Basic Instinct

Continuity mistake: When Michael Douglas goes back to Sharon Stone's house, there's a table with a lamp on it next to a white chair. The table moves back about four inches throughout the scene and the pillow on the chair, the flower centerpiece, and the stuff on the table on the right also move as the scene progresses. (00:50:35)

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Continuity mistake: In the sequence where Michael Douglas is driving along the coastal highway, his car's center rear-view mirror appears and disappears over and over.

Continuity mistake: At Sharon Stone's house, Michael Douglas sees her undressing through a large picture window. He has to turn to the left to see the window, but in the close-up of him watching he's not looking to the left but looking straight ahead. (00:44:10)

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Visible crew/equipment: Michael Douglas spots Sharon Stone's car in front of Hazel Dobkins' house and if you look closely as he walks up to her car you can see the camera man's reflection on the front window as he is obviously filming inside of another vehicle. (00:42:00)

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Continuity mistake: Michael Douglas sits and watches Sharon Stone's car in front of Hazel Dobkins' house. There's no indication that she ever left the house but the car is in a different position, in relation to the mailbox, then when he first saw it. (00:42:50)

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Continuity mistake: Back at Michael Douglas' apartment, Sharon Stone uses his ice pick to break up a big hunk of ice for their drinks. In front of her is a tray with various items and loose change in it, with a padlock and a piece of paper to left of it. Everything in the tray and the piece of paper move throughout the scene without anyone going near them. (01:03:55)

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Continuity mistake: When Michael Douglas walks into Jeanne Tripplehorn's office there's a large plant more than one foot to the right of the lamp by her window. Later in the scene this plant is moved to the left where it's almost in front of the lamp in her close-ups. (00:13:25)

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Continuity mistake: As Sharon Stone sits for questioning at the police station, the coffee pot on top of the coffee machine rotates throughout the scene without anyone leaving their seats. (00:27:10)

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Continuity mistake: When Roxy tries to run over Nick the left front light is broken off - in the next scene it is back on.

Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie when Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone relax in bed contemplating their future together and the black lamp on the left side of his bed changes the direction that it's pointing in throughout the scene without anyone going near it. (02:01:00)

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Continuity mistake: As she walks into Michael Douglas' apartment, Sharon Stone drapes her jacket over the center of one of his kitchen chairs. Later in the scene she walks over and gets the jacket and it's draped over the left side of the chair. (01:03:20 - 01:04:55)

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Continuity mistake: At the beach house Sharon Stone is sitting in direct sunlight as she speaks to Michael Douglas about Jonny Boz yet in all the close-up shots, even when he walks between her and the sun, she's never in direct sunlight. (00:11:00)

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Visible crew/equipment: After the scene in Jeanne Tripplehorn's apartment, Michael Douglas meets with the other investigators back at the police station and the reflection of the cameraman can be seen in the glass partition behind him as an investigator says, "I made a couple of calls to Berkeley." (00:38:45)

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Continuity mistake: When Michael Douglas first sees her at the beach house he says, "Miss. Tramell?". If you closely at the shadow cast by the railing it's obvious that at least an hour has gone by between shots as he walks down to talk to her. The lounge chair has also moved between shots. (00:10:50)

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Continuity mistake: When the detectives ask Catherine to go in for questioning, she has her hair down. Then, a minute later, she comes out with her hair up. Problems: one, there's no way Catherine could do that on her own, and no-one else is in the house; two, even if she could it would take much more than a minute, say thirty minutes.

kh1616

Nick: How did you feel when I told you Johnny Boz had died, that day at the beach?
Catherine: I felt somebody had read my book and was playing a game.
Nick: But you didn't hurt.
Catherine: No.
Nick: Because you didn't love him.
Catherine: That's right.
Nick: Even though you were fucking him.
Catherine: You still get the pleasure. Didn't you ever fuck anybody else while you were married, Nick?

More quotes from Basic Instinct
More trivia for Basic Instinct

Question: Why did Catherine change her mind about killing Nick at the end? Obviously she was planning on killing him anyway, but she changed her mind only hours after ending their relationship when her book was finished and was of no further use. So why did she spare him? Was it because she fell in "love" with him?

Movielover1996

Answer: There's no definitive answer to this and the ending is deliberately ambiguous and open to interpretation. The audience is left to speculate whether or not Catherine kills Nick, or if she intended to kill him but changes her mind because she loves him, or intends to kill him at a much later time, and so on.

raywest

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