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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Body Heat: Deluxe Edition (1981)

Body Heat: Deluxe Edition (1981)

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Released 6-Jun-2007
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Deleted Scenes-Lifted Scenes Featurette-Making Of-Body Heat: The Plan, The Production, The Post-production Interviews-Cast-Vintage Interviews with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner Theatrical Trailer-Original Film Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1981
Running Time	108:42
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Lawrence Kasdan
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	William Hurt Kathleen Turner Richard Crenna Ted Danson J.A. Preston Mickey Rourke Kim Zimmer Jane Hallaren Lanna Saunders Carola McGuinness Michael Ryan Larry Marko Deborah Lucchesi
Case	Amaray-Transparent	Starring
RPI	?	Music	John Barry

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Polish Dolby Digital 1.0 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English Danish Finnish Norwegian Polish Portuguese Swedish English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

It's a hot summer. Ned Racine is waiting for something special to happen. And when it does... He won't be ready for the consequences.

When the seductive, married Matty Walker takes the small-town lawyer Ned into her bed, their affair is the only thing hotter than the never-ending summer. The only thing that stands in their way of their happiness is her husband, a violent man who takes the upmost pleasure in her mistreatment. As the couple form a plan, neither can be sure of the outcome of their violence and passion, but it is sure to alter the course of both of their lives - permanently.

Very much a modern film noir, the film stages itself as a thriller featuring modern day incarnations of classic noir icons - William Hurt is fabulous as a cross between an average-joe and a hard-boiled detective, and Kathleen Turner steams up the screen as the femme fatale. The film is gritty and hot; the love scenes share classic noir sensibilities with modern rawness, lavishing nudity and sex on the audience. Likewise, the violence shares a similar grit, with nothing held back onscreen, and because of it, the dread feels all the more real as the plot unfolds.

Although lacking anything deeper, Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat is an excellent genre film, which is still deeply effective and seductive despite being over 20 years old. It feels like a perfect companion piece to more recent noir genre pieces, such as Sin City and Brick, all of which do a modern take on the fascinating style and storylines that defined film noir in its times. Highly recommended.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video is presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

Despite boasting that this is a new "Digital Director-Approved Transfer", the video here has a lot of issues. Constantly grainy, the transfer features an abundance of noise and artefacts, across the entire running time. Dark scenes are plagued with low level noise, whereas the bright daylight scenes look faded and dull. Strong sharpness and detail is often opposed by grain and artefacts.

There is some telecine wobble occasionally across the film, and the more dire artefacts are seen much more often than any other DVD I've seen (you'll find hair in the frame at 3:32, 48:35, 52:53, etc). Later, there's a horrible lack of detail in foggy scenes, featuring almost nothing but noise (see 56:02). At worst, you'll find the print horribly scratched at 68:45; this is contrasting to a lot of clearly remastered scenes that look pristine; a very uneven transfer indeed. Although this isn't the worst transfer I've seen, and it's certainly not unwatchable, it's a surprise to find a "Deluxe Edition" treated so poorly.

There are 8 subtitle tracks, and the English I sampled was accurate.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0, and Polish Dolby Digital 1.0.

The 5.1 soundtrack is strong, with all the dialogue, effects and music well balanced, but the surround is lacking, particularly from the rear speakers. There is some movement in driving scenes, as well as some bass support during some of the violent scenes, but otherwise this is yet another glorified Dolby Digital 2.0 track.

The music by composer John Barry is absolutely magnificent, a perfect mix of 1940's noir sound which plays up the seduction, and then violence, and finally dread. It evolves as the film untangles, but keeps the same feeling and constant tension, working perfectly.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Animated Menus with Sound

The film's main jazz theme song plays over still art from the film; sets the scene very nicely for the film, previewing that lovely soundtrack.

Lifted Scenes - In the Backseat (1:03), Stewardess (1:01), Practise Run (2:05), First Murder Attempt (1:01), After the Attempt (4:08)

Presented in a very clean 1.85:1, these omissions are not essential but further build on the characters of Ned and Matty, particularly drawing attention to her sexual power over him, including a lovely sultry scene involving a stewardess costume, and a subplot involving a failed first murder attempt. Not essential, but they add a little extra to the package that is particularly interesting after watching the film, and its major twist.

Body Heat Documentaries - The Plan (17:06), The Production (16:17), The Post-production (10:36)

This comprehensive documentary on the creation of Body Heat is particularly interesting for film students, who get an uncommonly engaging look at how the film was brought from concept to screen, including a lot of the fresh ideas that went into making it and obstacles that were tackled completing the project. I like the discussion of what led to the concept and creation by the writer/director, and then all of the little gems that added to the product, including how having a woman editor altered the erotic charge of the film, how those sex scenes were shot and viewed, how the film was scored, and how the film was cast. There's a discussion of the major subplot removed (which can be found in the Lifted Scenes) and a minimum of unneeded pats-on-the-back and shout-outs that normally burden featurettes like this.

Vintage Interviews with William Hurt and Kathleen Turner (12:35)

This is particularly interesting; these are two interviews from over 20 years ago, with the two leads in much earlier stages of their career, during the production of the film. It's very interesting to compare the interviews here and in the documentaries, and both leads are fascinating to listen to, including their background for the film, how they had to act with each other to play the parts respectfully, and how first time director Kasdan worked on his directorial debut.

Theatrical Trailer (1:34)

This hot little trailer features quick flashes of some of that hot, sweaty sex, as well as a mixture of the violence and close-ups on Ned, scored only to Matty's windchimes; it absolutely nails the tone and narrative of the film. This is a great little trailer, weighed down only by awful '80s special effects. In a gritty, authentic 1.85:1.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

The R1 and R4 versions of the DVD are identical. Reviews boast of a better film transfer for the R1 version of the Deluxe Edition, which leads me to conclude that this would be best in R1, despite the advantage of PAL.

Summary

Body Heat is a hot, taut thriller, a great modern film noir and excellent debut by Lawrence Kasdan.

The video is unfortunately average, featuring an equal number of pristine and awful, nearly unwatchable scenes in the transfer.

The audio is quite good, preserving the fantastic soundtrack by John Barry. The extras are entertaining and comprehensive, with features here for both fans and casual viewers.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	LG LH-D6230, using Component output
Display	Benq PE7700. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p.
Audio Decoder	Built in to DVD Player, Dolby Digital and DTS. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL).
Amplification	LG
Speakers	B&W LCR 600 S3 (Front & Centre); B&W DM 600 (Rears); B&W ASW500 (Sub)

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