"Basic Instinct"

Top 20 Most Controversial Films

Sharon Stone's plays wicked writer Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct," which features graphic sex, violence and the infamous interrogation "revelation" scene. (Photo: Tristar Pictures)

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"Basic Instinct" Sharon Stone's plays wicked writer Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct," which features graphic sex, violence and the infamous interrogation "revelation" scene. (Photo: Tristar Pictures)
"Birth of a Nati... Director D. W. Griffith created the first Hollywood blockbuster...it just happened to make the Ku Klux Klan the heroes of the story! (Photo: Epoch Film Co.)
"Bonnie and Clyd... Director Arthur Penn broke plenty of Hollywood taboos by portraying these real life gangsters as the heroes of the story. Plus, there was plenty of sex and excessive violence to shake up the censors. (Photo: WB)
"Brokeback Mount... Heterosexual actors Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal bucked all conventions by playing two cowboys in love and showing it with intimacy on screen. (Photo: Focus Features)
"A Clockwork Ora... Director Stanley Kubrick adapts Anthony Burgess's novel into an X-rated horrifying vision of futuristic, youth-oriented gang culture. Noted film critic Pauline Kael called it "pornographic." (Photo: WB)
"The Da Vinci Co... The Roman Catholic Church was livid at Ron Howard for translating what they say are Dan Brown's lies about Christian history to the big screen. (Photo: WB)
"Dirty Harry" Clint Eastwood created the prototype for a new type of cop good guy that wasn't so good. His justice by way of a bullet was a novel and gritty game changer for cinema. (Photo: WB)
"The Exorcist" William Friedkin's horror classic shocked audiences with by using a little girl (Linda Blair) to spew out the nastiest profanity, sexual innuendo and pea-soup vomiting that Satan had to offer. (Photo: WB)
"JFK" Oliver Stone's conspiracy theory film about who really killed JFK infuriated witnesses to the real event, who said it just gave credence to crackpot paranoia and untruths. (Photo: WB)
"The Last Tempta... Director Martin Scorsese freaked out Christians all over the world by depicting Christ envisioning life married to Mary Magdalene and raising a family instead of dying on the cross. (Photo: Universal)
"The Outlaw" (19... Howard Hughes' directorial debut shocked the world by ignoring censorship standards and prominently featuring Jane Russell's breast in the film and the posters. It was banned even with cuts. (Photo: Public Domain)
"The Passion Of ... Mel Gibson didn't hold back a bit in showing Christ's brutal beatings and graphic torture by the Romans on the long, slow, agonizing path to his crucifixion. Some Christians said it was just too much, while others found it cathartic. (Photo: Newmarket Films)
"Requiem for a D... Director Darren Aronofsky's bleak tale of addiction was given an NC-17 rating for a graphic sex scene and the disturbing depiction of heroin abuse. (Photo: Artisan Entertainment)
"Rosemary's Baby... Roman Polanski's film raised plenty of ire for its depiction of a regular woman raped by Satan so she could birth his spawn. (Photo: Paramount)
"South Park: Big... "South Park's" only foray into film earned it a Guinness record for "Most Swearing in an Animated Film" - with a profane word used every six seconds. (Photo: Paramount Pictures)
"Triumph Of The ... Leni Riefenstahl's artfully photographed film about the "merits" of Hitler's Nazi party is considered one of the most potent propaganda films ever produced. (Photo: Universum Film AG)
"The Texas Chain... Tobe Hooper's 1974 film helped ignite the entire genre of uber violent horror films that have morphed into the sub genre known as "torture porn" today. The film was banned from many theaters when it was initially released. (Photo: New Line Cinema)
"Lolita" Both Stanley Kubrick and Adrian Lyne's adaptations of Vladimir Nabokov's story about an older man obsessed with an underage girl both stirred up plenty of trouble for their frank depictions of jail-bait lust. (Photo: MGM)
"Antichrist" Director Lars von Trier's latest film revolves around a couple whose son falls out a window and dies when they are having sex. From then on it devolves into a horrific tale about redemption through self-mutilation. (Photo:Zentropa Entertainment)
"Midnight Cowboy... Director John Schlesinger's adaptation of James Leo Herlihy's novel about a gay gigolo is the only X-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. (Photo: United Artists)
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