It isn’t just new releases that have been coming into the high definition realm but older movies as well. This is both welcome and questionable in many ways, though I have seen some outstanding releases that are twenty or more years old. There are some surprises as well, such as a film like Body Heat getting the blu ray treatment. This is one of those films that I know only by name alone, so this would actually be my first dealing with it, and for the time that it was release, I’m sure it was a great piece of cinema, but with the 30th anniversary getting close, some might find that the movie looks a bit dated.

According to critic Roger Ebert, Body Heat was inspired by the 1944 film Double Indemnity, something I can really dispute as it’s another film that I’ve never seen before, and that movie was in turn inspired by a true crime that occurred back in 1927. In Body Heat, Ned Racine (William Hurt) is an attorney living in small, but apparently well-to-do community. His nightly “prowls” at the local bars have found him meeting Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner), a married woman who isn’t interested in his advances, at least not at first. One thing leads to another and the two eventually become lovers, something that is very easy to hide since Matty’s husband Edmund (Richard Crenna) only visits on the weekend and works in the Miami area most of the week.

Ned begins to learn more about Edmund and the rather large fortune that he has amassed. Matty and Ned soon cook up a plan to get rid of her husband permanently, but they will need to make a few changes to the will beforehand since he has left everything to his sister. With their plan concocted and finally acted upon, it seems that they have gotten away with murder, and things are looking up even more when a mistake on Ned’s part has now left everything in the will to Matty. However, the police are questioning what really happened to Edmund. Ned’s friend Peter Lowenstein (Ted Danson) is representing Edmund’s sister and seems to be getting closer to the truth, but he’s more concerned with Ned’s association with Matty, a woman that he simply doesn’t trust.

Body Heat works with approach of being what many label as “sexual thriller,” an idea that has never been forgotten by Hollywood and tends to get more and steamier to some extent as time goes on. The main problem that I found while watching the movie is that it really takes its own sweet time building up to where things start to get interesting. A huge amount of the film is spent exploring the relationship that is developing between Ned and Matty, something that is important but honestly could have been trimmed down considerably in order to move the plot forward at a better pace. This unfortunately tends to be the approach that most movies in this particular genre try and work their magic, so patience is really the key to enjoying this movie.

This isn’t really a whodunit type of movie though, but one that is more about the perpetrators of murder trying to cover their tracks. Ned and Matty though initially had no idea that their vile deed would end up drawing so much attention, and let’s keep in mind that forensics really weren’t widespread back when this movie was made. Their plan for murder is to put Edmund in a location that “mysteriously” catches fire, something that is made easier after Ned turns to a former client, Teddy Lewis (Mickey Rourke) for a bomb that will help ignite the fire. The investigation quickly reveals that this was arson, and Edmund being on the property looks suspicious even though the building was owned by some very shady individuals. Ned tries to play everything cool, though it’s noticeable that he and Matty are much closer than they should be and he even admits to sleeping with her, at least now that her husband is deceased. Of course, he would never mention to anyone what happened before the “accident,” but there are some who are suspicious.

Body Heat though does throw in a very nice twist at the end of the film, one where all the clues and signs are given, but it’s never really that apparent as far as what direction the plot is heading to until the final moments of the movie. But, that takes us back to the issue of the build up, and it is very easy to lose interest if this isn’t the type of movie that you’re interested in. The acting is good and there’s a great cast assembled, including of course some actors in their earlier years before they would rise to fame of their own through various projects. The script does get a bit ridiculous at times, but then again, this was the start of the 80’s and corny dialog was just as common then as it was before and in many instances, still is today. At times some of the scenes also drag on a little too long and could have endured some trimming during the editing process, but at least Body Heat keeps moving forward and doesn’t linger too long on these extraneous moments.

This release, to me at least, feels like something of a rush job. The picture quality isn’t really as spectacular as one might have hoped for. There is quite a bit of grain especially during any of the darker scenes during the movie, though there at least isn’t any visible “pops” as I have found in a few other releases. Warner has some great films in their catalog that I really feel might have been a better substitute such as The Exorcist, THX 1138, Altered States or even Chariots of Fire. I’m not sure if some of these would have faired better visually, but I think that for some of these, the audience is a great deal larger, but I could also be mistaken.

The blu ray release at least carries with it all of the features that were found on the DVD release, though there isn’t anything additional beyond this. As I have noted with many older releases though, it’s not always going to be easy to dig up extra features and not every studio is keeping a huge vault of every single frame of film related to a movie. There are three different documentaries which can be played as a feature or separate. There is a good deal of information in these which is good and there are plenty of interviews, so if you’re a long time fan, or even a new one, this will give you more details on Body Heat that what you probably knew before. An interesting addition is an interview with Turner and Hurt from back in 1981 but some might have issues with dealing with Hurt and his attitude, though I think that’s really always been the case. You will also get deleted scenes and a look at the original theatrical trailer, things that are far too common with video releases, but also highly expected.

Body Heat isn’t a movie that I would say is horrible, but it’s also one that didn’t completely win me over either, mainly because of the slow pacing at times. But, the positive thing is that it’s not nearly as predictable as what so many other thrillers and “noir” movies are today and while I would think that screenwriters might be advised to look at this film before trying to tackle the genre, I think we’d just end up with a clone of Body Heat.

-mike-