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Basic Instinct (1992)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
20 March 1992 (USA) moreTagline:
A brutal murder. A brilliant killer. A cop who can't resist the danger. morePlot:
A police detective is in charge of the investigation of a brutal murder, in which a beautiful and seductive woman could be involved. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 16 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(154 articles)
Zac Efron Gets Sexay (From Cinematical. 24 June 2009, 8:03 AM, PDT)
Dolls outfits recreate iconic movie costumes
(From BoxWish. 17 June 2009, 4:24 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Thriller which achieves screen magic of the golden age. moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Michael Douglas | ... | Detective Nick Curran | |
| Sharon Stone | ... | Catherine Tramell | |
| George Dzundza | ... | Gus | |
| Jeanne Tripplehorn | ... | Dr. Beth Garner | |
| Denis Arndt | ... | Lieutenant Walker | |
| Leilani Sarelle | ... | Roxy | |
| Bruce A. Young | ... | Andrews | |
| Chelcie Ross | ... | Captain Talcott | |
| Dorothy Malone | ... | Hazel Dobkins | |
| Wayne Knight | ... | John Correli | |
| Daniel von Bargen | ... | Lieutenant Nilsen (as Daniel Von Bargen) | |
| Stephen Tobolowsky | ... | Dr. Lamott | |
| Benjamin Mouton | ... | Harrigan | |
| Jack McGee | ... | Sheriff | |
| Bill Cable | ... | Johnny Boz |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Basic Instinct (France)Ice Cold Desire (Singapore: English title) (censored version)
Love Hurts (USA) (working title)
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MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence and sensuality, and for drug use and language.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
127 min | USA:128 min (unrated version)Language:
EnglishColour:
Colour (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
Malaysia:(Banned) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2001) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) (also director's cut) (Canadian Home Video rating) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Singapore:PG (video rating) (heavily cut) | USA:R (#31380) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) (2007) | Finland:K-16 (video rating) (cut) (1992) | Finland:K-18 (theatrical rating) (1992) | Singapore:R(A) (cut) (1992) | Hungary:18 | India:A | Brazil:18 | Israel:18 (video rating) | Israel:X (original rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Norway:15 (DVD rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Belgium:KNT | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (also director's cut) | Chile:18 | France:-12 (re-rating) | France:-16 (original rating) | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Mexico:C | Iceland:16Fun Stuff
Goofs:
Continuity: Catherine's cigarette and hairstyle at the police station. moreQuotes:
[Nick just had rough sex with Beth]Beth Garner: You've never been like that before. Why?
Nick: You tell me, you're the shrink.
Beth Garner: You weren't making love to me!
Nick: Well, who was I making love to?
Beth Garner: You weren't making love at all.
more
Soundtrack:
Rave The Rhythm moreFAQ
What are the differences between the theatrical version and the Unrated Director's Cut?I think I saw Sharon Stone's vagina. Am I seeing things?
What is the film playing in the background on TV that Nick is watching?
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Paul Verhoeven has created a masterwork from Joe Eszterhas' controversial script. Several sex scenes become a leitmotif, as the participants appear to pummel, rather than love, one another with their nether parts. But the most rugged and the most erotic scene occurs between Detective Nick Curran, Michael Douglas, and his colleague, Beth Garner, portrayed by Jeanne Tripplehorn. He throws her against a wall and then against the back of a chesterfield. That is only the foreplay. In this film sex is violence, and that is Verhoeven's theme.
But there is more. Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell has a beautiful blonde form in that Beach Boy / California girl manner. She plays her 'flashing' scene in the police interrogation room with wit and a touch of class. Throughout the film she is arch, intelligent, electric. Her foil, Nick Curran, a troubled detective, realizes she might be a murderer, but finds her personality and her allure, irresistible. Douglas' performance is driven, masculine, affecting ... yet he would be well advised to keep his trousers on henceforth, for his sagging bottom is simply too comical.
There are several echoes of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (58). Both pictures have as a setting the picturesque San Francisco area. Jerry Goldsmith's music recalls Bernard Herrmann's symphonic score. The stairwell in Curran's apartment building resembles the vertiginous staircase of the Mission bell tower. And as with Hitchcock the dialogue is often simultaneously risque and humorous, although more vulgar in keeping with the tenor of modern times.
Eszterhas' script is carefully crafted, and it does not cheat. Life proves ambiguous at many levels, and so does art. The mystery is dark; the action, including a car chase, thrills; and the locale continually shifts, from a cop station to Catherine's lovely seaside house to a colorful bar where Catherine's jealous female lover and Curran engage in a sensual battle for her charms.
Day, night, sun, rain, streets, highways, scenery, ocean, sex, emotion, confrontations, death ... the film envelops everything, perhaps even love. Here, Verhoeven, Eszterhas, Douglas, Stone, have achieved some screen magic of the past.