Showgirls

Joe Eszterhas said it best: this movie is a bellyflop that empties all the water out of the pool. Of course with the millions he made from what can only be loosely called a script, he can afford to be cavalier. Elizabeth Berkley, absolutely clueless as an aspiring Vegas dancer, is not so fortunate. After this debacle, it looks like her career won't be "saved by the bell." Films like this give NC-17 a bad name. An R-rated version that tinkers with the nudity and tones down a gratuitously brutal rape scene has been assembled for video, but really, why bother? (D. Liebenson)[DVD Review--July 13, 2004--MGM, 131 min., NC-17, $39.95--Making its second appearance on DVD (in what promises to be one of the biggest challenges that technical services departments have ever faced), Paul Verhoeven's notorious 1995, NC-17-rated, critical belly flop Showgirls: V.I.P. Edition ($39.98) features a new and sharp anamorphic widescreen transfer, a “Greatest Movie Ever Made” commentary by David Schmader (featuring video commentary on the strip-club dance scene by the girls of Scores, who also offer a separate “Lap-Dance Tutorial”), a “Showgirls Diary” featurette, a trivia track, and a box full of goodies: a pair of Showgirls shot glasses, a deck of Showgirls playing cards, six photo cards with party games, and a “Pin the Pasties on the Showgirl” game complete with poster, blindfold, and pasties. Good luck TS. Bottom line: Showgirls looks a bit better than its first go-round, but it's still a terrible film, and all the cheesy marketing gimmicks in the world can't change that fact. If your collection simply must have Showgirls, you're better off with the more or less stripped bare initial version priced at $14.95.][DVD Review—July 24, 2007—MGM, 131 min., NC-17, $19.98—Making its third appearance on DVD, 1995's Showgirls (Fully Exposed Edition) features a nice transfer with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. DVD extras are identical to the pricier V.I.P. Edition, minus the goodies (shot glasses, pasties, playing cards, etc.). Bottom line: enough time has passed that Showgirls can now be seen as something of a bad movie classic, and this “fully exposed edition” serves up the earlier set's extras at half the price.][Blu-ray Review—June 22, 2010—MGM, 2 discs, 131 min., NC-17, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1995's Showgirls (15th Anniversary Sinsational Edition) sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include a “Greatest Movie Ever Made” commentary by The Stranger associate editor David Schmader, a “Pole Dancing: Finding Your Inner Stripper” featurette (12 min.), “A Showgirls Diary” behind-the-scenes featurette (11 min.), a “Lap Dance Tutorial” by employees of Scores strip club (5 min.), a trivia track, trailers, and a bonus DVD copy of the film (which includes a video commentary on the strip-club dance scene by Scores employees). Bottom line: a bad cinema cult classic makes a fine debut on Blu-ray.]