Fatal Attraction

“Stylish and sexy, Fatal Attraction took audiences to terrifying new heights with its thrilling story of a casual encounter gone terribly awry. Newly remastered from a 4k film transfer supervised by direction Adrian Lyne, this box office smash was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actress (Glenn Close).”

Fatal Attraction opens with a celebratory book release with attorney Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) attending with his wife, Beth (Anne Archer). As they mingle with fellow co-worker Jimmy (Stuart Pankin) and his wife Hildy (Ellen Foley), Dan goes to the bar and meets Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), a woman working at the same publishing company he represents. Their attraction is apparent, and after a brief chat they go their separate ways. That weekend, Beth and their daughter go out of town for the weekend, leaving Dan to go into work on Saturday for a meeting. There, he sees Alex again, and the two have dinner. One thing leads to another and they end up spending a passionate weekend together. At the end of it, she slits her wrists as Dan is about to leave, giving you a glimpse into the craziness that is about to unfold. As Dan tries to go back to his normal routine and distance himself from Alex, she begins to stalk him, calling him at all hours of the night, showing up to his office unannounced, liable to be set off at any moment. Dan must find a way to rectify the situation before her behavior escalates and puts his family at risk.

Fatal Attraction took audiences by storm in 1987, earning several Academy Award nominations, providing a very thrilling and frightening story, which still holds up even to this day. Full of tension and nail-biting sequences, the film tells a cautionary tale of staying faithful, and how the smallest mistake can cause repercussions that can ruin someone’s life.

The character of Dan doesn’t seem like the type of womanizer who you would peg for consistently being unfaithful to his wife. In a stress-filled period in his life at work and at home, a small lapse in judgement with a weekend away from his life seems like the kind of mistake that any one of us could make. Unfortunately he had no idea what he was in store for, as Alex ends up being one of the most obsessive, delusional and dangerous people he could have ever gotten involved with. It’s easy to see why this character was ranked #7 in the AFI top 100 villains list. As frightening the actions of Alex are, they are also a subject for pity. The focus of the film is on her sinister intentions, and not the obvious mental health issues she obviously has. At one point Dan tells her she needs ‘help’, but that is the extent of it. In today’s world the story may have gone a bit differently, as the film runs the risk of putting the message across to fear people with mental health issues, but if you can look past all that, Alex Forrest is a frightening femme fatale that goes to great lengths to ensure Dan will still be in her life.

Michael Douglas provides an excellent performance of a ‘everyman’ who loves his family but makes a mistake. His reactions to the escalation of Alex’s actions can get quite intense, which elevates his performance. Anne Archer also gives a solid performance as Beth, with little to do in the first two acts, but really stands out in the third, with some physical and emotional sequences that leave you horrified. By far, however, the best part of the film is Glenn Close. The perfect way she embodies the character is demonstrated as her actions and emotions can change at the flip of a switch, from seemingly calm and normal, to downright insane and violent. She really shows you a glimpse of the mind of the character, which might be the most frightening thing of all. There could have been many people who could’ve have played Alex, but I don’t think any of them would have got that look quite right, where you can see the inner workings of her broken mind race when something doesn’t go the way she wants it to. She’s the best part of the film, providing all the tension, making some of the sequences downright nerve-wracking.

Video

Fatal Attraction is presented in 1080p 1.85:1 featuring a newly remastered 4k transfer. This transfer is perhaps the best selling point for Paramount’s new Paramount Presents series. The video is crisp, clear, maintaining a good amount of grain. Colors are bright and well balanced, with no defects of note. This may be the best the film has looked on home release, so fans of the film will seriously want to consider grabbing this one.

Audio

The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD. This track sounds great as well, with a nice balance between the surrounds and center channel, which will mainly consist of dialogue. There is some nice utilization from the surrounds in small instances, mainly background audio and soundtrack, but the culmination turns out to be a solid track for this release.

Special Features

This new set also boasts new extras to make the set more appealing. What isn’t mentioned, however, is the fact that some extras are dropped from previous releases. It’s hard to believe that this is done solely for space reasons, but whatever the case, for those completionists who need to have everything possible this may affect your decision. The case is very nice, though, with a slipcover opening up to reveal the original poster art for the film, and a number on the spine indicating its place in the release line, this being number 1 in the series.

Extras for this release include:

• New Feature – Filmmaker Focus: Director Adrian Lyne discusses Fatal Attraction

Original Special Features:

• Commentary by Director Adrian Lyne
• Rehearsal Footage
• Alternate Ending with Introduction by Director Adrian Lyne

Fatal Attraction is definitely one of the better femme fatale thrillers of the time period, providing a highly entertaining and suspenseful story. Paramount Presents offers some great new features on the disc, well worth it for fans to check out and see the film like they’ve never seen it before.