Barnes & Noble

Fatal Attraction was (and still is) a corking good thriller: Cleverly written, splendidly acted, and tautly directed, it is guaranteed to raise audience hackles. But following its 1987 release, Adrian Lyne’s suspenseful melodrama became something else: a bona fide cultural phenomenon, one of those rare motion pictures that stimulated debate on important issues such as spousal fidelity and moral relativism. Male viewers tended to sympathize with Michael Douglas’s character, a successful and happily married New York lawyer who succumbed to the seductive blandishments of aggressive career woman Glenn Close while his lovely wife, Anne Archer, was out of town. Female viewers felt sympathy for Close, who became psychotic and vengeful after the guilt-stricken Douglas terminated the brief but tempestuous affair. Lyne (Indecent Proposal) brilliantly manipulated audiences, but the film’s effectiveness derived from the performances of its three principal players, who made their characters totally believable in every particular. Much imitated in the years subsequent to its theatrical playoff, Fatal Attraction still retains the power to shock, to provoke, and to fascinate. Lyne discusses the movie’s special appeal in his thoughtful commentary for the DVD Collectors Edition, which also includes filmed interviews with Douglas, Close, Archer, producers Stanley Jaffe and Sherry Lansing, and writers Nicolas Meyer and James Dearden. Additionally, the DVD presents a featurette on the film’s cultural impact, a behind-the-scenes look at the production, some never-before-seen rehearsal footage, and the infamous, much-discussed alternate ending. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

"Fatal attraction" has become a household term for love turned to murderous obsession, thanks to the success of Adrian Lyne's 1987 movie. Dan (Michael Douglas) is a family man whose one-night affair with Alex (Glenn Close) turns into a nightmare when she insists on continuing the relationship, claiming to be carrying his baby. Alex systematically terrorizes Dan, even temporarily kidnapping his daughter, in her attempts to win back his affection. Douglas' besieged family man guiltily tries to preserve his marriage and family from the consequences of his own indiscretion. Close's performance as the love-struck psycho-siren remains her signature role: She conveys the buried feminist message of the film in her challenge to Dan to take responsibility for his sexual behavior. Though many critics acknowlegded the film's striking similarities to Clint Eastwood's 1971 film Play Misty for Me, Fatal Attraction spawned numerous other movies about middle-class families besieged by a lone psychotic intent on infiltrating and destroying the fabric of the family unit, including The Stepfather (1987), Pacific Heights (1990), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), and Fear (1996). Laura Abraham

Washington Post

Fatal Attraction has an inescapable pull to it; it's suffocatingly exciting. Lyne's direction has a seductive sharpness and precision...there are moments -- like the spectacular bathroom sequence at the end of the film -- when Lyne makes your throat tighten the way Hitchcock did. Hal Hinson

Product Details

• UPC: 097360176247
• Source: PARAMOUNT
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital, stereo
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:59:00
• Sales Rank: 4,343

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Black Rain/Fatal Attraction

Features:

DVD MENU