Scenes that were cut

When director Paul Verhoeven submitted his initial cut of Basic Instinct to the Motion Picture Association of America in January, he wasn't at all surprised that it was rated NC-17. Contractually bound to deliver an R-rated film, he cut 42 seconds out of eight different edits. "The task was to get as close to the impossible as possible," says Verhoeven. Entertainment Weekly has seen the original of this Carolco/Le Studio Canal+ film distributed by TriStar, and here's what viewers miss:

1) As the film opens, a nude blonde, her face hidden, stabs her lover to death with an ice pick at their climactic moment in bed. The R-rated version settles for one shot of the man getting it in the neck, then cuts away to the blonde stabbing with abandon. The more explicit original holds on both killer and victim as the stab wounds multiply.

2) Several seconds were trimmed from the violent lovemaking scene between Det. Nick Curran (played by Michael Douglas) and the police department therapist, Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn). The final version suggests no more than rough sex; the director's cut edges into date-rape territory, as Nick drops his pants and forces himself on Beth, who can be heard protesting, "No, please, no, ow!"

3) The complete version of Sharon Stone and Douglas' central sex scene includes three explicit moments of oral sex. In the theater, we're asked to imagine what Douglas is doing as he slides to the foot of the bed; the initial NC-17 version of the film shows just what he's doing — twice — and also shows Stone reciprocating.

As with 9 1/2 Weeks and Angel Heart, the director's cut of Basic Instinct is likely to turn up on video some six to eight months from now.