Fatal Instinct (1993) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Comedy | Theatrical Trailer | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1993 | ||
Running Time | 91 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Language Select Then Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Carl Reiner |
Studio
Distributor |
MGM |
Starring |
Armand Assante Sherilyn Fenn Kate Nelligan Sean Young Christopher McDonald James Remar Tony Randall Clarence Clemons Michael Cumpsty John Witherspoon Blake Clark Edward Blanchard David Greenlee |
Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
RPI | $14.95 | Music |
Richard Gibbs Philip Giffin |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Auto Pan & Scan Encoded |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired German for the Hearing Impaired French Italian Spanish Dutch Swedish Norwegian Danish Greek |
Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Fatal Instinct is a spoof of late 80s and early 90s suspense thrillers and murder mysteries, such as Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, Sleeping With The Enemy and Cape Fear. Armand Assante plays Ned Ravine, a police officer who also happens to be a defense attorney on the side - get it? The plot (what little there is of it) involves Ravine being seduced by a mysterious woman (Sean Young) while his philandering wife plans his murder with a local mechanic. Will Ravine be seduced into corruption or assassinated by his bride? Basically, Fatal Instinct is the Naked Gun of sex thrillers.
This type of slapstick humour is very subjective. The Zucker brothers, along with Mel Brooks, are the undisputed masters of this particular genre, with classics like the aforementioned Naked Gun, Flying High, Top Secret, Blazing Saddles, History Of The World Part One, Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs, so you either love films like these that throw gags at you by the hundreds or you don't. I happen to be in the former group and found that there was quite a bit of stupid fun to be found in this Carl Reiner yuck fest.
Fatal Instinct is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen TV viewing. Sharpness throughout the transfer is first rate, and shadow detail is consistent, with strong blacks and plenty of depth. There were no grain or low level noise problems.
Colours were strong and natural.
There were some minor film artefacts during the film but they were mostly superficial and not distracting.
MGM have provided a great transfer for this budget priced DVD.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
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Overall |
The film has been given five 2.0 Dolby Digital surround tracks. The tracks are in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian.
Dialogue is audible at all times with no audio sync issues to complain of.
The film's music by Richard Gibbs and Philip Giffin is fairly nondescript, but ultimately does its job and supports the on-screen events without becoming intrusive.
Surround channel usage was minimal at best. The only consistent sound occupying the rear channels was the film's score. Directional sound effects were absent, with the majority of sound occupying the front speakers.
The subwoofer has the requisite bass to support the 2.0 sound field.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The R4 misses out on an audio commentary with Carl Reiner and deleted scenes.
The R1 misses out on an anamorphic 1:85:1 transfer.
Personally I would opt for the R1 disc, simply for the extras. Apparently the commentary is quite entertaining.
If you are in the mood for a stupid slapstick take on the more infamous thrillers of the last decade, Fatal Instinct is for you. The disc looks and sounds fine, but is a resounding flop in the extras department.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using Component output |
Display | LG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Sony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Sony HT-K215 |
Speakers | fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie |