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Basic Instinct (released March 20, 1992) is an American erotic mystery film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. It stars Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas, Jeanne Tripplehorn and George Dzundza.
The film was highly successful upon release, becoming one of the highest grossing films of 1992, and due to its major success, has been spoofed countless times in television and film.
Basic Instinct
Portrayal of homosexuals
NC-17 rating
Trivia
Sequel
| | Name | Basic Instinct | | image |  | | Caption | US movie poster of Basic Instinct | | Writer | Joe Eszterhas | | Starring | Michael Douglas
Sharon Stone
George Dzu... | | Director | Paul Verhoeven | | Producer | Mario Kassar
Alan Marshall | | Music | Jerry Goldsmith | | Distributor | TriStar Pictures | | Released | March 20, 1992 (United States | | Runtime | 123 minutes | | Language | English | | Budget | $49,000,000 (estimated) | | Imdb Id | 0103772 | | Followed By | Basic Instinct 2 |
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Portrayal of homosexuals
The film was controversial due to its overt sexuality and graphic violence—a characteristic found in many of Verhoeven's movies—and was protested by gay rights activists who felt that the film followed a pattern of negative depiction of gay and lesbian people in the film industry. This April 29, 1991 Los Angeles Times article documents activists' protests, and the book Family Values: Two Moms and Their Son by Phyllis Burke (New York: Random House, 1993. ISBN 0-679-42188-2) covers the protests over several chapters. The film also received criticism from those who feel it portrays bisexuals as insatiable, untrustworthy, and homicidal (in the film, Tramell is an openly bisexual woman). Outspoken lesbian writer Camille Paglia, however, has not only defended Basic Instinct, but called it her "favorite film", even providing an audio commentary track on the DVD release.
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NC-17 rating
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The film was nearly assigned an NC-17 rating by the MPAA; this was again because of the nudity, overt sexuality and graphic violence. One scene in particular was cited as the reason for the rating. At one point in the film, Sharon Stone's character is interrogated by a panel of police officers, all of them male. During the scene, Stone uncrosses and then re-crosses her legs. The camera angle allowed the audience to briefly get a glimpse up Stone's skirt, which showed that she was not wearing any underwear. The lighting setup allowed the audience to get a reasonably clear view of Stone's genitalia.
The movie was eventually edited to receive an "R" rating for its U.S. release with other sex scenes in the film also edited to reduce the level of explicitness. In the end, 42 seconds were cut. The unedited version was released in the rest of the world. Years later, the "Unrated" edition of the film was released in VHS and Laserdisc, then later on DVD in the U.S., with the removed images restored.
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Trivia
Screenplay sold for $3 million, the highest bid for a spec screenplay at the time.
The up-skirt leg-crossing shot was copied directly from the 1965 Avengers episode titled "Two's a crowd".
Sharon Stone, still a relative unknown until the success of this movie, was paid $500,000 for her role as Catherine Tramell.
The unidentified blonde in the opening scenes of the movie is actually Sharon Stone and not a body double or another actress. She was identified by name by Paul Verhoeven in the audio commentary track of the DVD.
Paul Verhoeven initially fought for a lesbian love scene to be added to the script over the objection of Joe Eszterhas, who thought such a scene would be gratuitous. Verhoeven eventually agreed with Eszterhas and apologized to him for forcing the issue.
According to initial storyboards of the love scene between Nick and Catherine in Catherine's apartment, the scene would have been even longer and more explicit than the version finally shot and included in the movie. The stars and director thought the sexual acrobatics were too long and extreme to be believed and the scene was scaled back to the existing version.
The unrated laserdisc edition released by Pioneer has a different commentary track from Paul Verhoeven than the unrated DVD released by Artisan/Lions Gate, due to licensing issues.
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Sequel
After many years of false starts and legal battles, in April 2005 production began in London, England on a sequel to Basic Instinct, (Basic Instinct 2). None of the original cast and crew returned except for Sharon Stone and Mario Kassar. This film was released on March 31, 2006, to critical disdain.
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