Customer Reviews

Showgirls

5 star:		(155)
4 star:		(73)
3 star:		(36)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

If you previously bought the SHOWGIRLS VIP edition - this is the exact same disc only packaged without the box and all the trinkets that came with that edition. You get commentary by a guy who is a fan of the movie and helps host late night screenings, the Scores girls talk about stripping and critique those sequences, and there's an old promotional piece made during shooting that is called "A Diary". The transfer is good and the extras are fun, though none of them seem to cover anybody associated with the film. If you did not purchase the glam deluxe box set this is a cheap way to get all those features without hunting it down. Otherwise if you have that edition, this is merely a double dip and repackaging of the same disc with new cover art.

This is the NC-17 cut and no additional material has been added. If you have that edition already there is no difference in the movie at all. There are no deleted or extended scenes. This is the version shown in theatres and released twice before on DVD.

SHOWGIRLS begs for better extras. I would love to hear a director's commentary or Elizabeth Berkley and Gina Gershon talk about the film. But that hasn't happened yet. Maybe one day we can hope for a Criterion edition and all the stops will be pulled out!

Every now and then, a film is so bad, so wretched, so devoid of any socially or artistically redeeming value as to take on a life of its own, and by the very denial of value, acquire a value unto itself.

So it is with "Showgirls."

This film is, of course, well and truly ridiculed in every quarter of the world of serious art critique, and even righteously lampooned in "The Simpsons", a venue that provides a surprising amount of accurate commentary on artistic merit. And the spotlight reviews here on Amazon.com are so wonderful, I almost despaired to write anything approaching their brilliance. But I felt I had to add my mite to the general acclaim for this contrarian work of art.

The story is, as has been related so many times, of a simple girl with a shady past, Nomi, who hitchhikes to Vegas. Is there, you ask, any OTHER way to get to Vegas? No, indeed. A pretty girl with a great figure and a look of jaw-dropping stupidity (Elizabeth Berkley) should never take a bus or turn tricks to fund a budget plane ticket. Only risking her life in a random encounter with what could be (but wasn't) a homicidal pervert trolling for hitchers is the way to arrive in Vegas in the proper manner. Nomi hooks up with a soul sister sewing pal in a trailer and becomes ensnared in dancer/manipulator/girl-liker (lover) Cristal's web. (Isn't this just awful writing from me? I'm indulging in a veritable Bulwer-Lytton festival of bad prose here.)

Nomi of course, climbs out of her seedy second-rate strip club, I mean, Vegas show and gets a role in the hot new extravaganza "Goddess." My favorite part of the scene is not the crummy audition. No, it's right afterwards, when she trots on up to the Human Resources department and feigns not knowing her social security number and is even rather vague on her date of birth. Her lack of next-of-kin prompts the HR lady to ask "deceased?" and Nomi does a creditable job in looking as if she knows that "deceased" means "dead" and not the opposite of "increased" This is absolutely believable acting, assisted by some very bad lipgloss over some phenomenally collagen-enhanced lips. At this point in film, also, the already dubious dialog hits pothole after pothole. "She is all about pelvic thrust...and she didn't learn that in dance lessons" or something to that effect. I didn't hear it too well, because I was gasping for air after a huge guffaw.

The dialog continues to bump along as Nomi does the same, along with grinding out some astonishing bad dancing, consisting of a lot of jerky arm-throwing, pelvic thrusting and leg humping of shoulders, hips and any convenient pole or chair. Spoilers? None. I always forget how this film works out at the end, because I am rolling on the floor and have to shut off the DVD.

Along with "Buckaroo Banzai", this is probably one of my top picks for bad films that are so bad, they are actually enjoyable. Whether you are just being a voyeur or you appreciate camp, this is one terrific blurp of entertainment.

First, I must say that I am, truly, a lover of bad movies. (In fact, I ordered "Showgirls" on DVD, the same day I ordered "Plan 9 From Outer Space". So, what does that tell you?) Although "Showgirls" has been shunned by the mainstream public, it has gained quite a bit of fame as a cult classic, such as "Plan 9". "Showgirls" became infamous after being slapped with the dreaded NC-17 rating, the scarlet "A", if you will, of the rating system. Does it deserve it? Sure. It is loaded with T&A for those who want it. But for lovers of cinematic cheese, there is plenty to enjoy, such as bad dialogue and mediocre acting.

Well, finally, "Showgirls" has found it's way to DVD, and it is a pretty good release. It makes up for picture quality and sound where it lacks in special features. (I really wanted an audio commentary, so the director could explain what the hell was going on in his mind when he made it. But, hey, maybe on an upcoming Criterion Version. :-]) But, for people, who enjoyed it for the movie it is, I would recommend it. And, for fans of ridiculous turkeys, I would really recommend it, because it is definitely fun.

Calling Showgirls "poorly acted" or "sexist" completely misses the point; it's like accusing Britney Spears of not being a "real musician," as though you've discovered something.

Of *course* Showgirls is exploitative and demeaning to women. Almost all Hollywood movies are demeaning to women. Almost all of them are male-written, male-directed male fantasies. But most of them cover this fact with a thin veneer of "empowerment" and "sensitivity," making perfunctory, surface concessions to political correctness. It's hypocritical, dishonest and has horrible long-term effects on the psyches of young impressionable girls (and boys). The brilliance of Showgirls is that it gathers all of the worst Hollywood masculine excess and throws it unapologetically in our faces. The movie is straight-from-the-id, primal, brutish male fantasy. Every woman in the movie is a laughable caricature who advances, if at all, by deceiving other women and becoming a sexual object for men. The "heroine," Nomi, crosses every line, sells every shred of dignity, physically assaults her female competitors, sleeps with her boss (in the most over-the-top sex scene in cinematic history), gets her best friend raped... and at the end of the film, claims that she has gambled and won "herself." This tragi-comic nod to empowerment is a slap to the face of anyone who's been paying attention.

Whether Esterhauz and Verhoeven intended it as such, Showgirls is at once a camp classic and a sly satire, an example of everything our culture at once wallows in and disavows. Sure, you can react with righteous indignation, waggle your finger at the movie, and pat yourself on the back for being so enlightened. But maybe you should take a look around, at the billboards, the commercials, the sitcoms, the movies, the music videos, your own prejudices... and think about whether you can't find a better target.

This is the quintessential bad movie. It's so bad it's great! I remember when this movie came out and I believe it was the director's intention to make a serious movie. Well I'm glad it didn't turn out that way. This has to be by far one of the most hilarious movies I've seen. The over-over-overacting by Elizabeth Berkeley is pure comedy and will keep you laughing from the first scene to the last. It's pretty hard to take any of it seriously when scene after scene after scene is just so ridiculous, I.E. the pool sex scene. If one could even call it that...watching that poor gal flop around in the water like that reminded me of a fish out of water fighting for its life. It was great. The dance sequences were great, I must say I enjoyed the dancing. A lot of people say this is a horrible movie and it is, but the key is to not take any of it seriously and just turn your brain off and watch it. You can't help but laugh, I promise. I know when I first saw it years years years ago, I thought it was the worst piece of crap I had seen...then I saw it again and again and it's the movie I watch when I need a damn good laugh. Definitely a must have.

Showgirls (15th Anniversary Sinsational Edition) [Blu-ray]Blu-Ray has the same content as the previously released DVD of Showgirls in the V.I.P. box set or FULLY EXPOSED edition. Same dishy drama professor queen commentary track by David Schmader of Seattle, same text in the Pop Up Trivia Track. But, the transfer is re-done in Hi Def 1080p
BluRay. The Graphics are updated for the Pop Up Trivia Track, and the disc menu is the cutest animation with important memorable lines from the timelessly awful screenplay memorialized (It's from Ver-Sayce) in the menu's animated slot machine. The transfer is state of the art, cleaned up and restored, with no trace of dirt or scratches that sometimes come with a 1994 film. From the start you can see every excruciating detail. Whether it's Nomi's earrings, details of the now gone Las Vegas hotels like the Hacienda and the Stardust. You may have to adjust your set for the over-saturated over the top color. The disc can't be faulted for great detail and clarity
in this HD transfer of the cult status film. One thing about the audio, the only full surround track is in DTS. The Dolby tracks are only in 2 channel, English, French, Spanish, or catty commentary track. So, for the full effect, make sure your surround system can decode DTS HD Master Audio. Otherwise, no discrete surround, only 2 channel mixed for Dolby Pro Logic. This is not the case in previous DVD releases which had Dolby 5.1 surround tracks.
Las Vegas has changed a lot since 1994, and you can see the lost Vegas in the exterior scenes on The Strip and outside the Stardust like you are back in the day. The transfer looks great, a must have for SHOWGIRLS fans that have a Blu-Ray and DTS Surround home theater to re-live the wonderful awfulness of this cult classic, in new found sparkling detail.

ADDENDUM - On reviewing the "Extras" I notice that they include "Pole Dancing - Finding your Inner Stripper" is
a tutorial by a former ballerina that now teaches Pole Dancing. Terry Jaworski of "S Factor", [...] her dance and exercise school. Even though the end credits for this 12 minute featurette
have the 1995 release date for the main "Showgirls" feature, it appears that "Pole Dancing - Finding your inner Stripper" may have been produced for the 2010 release of the Blu-Ray with a 2010 date at the end. Terry spells out the specifics on all the moves in pole dancing, which in the video she calls "swing walk", "firefly", "Corkscrew", "Snake", "the Dive", "Pole Cat", "Helicopter", "Climb", "Layout", and the "Descending Angel".

Showgirls is one of my favorite movies, but many people just don't get the point of it. Escapism and entertainment at the movies I guess have become out of style. Hello, the whole point of going to the movies is to have fun and Showgirls delivers the goods! This movie is schlocky, ok I admit it, but it sure is entertaining. It's kind of a cult classic now and for good reason. Elizabeth Berkley, from Saved by the Bell tv fame, is Nomi, a wannabe dancer who claws her way to the top of a Vegas hotel show, encountering colorful characters and seedy situations along the way. She's ruthless but vulnerable, and you want her to succeed,to be the best, but you don't like her methods of getting there. But then you can't help but applaud her for knowing at the end that all of the fame and money in the world isn't worth losing your self-respect. I loved Gina Gershon as Crystal, Vegas show Goddess reigning queen. Gina is one of the best actresses out there...see Bound and you'll know what I mean. She has great onscreen chemistry with Ms Berkley and their frail strained relationship finally culminates into a deep understanding between them about what you have to give up to have it all. They're like sisters in their relentless ambitions. Sure the dialogue is laughably bad, but the atmosphere of Vegas is dead-on. Paul Verhoeven did a fantastic job of capturing all the sleaze behind the new Disneyland and the music, sets and dancing are fabulous. The show Goddess itself is way over the top, and I do mean way over the top, but so mesmerizing that you'll feel like a voyeur watching from just meters away. But what a show! See this movie and judge for yourself.

I love campy movies, and this borders on camp. But the good thing about real trash classics is that they are basically likeable. There's nothing likeable about this! This movie reveals a lot of female flesh. After, oh, about ten minutes of nonstop bare body parts, that gets pretty dull. Then you start to notice the people and the words attached to the nudes. . .and, oh my God. . .your breath is sucked away by the stupidity of the dialogue and, OK, I'll say it! The hideousness of the faces! As Gene Siskel said about this movie, "Elizabeth Berkley doesn't look good. I'm talking about her face." That's for sure. When she's not batting her mascara-encrusted eyelashes, she's pouting and snarling. Then, when she opens her mouth, she whines or yells. Boy, I sure would like to know her better! And Kyle McLachlan. Whatever happened to him? After this disaster, he couldn't even get a part on a soap opera. He looks puffy and gross. I don't know if he was made up to look like a jaded Vegas sleazeball, but I tend to think not. He probably did some major drinking to work up the nerve to do his role. Then, last but not least (Berkley is the least), there's Gina Gershon, who, I admit, I will never forgive for doing the travesty 'This World, Then The Fireworks'. What an actress. Do you know what this movie makes me think of? Rodents. Elizabeth Berkley, in a hilariously un-sexy love scene, slaps her back on the surface of a pool like a beaver tail warning away viewers. And Gina Gershon looks like Bugs Bunny. Who would buy her as Vegas' top showgirl? Boy, this review has been disjointed and illiterate, but I found that my IQ slipped about 30 points after watching this movie, and it'll take some reading Mark Twain or viewing 'The Virgin Spring' to raise it again.

One of the worst films I've ever seen. Five stars.

...because I could never muster up enough nerve to buy this movie from a retail store.