We love Showgirls

Showgirls is a 1995 film directed by Paul Verhoeven. It stars former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan and Gina Gershon. The film centres on a drifter who ventures to Las Vegas and climbs the seedy hierarchy from stripper to showgirl.

Significant controversy and hype surrounding the film's gratuitous amounts of sex and nudity preceded its release. In the United States, the movie was rated NC-17 for "nudity and erotic sexuality throughout, some graphic language and sexual violence." Showgirls was the first NC-17 rated film to be given a wide release in mainstream theaters. United Artists dispatched several hundred staffers to theatres across the United States playing Showgirls in order to assure that patrons would not be sneaking into the film from other films, or that anyone going to see it was under 17 years of age. After the film's second week in theaters, the personnel were recalled due to moviegoers' lack of interest in the film.

After failing at the US box office, Showgirls enjoyed success on the home video market, generating more than $100 million from video rentals Wiser, Paige. "The beauty of 'Showgirls'", Chicago Sun-Times, July 27, 2004 and became one of MGM's top 20 all-time bestsellers,Showgirls (1995) - Trivia. For its video premiere, Verhoeven prepared an R-rated cut for rental outlets that would not carry NC-17 films. This edited version runs 128 minutes and deletes some of the more graphic footage, in particular the infamous lap-dance sequence. Showgirls has since become regarded as a cult classic.