Rating: 
Summary: Good movie -- bad DVD
Review: This movie was a travesty of Hitchcockian devices. Old Alfred would roll in his grave. The acting was wooden, the dialogue cliched and predictable and not very convincing (wouldn't a Freudian analyst have recognized the flower arranging dream case study right away?) Bassinger looks like she's been on too many meds, with her bloated face and more-than-normally squinted eyes. Nor can she play a psychotic with any zest: when she lost it in the restaraunt in her husband's presence, running up the stairs and proceeding to yell and flail, I felt embarrassed for her. If I had more space I could go on, but I want to end with one burning question; Why the hell didn't the wardrobe mistress give Bassinger a decent pair of stilleto pumps to at least wear with her slinky black backless dress, if she insisted on outfitting her through the whole movie with dopey little flats?
Rating: 
Summary: would someone please get Kim B a pair of decent shoes?
Review: This movie was a travesty of Hitchcockian devices. Old Alfred would roll in his grave. The acting was wooden, the dialogue cliched and predictable and not very convincing (wouldn't a Freudian analyst have recognized the flower arranging dream case study right away?) Bassinger looks like she's been on too many meds, with her bloated face and more-than-normally squinted eyes. Nor can she play a psychotic with any zest: when she lost it in the restaraunt in her husband's presence, running up the stairs and proceeding to yell and flail, I felt embarrassed for her. If I had more space I could go on, but I want to end with one burning question; Why the hell didn't the wardrobe mistress give Bassinger a decent pair of stilleto pumps to at least wear with her slinky black backless dress, if she insisted on outfitting her through the whole movie with dopey little flats?
Rating:
Summary: Good movie -- bad DVD
Review: This thriller was always an extremely entertaining Hitchcock knockoff (nothing at all like Basic Instinct, despite the other reviews here) -- if you could buy Gere as a therapist, and that's not hard, since he's not playing a *smart* therapist -- but a lot of the charm of the movie was how gorgeous it was visually, and this DVD does not give you the gorgeous anarmorphic widescreen picture you expect from a DVD. It's formatted to fit your (square) screen. I would much rather have paid 20 bucks for the expected widescreen version -- since I already had the VHS, this wasn't even worth 10. (Yes, I admit I should have read the product description more carefully, but I didn't realize people were releasing widescreen movies on DVD without a widescreen option -- why should they, for crying out loud? -- so I got blindsided. I post this to warn others like myself.)
Rating: 
Summary: A TASTY BASIC INSTINCT KNOCK OFF
Review: This video came out shortly after Basic Instinct and tries to bask in it's glow... a lot of plot twists and turns, tricks on the audience and sexual tension.But since it has R.Gere and a fresh Kim B. it still rocks. There's some funky "NYPD Blue" type characters - Gere's atty and the Detective after his a-s. One very clean romantic scene with Gere and Basinger and one twisted implied sex scene btw Gere and her wacko hubby - Eric Roberts. I actually think it's a great movie. It'll put any normal girl in the mood. Lots of surprise, suspense action and romance. The D
Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: very goo
Rating:
Summary: DVD is a Disgrace to the Original Film
Review: WARNING: This DVD is in 1.33 aspect ration, so you won't see the same film as the one in the theater. If you have a widescreen tv or 16:9 projection screen you'll have black bars on the left & right sides of your screen that will make this DVD look like a "TV Movie". Visually this was a stunning film, shot by one of the greatest cinematographers - Jordan Cronenwenth who also filmed BLADERUNNER, STOP MAKING SENSE, etc. It is such a disservice to him and the film to NOT release this as an anamorphic widescreen DVD so the homeviewer can enjoy the great visuals. WARNER Bros., we'll rather pay a little more, and get quality! 4 stars for the film, 1 star for the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: DVD is a Disgrace to the Original Film
Review: WARNING: This DVD is in 1.33 aspect ration, so you won't see the same film as the one in the theater. If you have a widescreen tv or 16:9 projection screen you'll have black bars on the left & right sides of your screen that will make this DVD look like a "TV Movie". Visually this was a stunning film, shot by one of the greatest cinematographers - Jordan Cronenwenth who also filmed BLADERUNNER, STOP MAKING SENSE, etc. It is such a disservice to him and the film to NOT release this as an anamorphic widescreen DVD so the homeviewer can enjoy the great visuals. WARNER Bros., we'll rather pay a little more, and get quality! 4 stars for the film, 1 star for the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD ACTING, HARE-BRAINED SCRIPT
Review: Was it two love triangles, or three? Difficult to tell in this twistathon psychological thriller that couldn't resist the tempation of ending in your customary lighthouse sequence on an inclement night with the hero hanging by his fingernails high above the lashing tides below.
Long after you've forgiven the newly discovered condition of Pathological Intoxication (one I'm convinced the director suffered from) which causes the sufferer to go berserk after so much as touching alcohol, you will recognize that the chemistry of Basinger and Gere and Therman, and permutations thereof, is great, but the plot soon puts on maillots and starts twisting like an immigrant ballerina.
Take copious notes when you watch it, which you must, if only for some excellent acting especially by Eric Roberts as a mean millionaire. You may emerge dazed or goofy, convinced that you've seen a humdinger, but you won't be able to describe it so it won't hurt all that much.
Rating:
Summary: Truly awful, but why?
Review: With this truly awful movie, the challenge is figuring out just why. How can a movie with such a promising, suspenseful start become laugh-out-loud, unintentionally, funny?
Every movie must create and inhabit a consistent universe. That universe could have a day-to-day, this is really happening quality. Like your typical Alfred Hitchcock movie. Or, that universe could be more fanciful, with improbable cliffhanger events. Like your typical Arnold Schwartzenager or Harrison Ford movie. When you try to switch from one to the other in midstream, you get that unintentionally funny quality.
The movie begins with a realistic psychiatrist/patient relationship between Richard Gere and Ulma Thurman. The focus quickly shifts to a psychiatrist/patient's sister relationship (Kim Bassinger). That's a little strain on the credibility meter. Falling in love with a patient's sister? Not generally a good idea, but we'll give the story the benefit of the doubt.
Halfway through, we get the Hitchockian twist. Things are not really as they seem. I was caught off guard. Impressive so far. But the credibility meter is getting a little strained. Didn't anyone see Richard and Kim hanging out together on, say, the night of the crime? Didn't anyone realize the accused woman's sister was in therapy with Mr. Gere? Wouldn't that have been relevant for the trial?
Ah, but we're only a bit over an hour into the movie. More time to kill. Time to drag our poor psychiatrist into a Schartzenager/Ford universe. Frame him with some ridiculous barbel nonsense that he could easily dispense with by. . . surprise . . . telling the truth! No, that would be too simple. Let's throw in an improbable escape from the mental institution, an even more improbable rendevouz with the clever cop and the escapee at a dock and lighthouse, and a few life-and-death close calls at said lighthouse. Let's turn Richard from a psychiatrist into an action hero, and Kim from an abused wife into a clever schemer and gun-wielding gangster to boot. Give everyone the best of both worlds. While we're at it, let's make Alfred Hitchock roll over in his grave by shamelessly copying his tricks?
Shifting from one universe to another in midstream. That's what humor is all about.
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