Basic Instinct

WORK – Behind the fighting, the crime is there!

Nick Curran, police inspector in San Francisco, investigates the murder of a rock star, Johnny Boz, killed thirty-one ice picks by a stranger while he was in love. Nick learns that the singer was dating Catherine Tramell, a rich and brilliant novelist. During his investigation, he found that Catherine's parents had died in a suspicious accident, that her psychology teacher had been murdered ten years earlier by ice picks, and that in 1956 one of her best friends had killed her three children and her husband.

With absolute and morally ambiguous efficiency, this unpredictable, non-consensual, sulfurous thriller that has made Sharon Stone (the perfect illustration of the very sensual fatal woman) an international star is carried by a manipulative scenario punctuated with false appearances and psychological dilemmas. A classic like that!

IMAGE – The beauty of the devil

Thanks to a new 4K scan taken from the negatives and the internegative (to avoid ending up with the censored version), the licked image of the work has never been as beautiful and elegant as it is today.

However, it should be mentioned that this restoration « profit » a colorimetry less bluish than in the past which now shoots at variations of cyan. Understand that this new calibration could displease purists even if the flesh is more dewful than ever. And it should also be noted that a very light noise reducer (DNR) has been applied here even if it is outside that this « Cleanliness » unusual is really ready.

Once these observations have passed, it is impossible to deny that this UHD Dolby Vision transfer, which retains its organic texture (at least inside), remains an important upgrade to the (very) aging Blu-ray. The image is as stable as « clean » (no more faults on the horizon), the encoding is solid (no more parasitic tingling), the definition is enhanced (we are no longer in the presence of an upscaled DVD), the details are much more revealing (DI 4K obliges), the contrasts are otherwise denser (cf. dark shades) and the sources of light are much more refined (lighting of the interview room, the sun of San Francisco, the neon of the nightclub and the go by).

SON – Catherine, give us some ice!

Clearly more dynamic than on the previous Blu-ray (go to the club stage), this DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack that is well balanced likes to play with the atmospheres (the police station, the bar) and the fantastic music of Jerry Goldsmith (which binds back).

The voices detach properly, the effects go through all the speakers (notably during the race-suit in the car where the bass box wakes up) and the surround channels are approached wisely.

As well, the VF (with the dubbing well incorporated in the mixing) is nevertheless deprived of the brilliant interpretation of the actors.

CONCLUSION – Delicious taste prohibited

Since it relates to the « Love » carnal, that's little to say Basic Instinct discovers a tenfold power of attraction by a stunning Ultra HD Blu-ray!