It's a pretty safe bet that you think you know Showgirls (assuming that you can solidly separate it from Striptease in your mind... a lot of people can't), but whichever set of thoughts you have about the 1995, Paul Verhoeven/Elizabeth Berkley vehicle, you probably don't know it as well as you think.
Whether you think of it as simply one of the worst movies ever made, or a camp classic that is not so much bad as it is awesomely bad, it's safe to say that few have put the requisite energy into exploring the movie the way it deserves.
You may even be savvy enough to think of the film as one of recent memories greatest career killers. Leaving off the actors, writer Joe Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven were laid flat by the film's release. Eszterhas was coming off Flashdance, Jagged Edge, Music Box, and Basic Instinct. Jade was already in the works, and apart from Telling Lies in America, he didn't manage much else until 2006's Basic Instinct 2. Verhoeven, putting together a pretty good name for himself (at least in receipts) with RoboCop, Total Recall, and Basic Instinct, managed Starship Troopers post Showgirls, and that's about all she wrote.
Whatever the case, David Schmader's commentary found on this 15th Anniversary release is titled, "The Greatest Movie Ever Made," and you probably don't yet know that he's absolutely right about the designation.
Throughout the commentary, Mr. Schmader will repeat the summative catch-phrase that drives the hilarious and insightful experience of taking in the film with him - Everyone involved in the film (director, writer, actor... really, everyone) is making the worst possible decision at every single moment.
For years, millions have thought of Showgirls as a truly deplorable, almost horrifically bad movie, but such an estimation is to miss out on some 75% of what the film has to offer. It isn't bad in the way that, frankly, most films are. It is epically bad. It is nearly perfectly bad, in that it would not be possible to make it worse. It is bad in a way that demands to be appreciated.
It is also bad in a way that is so complex, so filled with unprecedented variety in its badness, that it is hard to imagine it will ever be matched. As only one quick example, most will write off Berkley's performance as perhaps one of the worst acting efforts by anyone remotely attempting to be taken seriously, and leave it at that. This is a great mistake. What gives Showgirls its undeniable greatness, and pushes into the realm of the magnificently sublime, is that there are so many levels of "goodness" mixed in with the badness. The key here is that being able to deliver the exact character the script calls for, and in exactly the way the director intends you to act, is a good part of the definition of acting well.
This is not a normal film, and cannot be judged in the same way as anything else you've ever seen. It isn't that Berkley is attempting to play a human and is failing miserably at it. Oh no. She is playing a robotic, freakish fantasy of naked mindlessness that has no resemblance to any real woman, and she is doing it with such perfection that she might as well have come into being straight from the imaginations of Verhoeven and Eszterhas.
Perhaps nothing better explains the perfection of Showgirls than the existence of two simple facts - 1) once you analyze the film, watch it several times, and really pull it apart for inspection, you realize that it would be impossible to spoof. The funniest, most outlandishly nonsensical version of any scene is the one that is actually in the film. 2) Paul Verhoeven was absolutely serious.
As witnessed here, in perhaps the greatest film artifact ever created.
In a move that you are unlikely to ever encounter again, 20th Century Fox and/or MGM have not only included the New York Times quote "instant camp classic" on the Blu-Ray release, but the above-mentioned commentary track which roasts the films to within an inch of its life.
The fun doesn't stop there either. The release includes Pole Dancing: Finding Your Inner Stripper, which gives you a roughly 20-minute insight into the pole dancing as exercise craze. A lap-dancing tutorial by the girls of Scores, awesomely provides no surprises in what you get. The surprisingly long, R-ish rated "lesson" shows you exactly how to... well, I give up on that one.
Along with the commentary track, there is also a Fact-Up Trivia track which will splash little bits of trivia on the screen, and the effort is mostly in league with the idea of celebrating the film's glorious badness.
Finally, there are several bonuses under the label "Showgirls Diary," and they are short behind-the-scenes clips, mostly focusing on Verhoeven's effort, and they are a true joy to watch.
Certain releases are special moments in the history of cinema, and this is one. If you don't pick this one up, you really are doing yourself a disservice.
Own it on Blu-Ray today!
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About Marc Eastman
Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.
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