) blasts out of the speakers. I've tried to find that song everywhere and I can't find it. Does anyone know who the song is by or if it is, in fact, a real song?

I took it as Beth was telling the truth the entire time. She experimented with women, her hair color, and probably drugs. She was in college in the early 1980's. Catherine took it and twisted it.

I think Beth was innocent and she knew all about Catherine. I wish she would have just removed her hand out of her pocket.

Her entire life and her life's work were ruined by Catherine and Nick. So sad. It sticks with you.

R82 so she drove OFF the bridge and died? Death by pussy banging?

Her passenger died, but she didn't. She saved herself and left him to drown.

Sharon stone was supernaturally beautiful back then. It was like the stars lines up for her.