1/5 basic instinct
  by L. maphies (everett pa.)
no review would would not play in blu- ray player. Helena mt

4/5 Beyond good and evil...
  by Edmonson (Canada)
I had not seen this film in years, but it certainly looks good on blu-ray. This film has been remastered and it looks fabulous. It also comes with commentary by noted author Camille Paglia, and a documentary about the making of the film. One thing that struck me after not seeing this film for so many years was the beauty of the scenes that are set around San Francisco. This film is also a homage to Alfred Hitchcock, with many of the shots referring back to one of Paul Verhoeven's favorite movies, Vertigo, with shots looking down spiral staircases, or the characters often being shown near edges of cliffs, such as when they are traveling by car.

But what struck me most of all about the film was the animal sexual rawness found in the film. The characters appear to be acting out their basic instincts, and moving beyond the normal codes of society. Catherine (Sharon Stone) is a tigress, a sexual predator, who is interested in sex for its own sake, not for procreation. She's not interested in settling down and having a family. It is only when Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) mentions that he's not interested in having children that Catherine apparently backs off from using the ice pick on him. She's also bisexual, as she is shown to have many partners, male and female, which again reiterates her freedom from society's common notions about what is right or wrong. She lives in a society that urges its members to create stable family units that can then be useful in creating a stable, conforming society. But she doesn't conform, she has no boundaries, she is beyond good and evil. She engages with those around her, manipulating and doing as she pleases. This is a highly entertaining film that holds up over time because it does push the envelope and continue to challenge the viewer on various levels.

4/5 basic ice pick
  by Magier (virginia)
the ice pick at the end is not like the others. this movie is not like the others, esp not basic 2, which sucks the grand cahuula big time. beautiful scenery, beautiful people, beautiful writting, in a pervert-directed movie which makes everybody's list as best 10, or best 100, or best 1000, depending on what you are gathering together. sharon stone very gifted and very beautiful.
razor sharp film worth keeping and watching again time after time, like all the great ones, at least once every five years. evil women, men who are not whimps and therefore do not die of natural causes, and views into the very rich who are more fun to look at, and who live in better settings, often along the water.
it's too bad more women do not review this film, or films like it, because every man will own this movie one day, and perhaps only every third woman. but maybe not.
i was hoping rush limbaugh would play gus in basic instinct three, but after two, we all gave up.
i recommend this adventure to all who have realized an instinct or two sometime in the recent past...........

4/5 The best version of BI released, but not a quantum leap
  by Marvin Gozum (Phila, PA USA)
There are a plethora of reviews of the movie, but my review is a comparison of the BD vs DVD version. The BD version is by far, the best version released. The video can be described as being cleaner, but not the eye popping sharpness one sees in other BD releases compared to their similar DVD versions. I cannot be sure this is from a generally soft focus used by cinematography or sub-par digital mastering. Audio has superior imaging and dynamic range. Some detail revealed is far greater and somewhat of a let down such as Ms. Stone's makeup is excessive, she is far more attractive in her 'audition' reels shown on the BD extras.


5/5 Here's the scoop on the UNRATED version and more
  by Steve T. (Glendale, CA USA)
Well, after much exhaustive work and buying three different DVD's of this film at Amazon, four have been produced so far bye-the-way. As a reviewer said earlier the ASIN: B00005N919 on Amazon as 'Basic Instinct (Collector's Edition - Unrated) (1992)' is the version with the deleted scenes that the Director was forced to cut from the theatrical release back in 1992. I have added a couple of pictures of the copy (3rd and 4th customer pictures in the picture list by me) that I received from a seller under the product ASIN: B00005N919, of the DVD case front and back with notes added for explaination. By-the-way, there is no main picture on Amazon for this particular version of the DVD, only customer pictures and this is defineately the version to buy. This DVD did come with the 'Ice Pick' and is still called a Special Edition because of that Ice Pick (pen) included. I also bought another copy with ASIN: B000E5N684 and the Amazon title of 'Basic Instinct - Director's Cut (Ultimate Edition) (1992)' and that has a Sharon Stone interview (recently) added to it and is the last DVD copy (non blu-Ray) to be made. I watched this version also and because it says Director's Cut and Unrated on the lower bottom part of the DVD case, it does have the left out scenes that were deleted in the theatrical release also. The other one I bought ASIN: B00005N91B also came with the Ice Pick, but it only say's Special Edition on the DVD, this does not include the cut scenes in the theatrical release, but is a Special Edition because of the Ice Pick (pen). Another reviewer did talk about the extra scenes in the UNRATED versions and what they include, so I will not go into that, just see his review for that info. I hope this helps clarify the many different releases of this DVD that I have found so far here at Amazon.

Also for you that do not know what an ASIN is, here you go:
All items in the Amazon catalog are identified by 10-digit ASINs (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers). The ASIN search tool on their site is able to search for items by ASIN. Amazon assigns these ASIN numbers, it helps them to ship the correct item.