Basic Instinct was one of the most in your face movies of the ‘90s so it is fitting for a 4K UHD. It has been available before but the new Lionsgate Limited edition Steelbook is my first time viewing it in the format.
The bright, sunny streets of San Francisco (see what I did there?) take you right back to 1992, before everyone had cell phones. The coast is beautiful too for the intense curvy car chase trying to tail Catherine Trammel (Sharon Stone), as well as questioning her at magic hour at her beach house.
At night in cars and bedrooms, deep pockets of shadows intensify the cat and mouse game. The nighttime car chase proceeds through dead spots in the light, increasing the tension. Even some of those scenes jn the police station looking up criminal records on old computers are still moody.
Surrpund sound is mainly for that score as it builds up to the stabbing, and fakes you out in other sex scenes. Rain and club music also fill the rear speaker.
Basic Instinct has also had many, many home video editions and much of that is still available. New to this edition is a 2020 TCM documentary in which Stone is quite vulnerable about her insecurities and traumas about playing Catherine. Another is an appreciation of the Jerry Goldsmith score.