Rating: 
Summary: Great movie
Review: This is a great movie. The story, the acting, and the sexual connotations in this movie are all very interesting. Once you start watching, you won't be able to stop. (Even though I do like this movie, I do think that the DVD could have been better. The picture quality is pretty weak!)In any event, the story is very erotic. In fact, I almost blew.......... when Sharon Stone crossed her legs! Anyway, I highly recommend this movie to all adults.
Rating: 
Summary: "See" it for the first time
Review: The "pro" and "con" positions regarding this movie have been pretty well staked out over time. But for all the volumes that have been written about it, nobody ever seems to recognize the film for what it REALLY is -- a loving homage to Alfred Hitchcock from a loyal disciple. Watch it from this perspective and "see" it for the first time. (Had HE lived to see it, I say the master could ONLY have been impressed!)
Rating: 
Summary: Very Poor Quality DVD Mastering
Review: I doubt that Artisan even bothered to remaster this DVD release -- it looks like it was either 1) taken directly from the Laserdisc master or (and most likely) 2) taken from a general release print (not the original print) of the movie. What a shame -- Artisan usually produces some great DVD packages, but not this time. Save your . . . money. . . and wait until a better DVD transfer hits the shelves...
Rating: 
Summary: Infamous, entertaining, and outta gas.
Review: "Basic Instinct" earned its reputation as a scorchingly explicit sex thriller that catapulted Sharon Stone to stardom. It also paved the way for the flood of faceless, interchangeable direct-to-video (and cable) femme fatale movies that currently clutter up the shelves and channel-waves. Coming back to the original amost ten years later, it's strange to see how a movie so broad, almost farcically so, could ever be so controversial. The plot's typically overheated stuff: A troubled homicide detective (Michael Douglas) investigates the icepick murder of an arrogant rock star and winds up beating a path to the door of a sultry bisexual thriller novelist (Stone). Her books are eerie presagings of the murder. Pretty soon the detective is neck-deep in both the murders and the woman, and there's an assortment of sexual acrobatics, car chases, assorted violent happenings, red herrings, and twist endings (plural) to spice things up. I would be lying if I said the film wasn't entertaining. It's put together with great technical assurance, and was helmed by "RoboCop" director Paul Verhoeven, no stranger to pushing the limits of American audiences. What's annoying and frustrating about the movie, however, is how it is in some ways remarkably un-Verhoeven-esque. It flirts with using all of this as brutal and intelligent material for satire, but it winds up taking its stupid, machine-made plot seriously instead. There were moments when I though "Basic Instinct" was going to turn into a sly commentary on its subjects -- such as the now-infamous police interrogation scene (with its immortal line, "What are you going to do, charge me with smoking?"). But it never quite achieves takeoff. Instead, it becomes the filmed equivalent of a magazine puzzle: it holds your attention until all the pieces are in place, and then it's just thrown aside. Irritating Point Two: There's no real conclusion. The ending, which contains not one but TWO surprise twists, is a slap in the face: the whole story has been completely arbitrary. Every clue in the film could be read two ways. This isn't fascinating; it's annoying. It feels like everyone involved wanted to hedge their bets as long as possible. Third, and most obvious, is the film's way of using lesbianism and bisexuality as spice for a basically mundane thriller story. There is no real point, aside from the inclusion of a total red herring, to have Stone's character have a female lover. Except, of course, to provide cheap Hefner-level titillation for the men in the audience (and maybe some of the women, if that's their kink, I guess). The most irritating thing about "Basic Instinct" is how it has somehow managed to survive its core ephemerality. It's just not that big of a deal, but I guess an unscripted no-panties shot of the lead actress goes a long way. POSTSCRIPT: Thank God "Basic Instinct 2" has been cancelled.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Movie of All Time
Review: Basic Instinct is my favorite movie of all time. When I saw it in the store on DVD, I was shocked, happy, and even happier when I saw the less-than-ten-dollars price tag. Then I thought, wait...you get what you pay for, especially with DVDs...but when I got home and watched it, I was pleasantly surprised. Don't let the "Widescreen Review" fool you...the picture quality is not that bad on this DVD. It's actually pretty good for a bargain bin disc. Yes, fleshtones seem a bit redder than normal, but it's not distracting at all. The DVD has both fullscreen and widescreen versions of the movie. Avoid the full screen version...pan & scan does not work well with "Basic Instinct." Even if you aren't a big fan of those "black bars," watch it widescreen anyway. I do wish this DVD contained the director's cut of the film, but soon enough, I'm sure, we'll be treated to a special edition...Buy this DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: Wait for a remastered Director's Cut DVD
Review: Picture quality is substandard. It's certainly not worth the retail price... Even freeze-framing and slow-mo-ing Sharon Stone's infamous "beaver" scene gets old after a while.
Rating:
Summary: Yuck!
Review: This movie did more to bring back the stereotype of the "evil sexual woman" than any movie in the 20th century. Honestly, I thought that kind of narrow-mindedness went out with puritanism. This movie is even worse--sexual women are evil AND violent. When was the last time you saw a male character where his badness or goodness had anything to do with his sexuality? The message here, clearly, is that women are not to be trusted with power. Hollywood ought to give up the pretense that it has any liberal values at all.
Rating:
Summary: Basically in-stinks
Review: One of the many sex-can-kill-you thrillers of the 80s and 90s, this one is particularly lame and offensive. The ending alone should invalidate anything worthy that precedes it. Is she or isn't she? When it becomes clear that even the screenwriter (Joe the Hutt) doesn't know, and doesn't care, and only wants to leave room for a sequel, the cynicism becomes palpable. The whole thing is an unintentional joke (sort of like Stone claiming she didn't know where the camera was positioned in the interrogation scene). Everything backfires -- even Stone's presumed sexuality is undermined by Tripplehorn's vastly superior looks and talent. If you want to see a good sex-equals-death thriller, check out "Sea of Love." Ellen Barkin makes Sharon Stone look like amateur night.
Rating:
Summary: Sexy Suspense
Review: At the time when »Basic Instinct« was released, it was nearly controversial. Censorship had cut out some 'offensive' scenes, let some other, much more explicit scenes stay in the movie, and once again reached the result that censorship always leads to: Much more talk about the movie, and many more people rushing to the theaters, than if censorship had just let the movie be. Today, we've seen it all. Nude actresses (and actors!) is the rule rather than the exception to the rule. However, »Basic Instinct« remains a catching movie! Not because of the so-called explicity. No, it's more the story, really. The structure. The suspense. The mystery. I must have seen it 10 or 15 times by now, and I still haven't figured out for sure who the killer actually is! This is not due to an unclear writing of the script, in contrary, I think that's exactly what the makers want us viewers to wonder about. »Basic Instinct« is a brilliant thriller. So don't watch it just for the sex, 'cause there's much much more to it than that!
Rating:
Summary: Basically In-stank
Review: NASTY! This is quite a gem; fine acting AND an excellent screenplay. Sharon Stone is a genius. The scene in the interogation rookm was especially well written.
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