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Fatal Attraction - Special Collector's Edition

Fatal Attraction - Special Collector's Edition

List Price: $14.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Almost
Review: Except for the final scene (which I suspect was "borrowed" from Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diabolique), this is a solid film. In it, Director Adrian Lyne examines the consequences of a one-night affair involving two very attractive people, Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) who is single and Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) who is married and a parent of young children. While Beth Gallagher (Anne Archer, also "borrowed," from Jack Ryan) and the children are visiting her mother, Dan unexpectedly finds himself having drinks and then dinner with Alex. They feel an immediate and powerful sexual attraction to each other. Later, they spend the night in her loft apartment. Insofar as he's concerned, it was a memorable night, thanks ever so much, but that's it. Alex reacts differently, at first asking and then demanding that they continue the relationship. She even claims to be pregnant and at one point attempts suicide. Of course, all this is not what Dan had in mind but Alex forces him to recognize the significance of his adultery.

The acting is consistently strong but the screenplay allows for almost no character development, nor are the nature and extent of Alex's psychological problems ever revealed or even explored. Obviously, she is lonely and delusional as well as envious of the lifestyle Beth and Dan share. Only an actor possessed of Glenn Close's talents and temperament could reveal (albeit only in brief moments) Alex's tenderness which helps to explain her vulnerability to both real and perceived grievances. After seeing the film again, I still think the final scene in the upstairs bathroom doesn't work. In fact, I think it detracts from the narrative development which precedes it. On balance, however, Fatal Attraction offers solid entertainment even as it raises (at least in my mind) questions about the two main characters and their relationship which, for whatever reasons, Lyne and/or his screenwriters do not address in the film.

Hence my interest in the special features provided with the DVD version. They include a commentary by Lyne, "Forever Fatal: Remembering 'Fatal Attraction'" (which offers new, exclusive cast and crew interviews), "Social Attraction" (an analysis of the cultural phenomenon of a fatal attraction), "Visual Attraction" (a behind-the-scenes production featurette), rehearsal footage, and the alternate ending introduced by Lyne.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic movie, intense.
Review: This movie is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Michael Douglas and Glenn Close give life to this stylish, sexy and famous movie that was nominated for 6 Academy Awards.
The story is about a man named Dan (Douglas) who is happily married with a 6 year old son. And one day he meets Alex (Close) in a party and few days after when Michael's wife goes to the country with their son. Dan meats again Alex again in a meeting and they have an intense affair during those days.
It was all meant to finish there, as an affair but Alex falls helplessly in love with Dan and doesn't want to let him go.
Dan's wife returns from the country and he refuses to answer Alex's phone calls and messages but Alex is desperate to see him again and she even cut her veins to make him stay. The whole nightmare starts there and Alex won't stop until Dan belongs to her...
You will be watching this movie without closing your eyes beacuse it's full of suspence.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You'll Talk About It Now As They Did Back Then!
Review: One of the best things about this DVD is a featurette that looks back on the cultural impact of "Fatal Attraction" and reaction to such back in the late 80's, particularly in regards to the feminist movement. Equally valuable is the inclusion of the originally filmed ending that had to be re-shot due to poor test screenings. Watching it, it is easy to understand why the new ending was more viewer-friendly than its artistically superior predecessor. In essence, you get to be the judge. All in all though, this is a good edition of one of the most popular and talked about Hollywood thrillers of the last twenty years. The story of what happens when a casual one-night stand destroys the life of one man and his innocent family is the sort of stuff that most will find intriguing for ages to come. It is definitely a film that prompts conversation and discussion after viewing it. Taut, albeit being somewhat formulaic and predictable, the movie benefits from an all out performance by Glenn Close as the notorious "other woman" with a Madame Butterfly complex (the latter is explored more on the original ending). This role was certainly a high point of Close's career, and rightly so. In retrospect, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Hearing her speak about it in the included interviews fifteen years later is very interesting, especially when it comes to her not-so-subltle defense of the original ending. The controversy lives on!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This Ain't Fiction
Review: I always thought this film was totally unrealistic, just WAY too over the top in its presentation of the Alex Forrest character. Her initial little quirks, her escalating manipulation, her ultimate eruption into wholesale psychosis -- I lalways thought, "Oh pshaw, this is a cartoon! This is a movie-writer's concoction!"

And then: It happened to me (though not exactly the same circumstances... we both were single). I met a genuine borderline personality disorder, and that person behaved EXACTLY like Alex Forrest (though stopping short of rabbit boiling and knife violence). I watched the film again later, and was astounded at how well the details of borderline personality disorder were captured, the self-delusion, the emotional coercion, the complete disintegration of logic and final loss of control.

This is a great movie. And believe me, there really are people with all the tools (or lack thereof) necessary for becoming Alex Forrest in real life.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Where's my wedding ring?
Review: Let's face it: we're guys. Wandering eyes. A perceptive inclination to gander at a short skirt, a hint of cleavage, a heart-pounding hip wiggle. I ran smack dab into a door the last time I gawked, but consider myself darn lucky compared to Michael Douglas' character in FATAL ATTRACTION--a white-knuckled "don't-let-this-happen-to-you" thriller that vividly demonstrates what can happen to a guy when he lets other parts of his anatomy do his thinking for him.

Manhattan lawyer Dan Gallagher (Douglas) has it all: successful career, attractive wife, loving daughter. So why not have an extramarital fling with a woman he met at a party while the family is out of town? Sure. Just a one-night stand. No harm, no foul. But there's something very "foul" about Dan's partner in crime, because blonde Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) may have all the right moves in the sack, but she also has an elevator that doesn't go all the way to the top. So when Dan wants to shake hands and part company, Alex will have none of it, and the table is set for a one-way ticket to Looney Land.

Let the stalking. . .the suspense. . .the thrills and chills. . .begin. The bathroom scene, in which Dan's frazzled wife Beth (Anne Archer) wipes the steam off the mirror, is worth the price of purchase of this video alone.

Director Adrian Lyne (as usual) delivers a gripping, antacid-popping story. The only positive in FATAL ATTRACTION was the fact all this bad stuff happened to an attorney. Like, how sad. I'd like to write more, but I hear the wife calling--something about all the hair in the sink. Don't want to get her riled.
--D. Mikels

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Classic Suspense Thriller.
Review: When a successful lawyer (Two Time Oscar-Winner:Micheal Douglas), who works for a Publisher Business company. Which Dan is a loving husband, a caring wife (Oscar-Nominated:Anne Archer), and thier little girl (Ellen Hamilton Latzen). Dan decides to have a weekend fling with an attractive woman (Oscar-Nominated:Glenn Close). When that weekend is over, the woman, she had an affair with Dan, she decides to stalk him and his family. She will do anything to have and to scare his family.

Directed by Adrian Lyne (Flashdance, Foxes, Indecent Proposal) made a strong erotic drama, which is cleverly well made by the director, which he received an Oscar Nominated for Best Director.
This has three terrific performances by the leads. This was the highest grossing film of 1987. This is based on a stage play by James Dearden (Rogue Trader), which he recieved an Oscar Nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. The only thing has changed his screenplay is the Original Ending-which is actually does tribute to the popular stage play-Madam Butterfly-which is alivable on Video and DVD. This was also Oscar Nominated for Best Film Editing and Best Director. This is One of the best Thrillers of the late Eighties. It's a Excellent Film. Grade:A.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What a DVD should be...
Review: Inexpensive, awesome DVD package of the classic suspense drama. Attention, studios: Take a lesson from whoever put this one together for Paramount. It not only is a great screener of the 5 star film, but it has all the bonus features you want from a DVD, with ample participation from the talented cast and crew.

A definite must have for your movie collection. I bet you'll prefer the director's original ending, too....even as satisfying as the other one is!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Utterly Rattling
Review: With a hefty six Academy Award Nominations under its belt, Fatal Attraction is one of the most effective and intriguing thrillers ever made to date. Becoming a big hit in 1987 and years to come, Fatal Attraction crossed boundaries that film did not dare to cross in earlier years and caused this to be one of the most talked about films ever. With Adrian Lyne fresh of the FLASHDACE success, the direction makes this first so much better and more of a eye feast with everthing placed so logically. Many thrillers now have hints of ideas used in Fatal Attraction in them. Fatal Attraction was more than just a groundbreaking box-office hit.

Michael Douglas (giving an amazing performance) stars as Dan, a man married to a wonderful wife and father to a joyous daughter, who has dinner with a woman after a job meeting on the weekend when his wife goes to look at a new house. The woman, a stylish and sexy Glenn Close (who gives a nail-bittingly astonishing performance) whose character's name is Alex, first sees Dan at a book party when they have a quick chat together at the bar. When at dinner Alex begins to bring up the idea that they are two lonely adults both looking for some fun, and the next thing we know they are in the apartment.

After this one-night stand, Dan returns home to a call that his wife is staying another night because she could not go see the house. With another night of no wife, Dan gets a call from Alex who persudes Dan to spend another night with her. After contemplating another night of doing his relationship wrong, Dan goes back to Alex. Later in the film, Dan tries to shrug Alex away from him, but Alex will not feel like a "slut that Dan can bang when he feels". Now the terror begins. A loving father and a loving husband who has an affair tries to get back into a normal family life but the thought of Alex always searching for him and the thought of her being able to tell his wife whenever she gets in a bad mood, frightens him.

With chills and intrigument galore, Fatal Attraction turns into a mindblowing plot twister. The cast is fantastic, with career roles for both Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. Director Adrian Lyne shows an understanding of how to turn the visual screws with his camera movement and angles. Fatal Attraction turned out to be steep competition for all films and thrillers made in the years following. With both critical and movie-goer praise, this film seemed to impress all who watched.

The DVD includes over three hours of bonus material that includes the following: Commentary Track, Featurette, Rehearsal Footage of both Michael Douglas and Glenn Close, Alternate Ending, and the Theatrical Trailer. Whether you've seen this film or plan on seeing it, you will agree with me that this film is an ultimate thriller.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: High Infidelity
Review: The movie that had every married couple second guessing their spouse's actions and reactions...Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a loving family man and attorney, who has a one night stand while his wife (Anne Archer) is out of town. Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) is the other woman, who can't get Dan out of her system, even after he ends the affair. Director Adrian Lyne examines the subject of marriage and fidelity with candor and intensity. The performances from all of the lead actors in the movie are very well done. Even though the film was made in the 80s, because of its everyday subject matter, and the fact that 50% of all U.S. marriages still end in divorce, its story remains topical. The tension that builds as the film unfolds, is very real, and almost palpable.

The Collector's Edition DVD has a retrospective documentary that offers some nice tid-bits about what went into making the film. There is a pretty good production featurette, a rather so so commentary with Lyne, and of course the controversial alternate ending. I had seen this other ending once before on a prior VHS release of the film and my opinion hasn't changed since that time.. I think they both work well for different reasons. However, if I had to pick a favorite of the two, I would say that the alternate ending works a bit better than the theatrical version. Paramount has produced a good DVD for one of the most memorable thrillers of the last 20 years.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You'll Talk About It Now As They Did Back Then!
Review: One of the best things about this DVD is a featurette that looks back on the cultural impact of "Fatal Attraction" and reaction to such back in the late 80's, particularly in regards to the feminist movement. Equally valuable is the inclusion of the originally filmed ending that had to be re-shot due to poor test screenings. Watching it, it is easy to understand why the new ending was more viewer-friendly than its artistically superior predecessor. In essence, you get to be the judge. All in all though, this is a good edition of one of the most popular and talked about Hollywood thrillers of the last twenty years. The story of what happens when a casual one-night stand destroys the life of one man and his innocent family is the sort of stuff that most will find intriguing for ages to come. It is definitely a film that prompts conversation and discussion after viewing it. Taut, albeit being somewhat formulaic and predictable, the movie benefits from an all out performance by Glenn Close as the notorious "other woman" with a Madame Butterfly complex (the latter is explored more on the original ending). This role was certainly a high point of Close's career, and rightly so. In retrospect, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role. Hearing her speak about it in the included interviews fifteen years later is very interesting, especially when it comes to her not-so-subltle defense of the original ending. The controversy lives on!


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