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Fatal Attraction: Special Collector's Edition
Fatal Attraction (1987) may well strike the fear of God into any married man contemplating a casual extramarital affair. Michael Douglas is terrific as Dan Gallagher, by all accounts a hardworking professional and a loving, loyal husband and father. Then he meets Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) and, with the family out-of-town for the weekend, begins an ill-advised relationship that will only bring destruction. Adrian Lyne's movie bears the rare distinction of being both a first-rate thriller and a film with potent social commentary. Lyne blurs the lines of melodrama, constantly shifting empathy between adulturer and mistress, creating a strong emotional tension. Close, an odd casting choice, is brilliant in tiptoeing the line between aggrieved and aggro. Although the movie famously engages in segments of sensationally explicit sex and violence, Lyne's vision, in the end, reinforces the idea of family as a strong and valuable unit whose survival is worth fighting for. Paramount's Fatal Attraction: Special Collector's Edition offers some fine supplements to this enduring film. The anamorphic transfer (1.85:1) is good considering the film's graininess in a few scenes, and the audio is available in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 Surround mixes. Also included in this package are a commentary by Lyne, the original ending rejected by test audiences, rehearsal footage, and three diverting featurettes: Forever Fatal (28:14), Societal Attraction (10:00), and Visual Attraction (19:38). Trailer, keep-case.
—Gregory P. Dorr
