Lawrence Kasdan made his directorial debut with this steamy thriller featuring Kathleen Turner and William Hurt.
Ned Racine (William Hurt) is a Florida lawyer that meets up with femme fatale Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner). She’s plotting to murder her wealthy husband Edmund (Richard Crenna) and pulls Ned into her web. Ned sends the husband in for a dirt nap and thanks to one of his clients, Teddy Lewis (Mickey Rourke); he’s able to cover up the crime.
Things seem to be going well until the district attorney’s office starts to get incriminating evidence and soon D.A. Peter Lowenstein (Ted Danson) and police detective Oscar Grace (J.A. Preston) are hot on a trail that leads back to Ned and Matty.
Lawrence Kasdan was a successful writer with two little films called Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back under his belt. Yeah, I never heard of them either [insert rimshot here].
He made his directorial debut in 1981 with this throwback to the days of noir. Kathleen Turner definitely turned up the heat, as this was her film debut. It would make her career and lead to roles in fare such as Romancing the Stone and Prizzi’s Honor that would just seal the deal.
I’ve always enjoyed her turn in a more deranged steamy flick Crimes of Passion, but that’s more of a comedy to me. William Hurt had been noticed in 1980’s Altered States, ironically also directed by Ken Russell who helmed Crimes of Passion, and the success of Body Heat didn’t exactly hurt his career either. His turn in Kasdan’s Big Chill (1983) probably didn’t hurt things either.
Turner has never been so sultry and yet so devious and you see why her career took off. If you wished you could turn down the color on your television and you might think that you were watching something from the 1940s. The complete lack of air conditioning and stifling Floridian heat also made me think it as well.
Time and other movies, such as Basic Instinct, have made Body Heat look rather pedestrian but I’m sure in 1981 it was as hot as the landscape in which the story takes place.
Body Heat is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). The special features are in standard definition. Not that they’re not still good, but they do come from the previous DVD release from 2006.
First up are 5 deleted (aka lifted) scenes totaling 9 minutes. Next are three featurettes about the film. First is the 17-minute “The Production” that tells how Kasdan wrote the screenplay and the casting process as well as interviewing (circa 2006) Hurt, Turner, and Danson.
The 16-minute “Filming” that tells shooting the film and the 10-minute “Post Production” about the editing, scoring, and the film’s release. There are a 12-minute vintage interview with Turner and Hurt from 1981 and the 94-second theatrical trailer.
Body Heat is a fine example of a modern noir and it started some careers that have gone on to bigger and better things. This Blu-ray edition offers an improved picture and all of the great special features from the previous release. Just make sure the air conditioning is turned up when you watch it.
Body Heat [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story