Product Description

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 06/17/2003

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22234 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 1998-05-13
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
Played to surly, snarly imperfection, Mickey Rourke's character (John) in 9-1/2 Weeks helped raise the bar on how much to reveal in mainstream soft porn. Whether erotic tension was raised by his relationship with Elizabeth (Kim Basinger) is another matter, and may well reflect whether one is aroused by the idea of abusive sex with--well, someone like Mickey Rourke.

Regardless, Another 9-1/2 Weeks was released direct to video, so perhaps this tells us something about the confidence of loosing a sequel into an unsuspecting theater market. Of course, the central question raised by the sequel is: Whatever happened to John? After all, when Kim Basinger won an Oscar in L.A. Confidential, we lost any chance of seeing what happened to Elizabeth. Well, true to his burly macho sensitivity, John's been yearning for the glory days, when he could take a casual stroll from his Wall Street job and pick up someone like Elizabeth for three months of increasingly scumbag treatment. We can practically hear him thinking, "Where are those closet-sub, art gallery dealers when you really need them?"

Try Paris. That's the home of Lea (Angie Everhart), Elizabeth's best friend. Aha--will she be John's new obsession, or the catalyst for a deeper, more profound change in his character? See if you can tell from his thoughtful, yet fashionably brooding expression as he gazes toward the Seine at the end. --Stephan Magcosta

Customer Reviews

"you just don't get it"
There is a point in the movie where John tells Lea "You just don't get it, do you?"

All I can say is that the screenwriter and director of the sequel just don't get it. The magic in the original 9 1/2 weeks was the power and control games - that is what made the sexual tension between John and Elizabeth so captivating. The sex scenes themselves weren't even all that explicit, but the foreplay and interaction was so intruiging that the viewer can imagine how hot the sex itself was. Even just Mickey Rourke's way of staring at Kim with that supreme self-confidence and knowing smile was enough to make the movie "en fuego" (on fire).

Another 9 1/2 weeks, by contrast, is full of gratuitous sex scenes with no real force behind them. John is jaded and has given up on his previous style of seduction. He no longer holds the sex appeal he had in the original movie - no confidence, no little smile. At the same time, Lea is just pathetic as she tries to egg him into playing his old games. The ending is a predictable and shameless rip-off of the original.

If you're looking for more in the style of the original 9 1/2 Weeks, I recommend you buy the book by Elizabeth McNeill. It is more violent and graphic, but extremely well written, and lets you dive into Elizabeth's mind as the power gap between she and John slowly widens and she abandons all control.

Average movie
The original 9 1/2 weeks was far better. The majority of the movie I had no idea what was going on. There were far too many plot twists, really odd characters, and a general lack of good acting. Even the scenes of France were bad. All you ever see are the deep, dark, dirty areas of the city. Angie Everhart is a great model but even she could not help this movie. This movie can sit on the shelf with all the other bad sequels.

What became of John and Elizabeth
"Another 9 1/2 Weeks" shows us what became of John (Mickey Rourke) and Elizabeth. The sequel takes place about a decade after its first part where an older John Gray goes to Paris in search for clues to what became of the woman he fell in love with. There, he meets Elizabeth's friend Lea who knows a lot about him - and still wants to be with him. She wants excitement and thinks she just might even be too much for him. So this time the game of cat and mouse is not one sided, as she has a wild side to match his to make some sparks fly.

John isn't entirely the same man he once was, as his mind is still on his past. He is man of remorse and was never the same after Elizabeth left him. I found part of the storyline sad because he loved someone and knows she is gone from his life because of his own actions. Part of him seemed to want to make the past live on, and it did in his thoughts, but they really tormented him. This part of the story really struck a cord and made me reflect on my own life.

John thinking of Elizabeth and Lea knowing about his past doesn't stop them from developing a strange romance. She wants the thrills and dominating man she heard about. "Another 9 1/2 Weeks" didn't have the same level of suspense as "9 1/2 Weeks," but it definitely has some excitement and erotic moments like the first part. It was a more somber film that gives some conclusion to what happened to that once passionate couple and how both their lives were never the same. From there, this new romance leaves us with something to reflect on.