Back in 1987, the biggest hit movie in the US came from Three Men and a Baby, a family-friendly comedic romp. In second place came a surprise: Fatal Attraction, an “R”-rated sex thriller.

Those days are done! In today’s cinematic marketplace, it seems literally impossible to think that an “R”-rated adult-oriented drama like Attraction could wind up in the top 10, much less in second place.

The closest recent example I can conjure would be 2018’s A Star Is Born. Even though it did very well, it still couldn’t crack the US end-of-year top 10.

An adaptation of a 1980 short film called Diversion, Attraction introduces us to Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas), a successful New York attorney. He leads a happy life with wife Beth (Anne Archer) and young daughter Ellen (Ellen Hamilton Latzen).

When Beth and Ellen go away for a weekend, Dan finds himself tempted by Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), a book editor he meets at a party. The pair indulge in a sexual affair over the period while Beth and Ellen remain out of town.

Dan sees this as a one-time fling, but Alex can’t let go. She gradually stalks and threatens Dan in an attempt to remain in his life.

As a 20-year-old in 1987, I suspect I viewed Dan as a victim, one who suffered an extreme penalty for his transgressions. As a 52-year-old in 2019, I view the situation differently.

Not that I don’t come with my own fears of the Psycho Stalker. I’ve never encountered anything on this movie’s level, but I’ve dated some pretty crazy women over the years, so from that POV, I should empathize with Dan.

But I don’t, mainly because he seems like such a selfish SOB. The guy has a gorgeous, loving wife and a nice kid, but he decides to risk all that for a little something-something?

To make matters worse, Dan compounds his error via his choice to spend an entire weekend with Alex. It’d be bad enough if they just indulged in a quickie, but he goes back for more, and then engages in a massive series of lies to cover up his misdeeds.

No, Dan’s not the sympathetic put-upon guy we viewed him as 32 years ago. Even his allegedly innocent choice to go to dinner with Alex appears contrived, as he clearly knows where he wants the evening to proceed.

The way Attraction tends to treat Dan as the hero and Alex as the villain dates the film and makes it tough to take at times. At no point does the movie offer any moral judgment on what Dan did/does, a choice that seems perplexing.

And I don’t think that’s just 33 years of hindsight. The more I think about Attraction, the more stunned I feel that we didn’t all loathe this selfish prick back then.

I think Attraction would work better with an unmarried Dan. Make Alex a woman who just won’t take “no” for an answer and he becomes a sympathetic protagonist.

But here Dan just looks like a lying a-hole. Even when he confesses his sin to Beth, he still doesn’t tell the whole truth, as he claims “it was just one night” since he knows an admission that he went back for seconds would seem even more damning.

Though I view the depiction of Dan as a borderline fatal flaw, Attraction comes with other issues as well. Alex’s insanity goes from zero to 60 too quickly, and I think a more gradual mental breakdown would’ve made more sense.

Also, there’s just not a lot of substance here. Alex does something nutty, Dan gets upset – lather, rinse, etc., without much more to bring to the table.

The actors do their best, though Douglas can’t make Dan sympathetic. Close tries to add warmth to Alex, but the script paints her as such a nutbag that she can’t achieve much with the part.

In the end, it’s the warped sense of protagonist/antagonist that becomes the biggest problem here. The movie offers a black and white portrait that falters due to a weird sense of morality.

Fatal Attraction appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Taken from a new 4K transfer, this became a more than satisfactory presentation.

Sharpness appeared positive, as only minor instances of softness occurred. Some of those related to 80s film stocks, while others came from photographic choices. Either way, the image largely appeared well-defined and concise.

I noticed no signs of jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain felt natural, and I saw no instances of print flaws.

Although Attraction maintained a fairly subdued palette, the various colors appeared well-rendered. Sporadic instances of brighter tones looked appealing, and the rest of the semi-somber presentation appeared appropriate for the story.

Blacks were tight and dark, and shadows tended to appear appropriately dense as well. Even with the movie’s inherent “80s-ness”, this became a quality transfer.

I also felt fairly pleased with the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Attraction, though for the most part, the soundfield offered a subdued affair. Music showed nice stereo imaging, and the movie featured a decent sense of ambience.

Not too many scenes broadened beyond that general feeling of environment, but the track opened up to a reasonable degree when appropriate. Various street/nature scenes worked well, and a club sequence became the most engaging aspect of the mix.

Audio quality felt good. Speech seemed natural, and music showed positive clarity and range.

Effects appeared clear and accurate, though they also never stood out as especially memorable. Though nothing here dazzled, the mix worked well for a character drama.

How did the 2020 “Paramount Presents” Blu-ray compare to the original 2009 version? Because that disc came with problematic visuals, I expected improvements here.

And I got them, as the 2020 BD offered obvious upgrades in terms of picture. The 2020 disc looked better defined and cleaner, and it also came without the edge haloes, muddy blacks and dull colors of its predecessor.

Though I anticipated both discs would boast the same audio, to my surprise the track with the 2020 release felt more expansive and dynamic. Given the nature of the source, this didn’t turn into a huge step up, but I thought the 2020 soundtrack came across as more engaging and higher quality.

The 2020 Blu-ray mixes old and new extras, and we launch with an audio commentary from director Adrian Lyne. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, music, editing, sets and locations, and reactions to the film.

For the most part, Lyne brings a pretty good commentary. He can simply narrate the movie a little more than I’d like, but overall, he gives us a fairly useful overview of production topics.

New to the 2020 Blu-ray, Filmmaker Focus runs seven minutes, 43 seconds and provides more notes from Lyne. He gives us some retrospective thoughts about the flick in this mildly interesting chat.

Next comes seven minutes, nine minutes of Rehearsal Footage. One part shows Douglas and Close together, while the other pairs Archer with an unnamed off-screen performer as Dan. Both are fun to see.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we conclude with an Alternate Ending. The clip fills 12 minutes, four seconds and shows a less crowd-pleasing finale.

I prefer the “Alternate Ending”, as it gives the movie a darker conclusion, one that actually seems to make Dan pay for his actions. I get why the studio opted for something more rousing, but this ending works better for the story.

Note that the 2020 Blu-ray drops three featurettes from the prior release. It perplexes me that we lose these, as they offer good information.

Back in 1987, Fatal Attraction became a major critical and commercial hit. Today it seems like a relic, misogynistic and out of whack with reality. The Blu-ray boasts erratic picture and audio as well as a small set of bonus materials. Attraction doesn’t hold up well, but fans will appreciate the visual and sonic improvements on this Blu-ray, even if it loses some supplements from the original disc.

To rate this film visit the original review of FATAL ATTRACTION