History YMMV / BasicInstinct

* HollywoodHomely: Brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, sensible clothes (and presumably underwear as well) as supposedly enough to make Beth the plain alternative to the glamorous Catherine.

* HollywoodHomely: Brown hair, brown eyes, sensible clothes (and presumably underwear as well) as supposedly enough to make Beth the plain alternative to the glamorous Catherine.

** Also, it's not a hundred percent clear even at the end that Catherine is a murderess. Did she do it? Any of the killings? Will she kill Nick? Or was it Beth all along? And did Roxy commit any of the murders? [[spoiler: apart from her brothers and the attempted murder of Nick]]

*** Forgive the IncrediblyLamePun, but this movie is all flash and no substance.

* MagnificentBitch: Catherine

* CompleteMonster: Catherine seduces men, manipulates'em for her own amusement and then kills'em for money or probably for pure fun and knows exactly how evading the laws and getting away with her crimes.

* EverybodyRemembersTheStripper (so much so that people are often JustHereForGodzilla): Catherine's interrogation, during which she recrosses her legs while wearing an extremely short skirt with no panties. Long-distance gynecology, anyone?
** FridgeLogic: The pantyless scene has become a trope in itself over years, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], exaggerated, imitated, parodied, [[DeaderThanDisco nearly qualified for being a]] DeadHorseTrope, and yet it doesn't make any sense in context. Police detectives are supposed to be rough and hardened men with plenty of interrogation experience, and yet all of them seem stunned by a nearly-[[PlayingDoctor childish]] trick (though considering what kind of a person Catherine is and how the story shows that even the most hard-assed man can be swayed by a woman, this actually makes a lot of sense).

** Also, it's not a hundred percent clear even at the end that Catherine is a murderess. Did she do it? Any of the killings? Will she kill Nick? Or was it Beth all along?

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Gay rights activists protested against the film because it depicted lesbians and bisexuals as depraved and murderous. It became one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.

** FridgeLogic: The pantyless scene has become a trope in itself over years, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], exaggerated, imitated, parodied, [[DeaderThanDisco nearly qualified for being a]] DeadHorseTrope, and yet it doesn't make any sense in context. Police detectives are supposed to be rough and hardened men with plenty of interrogation experience, and yet all of them seem stunned by a nearly-[[PlayingDoctor childish]] trick (though considering what kind of a person Catherine is and how the story shows that even the most hard-assed man is swayed by feminine lust, this actually makes a lot of sense).

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Gay rights activists protested against the film, feeling that it perpetuates homophobic stereotypes. It became one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.

** FridgeLogic: The pantyless scene has become a trope in itself over years, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], exaggerated, immitated, [[DeaderThanDisco qualified for]] DeadHorseTrope, and yet it doesn't make any sense in context - police detectives are supposed to be rough and hardened men with plenty of interrogation experience, and yet all of them seem stunned by a nearly-[[PlayingDoctor childish]] trick.

** FridgeLogic: The pantyless scene has become a trope in itself over years, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], exaggerated, immitated, [[DeaderThanDisco qualified for]] DeadHorseTrope, and yet it doesn't make any sense in context - police detectives are supposed to be rough and hardened men with plenty of interrogation experience, and yet all of them seem stunned by a nearly-childish trick.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Gay rights activists protested against the film, feeling that it perpetuates homophobic stereotypes. It became on of the highest-grossing movies of the year.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: AwesomeMusic/JerryGoldsmith

* AwesomeMusic/JerryGoldsmith

* EverybodyRemembersTheStripper: Catherine's interrogation, during which she recrosses her legs while wearing an extremely short skirt with no panties. Long-distance gynecology, anyone?

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: People were protesting in the streets because Sharon Stone uncrosses her legs. It is really the only reason why the film is known, and the so-called controversy helped it along.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity

** Does everybody also remember [[HeyItsThatGuy who was in the crosshairs]] of that famous beaver shot? ''[[{{Seinfeld}} Hello, Newman!]]''

* BeyondTheRidiculous: Some of the sex scenes, which are pretty explicit and overly detailed for such a mainstream film. And then Verhoeven went and outdid himself by making ''Showgirls'', with ''that'' sex scene.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: There is much debate amongst fans of the film whether Beth is an innocent victim or an evil {{Femme Fatale}}. There is also debate whether the 1st scene of Nick and Beth in her apartment is sex or date rape.

* EvilIsSexy: When it's played by Sharon Stone, anyway. Roxy also qualifies for this trope