Region:
One
Genre:
Thriller
Stars:
Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer
Writer:
James Dearden
Director:
Adrian Lyne
Feature
length: 119 minutes
Extras:
Forever Fatal: Remembering Fatal Attraction, Social Attraction, Visual
Attraction, Rehearsal Footage, Alternate Ending With Introduction By Director
Adrian Lyne, Commentary By Director Adrian Lyne, and Theatrical Trailer
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English and French Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 17
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1987/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
I
think I was still in high school when “Fatal Attraction” was released
theatrically. I remember everyone talking about it generally speaking. I know I
did not see it, but I remember the media blitz that followed the film. Like it
or hate it, “Fatal Attraction” has become a classic thriller from the 1980s
and has withstood the test of time. In fact aside from a few minor fashion
differences, such as Glenn Close’s haircut, the film has not dated badly
either. Paramount Home Entertainment is releasing “Fatal Attraction” as a
part of their “Special Collector’s Edition” series of films on DVD and
this release is a great addition.
Some
film fans who have/had laserdisc players might have purchased or rented the
laserdisc special edition about ten years ago, which included some special
features, but not all of the extra value materials included on this DVD.
Unfortunately I was not among those who bought or rented that disc so I cannot
identify with any certainty what exactly is or is not an item that was
previously available. I mention this only because it is a valid question to ask
so I want to be up front about it. As far as I am concerned the DVD content is
completely new in every way.
Paramount
Home Entertainment’s “Fatal Attraction: Special Collector’s Edition”
presents this classic 80’s thriller in a very good though not perfect
anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio. The picture has some fine grain in
some scenes and hardly any defects on the source materials so aside from
appearing slightly uneven at times, this DVD looks better than any VHS or
analogue cable broadcast I have seen. The new English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack is a great improvement over the English Dolby Stereo Surround
Soundtrack, which is also included. The main difference between the Dolby
Digital and Surround Soundtracks is that the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack is simply fuller and more engaging than the English Surround Sound
counterpart. A French Language Stereo Surround Soundtrack is also included along
with English Captions and Closed Captions encoded on to the dual layered DVD as
options.
Adrian
Lyne provides a feature length audio commentary on the DVD, but like his
commentary on “Indecent Proposal” there are instances where he pauses and
says nothing. There are some great featurettes included on this DVD and most if
not all appear to be newly created for this DVD release. The documentary
“Forever Fatal: Remembering Fatal Attraction” has a running time just short
of 30-minutes with brand new videotaped interviews with Actors Michael Douglas,
Glenn Close, and Anne Archer as well as Producers Stanley R. Jaffe and Sherry
Lansing and Director Adrian Lyne and Writer and Director Nicholas Meyer. The
documentary covers the history of the making of the film very well because
everyone involved has fond memories attached to the project and though they all
knew they had a hit on their hands, I think it is safe to say they did not know
just how much of a hit they had and the documentary touches upon development of
the screenplay, which I found particularly interesting because I had no idea
that Nicholas Meyer was involved in the development of the story. There are some
shots of the screenplay under the working title “Affairs Of The Heart.”
Meyer credits the majority of the screenplay to writer James Dearden in the
documentary, and the documentary also covers how the screenplay was actually
developed from a film short Dearden wrote and directed.
The
featurette “Social Attraction” basically is a continuation of the same
documentary with interview excerpts from those involved from the previous
documentary and covers the social phenomenon that followed the release of the
film including backlash from feminists and how the film had a profound impact on
the way men and women viewed intimate relationships, but perhaps the most
fascinating aspect of this featurette is the interviews with various
psychologists who not only offer insight into Closes’ character’s neurosis,
but also state that in reality there are people with even more troubled
backgrounds that never snap as Closes’ character does in the film and in fact
they admit that no one can predict who is capable of this behavior and who is
not. This featurette has a run time of 10-minutes. “Visual Attraction” is
the third featurette with interviews with other crewmembers from production
design and whatnot who were involved in the film. This featurette has an
approximate length of 20-minutes.
The
videotaped rehearsal footage between Michael Douglas and Glenn Close is amazing
to watch because Close is simply electrifying. I seriously do not think they
could have cast a better actress for the role and having seen Close in a number
of other films, my respect for her as an Actress has gone up a whole lot just
from watching her videotaped rehearsals alone. There is some videotaped
rehearsal footage with Anne Archer as well and the rehearsals feature an
introduction by Director Adrian Lyne. Adrian Lyne also provides a videotaped
introduction for the alternate ending, which is presented in a (1.85:1) aspect
ratio with English Stereo Sound. Without spoiling the original ending for those
who do not know or have never seen it, I just want to say that artistically, I
think on paper and in terms of screenplay symmetry, the original ending is more
appropriate, but as far as being emotionally satisfying for the big screen, the
ending the film has that has been attached since the official theatrical release
was the appropriate ending so in short, I like them both and think they both
work, but in the end, they made the right decision to go with the more exciting
ending.
The
(1.85:1) theatrical trailer wraps up the extra features included on this DVD.
The main menu is nicely animated while the subsequent menus are standard
interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. Overall, “Fatal
Attraction: Special Collector’s Edition” is a great value with a lot to
offer fans of the film when it debuts on DVD-Video on Tuesday, April 16, 2002
from Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.