8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A police detective whose wife was killed by the mob teams with a scarred gangster's moll to bring down a powerful gangster.
Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee MarvinDrama | 100% |
Film-Noir | 87% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Fritz Lang's "The Big Heat" (1953) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; video interview with director Martin Scorsese; video interview with director Michael Mann; exclusive new video piece with critic Tony Rayns; original promotional materials; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by critic Glenn Kenny and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
The detective
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fritz Lang's The Big Heat arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.
The release is sourced from the same U.S. master that French label Wild Side Video accessed when it prepared its local release of The Big Heat in 2014. I believe that this master was prepared a little earlier with the involvement of Martin Scorsese, The Film Foundation and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Unsurprisingly, I did not see any major discrepancies as far as the major characteristics that we address in our reviews are concerned. Typically depth and clarity are very pleasing, while the grayscale supports a nice range of healthy primaries and nuances. There are a few areas where density can fluctuate a bit, but these fluctuations are a byproduct of limitations that are present on the master. (A new and more elaborate restoration done on better equipment, however, almost certainly would introduce some noticeable improvements. As it was the case with Sony's restoration of Gilda, at times it is easy to see that there is some room for improvement). There are no traces of compromising sharpening adjustments. In our review of the French release I mentioned that some encoding optimizations could have been made and on this release improvements are indeed easy to see (compare screencapture #12 and screencapture #11 from the review of the French release). Image stability is very good. Lastly, there are no distracting debris, damage marks, cuts, or warped/torn frames to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player or PS3 regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Clarity and depth are very good, though some very minor unevenness can be noticed in a couple of sequences. I assume that in these areas time has left its mark because there are no traces of the type of anomalies that occur during digital remastering. Also, occasionally some extremely light hiss makes its presence felt, but it never affects fluidity or balance. There are no audio drops or digital distortions to report in our review.
NOTE: All of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.
I think it is fair to say that Fritz Lang's The Big Heat should have transitioned to Blu-ray in the United Kingdom a lot earlier, but folks there might be getting the best release of this classic film. Indicator/Powerhouse Films' new release is sourced from the same master that Sony Pictures prepared a few years ago and other boutique labels have already used, but it has the best selection of supplemental features. If you don't have The Big Heat in your collections yet, this is the release to own. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1955
1967
Arrow Academy
1955
Premium Collection
1951
Rundskop
2011
Indicator Series
1961
Arrow Academy
1946
Indicator Series | Standard Edition
1950
1968
Indicator Series
1951
1950
1967
Arrow Academy
1948
Indicator Series | Standard Edition
1947
Arrow Academy
1944
Masters of Cinema
1947
1950
Arrow Academy
1942
Special Edition
1986
Special Edition | Sony Collector's Edition #20
1954