I have seen this movie more than 5 times and marvel at it each time. Not a wasted shot. Great music, acting and a terrific plot. I would rate this a 9/10. Wonder why it is not considered a classic along the lines of Chinatown (which I also love)?
Paging George Kaplan.
It's absolutely the classic Noir movie.
shareAgreed check out Romeo is Bleeding and The Kill-Off too for some equally forgotten great Neo Noir.
shareAbsolutely agree! Still holds up 30 years later
shareYou are correct, Quentin. I fell hopelessly in love with Body Heat when it first debuted in '81, and I love it still. If anything, it improves with age.
And, not many movies you can say that about.
I believe Body Heat stands right up with the best of film noir classics, such as Double Indemnity, Out Of The Past, and Laura.
Simply said, Body Heat is a perfect movie. A stunner!
-AnaElisa
Anaelisa, I had just watched it fir tge first time in years when I commented and it was excellent. I have told so many people about it and very few know it. Which is too bad, it deserves more fans.
I show them the scene with Mickey Rourke, which I love and they can't believe that it is Rourke.
I had the DVD and lent it to someone never to be seen again.
Thanks for the note
My sentiments exactly. The best American film noirs in my opinion are DOUBLE INDEMNITY, OUT OF THE LAST and BODY HEAT.
I think it is considered a modern noir classic. I wouldn't have heard of it otherwise. That said, I did finally get around to watching it recently and I was a little disappointed. It's a very solid movie and a very solid noir, but it's not great or anything.
shareI liked the film and enjoyed the performances but if feels a little like they are trying a little TOO HARD to come across as noir. 💣
shareI don't understand "tried too hard" - is that a flaw somehow - Body Heat ranks beside Chinatown as a classic noir - they don't get any better
share😲Tried to hard means, being obvious almost to a silly or rediculous point.
shareOK I get it - any examples of the film being noir ridiculous?
shareyou know I thought of one example - setting is modern day Miami yet there doesn't seem to be air conditioning - making the scenes hotter than they needed to be
shareIt’s not Miami. They are on the coast, at least two counties north of Dade County in a fictitious county called Oculanta or something and it’s referred to as being a backwater so it’s probably north Broward or Palm Beach County.
There was crappy ac in the diner. But I think the lack of it was a creative decision to give off an old movie feel.
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It is my favourite noir film. They don't make em like this any more. Loved the music, the atmosphere, the story was excellent, the characters perfectly formed and nothing is dumbed down. I would despair at a modern version of it. Full of teenagers vamping it up, wayyyy too much music, manipulating every word being said.
Unbeatable IMO.
I like Ted Danson dancin' by himself on the dock, just to pass the time. What a great visual aside.
I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.
So what is " great or anything." ?
I'm not a woman much less Deanna Durbin, but the old-time glam-shot appeals to me.
I also love it, and the music from it.
Since film noir can be considered a genre or style, and shouldn't be constrained by time frames, I wonder why IMDB doesn't also list that in Body Heat's (and Chinatown's) categories like it does with classic films noir, like Laura in this example.
http://screencast.com/t/q9HLPcNLB
I just watched this for the first time last week and I can't stop thinking about it. I loved it! I saw the parallels to Double Indemnity but it still was it's own film. Hurt and Turner both looked so hot and they played the characters so well. The music was perfect. Loved this movie!
I watched Body Heat this morning after taking this movie out of my public library and turns out, I thought it was very good. I liked it and gave it an 8/10. It's not my favorite movie but I really did like Lawrence Kasdan's follow-up to this movie, The Big Chill, so I figured I should watch this. I'm glad I did. There are too many movies I haven't seen. Kathleen Turner was also a babe in this movie and I could see why men were so in love with her back in the 1980s. The score is amazing!
sharelove love this.
I hated Jaws, it had too much shark, and dont get me started about King Kong, waaay too much gorilla
Actually, I think it IS regarded as one of the finest film noirs ever made (and it's in my own top 3).
But just out of curiosity, given your rave review, I'm curious as to why you would award it 9/10 instead of 10/10.
Good film, but out of modern noir's I would put Chinatown and LA Confidential ahead by a decent margin. I really enjoyed it, but I found it copied way too much of Double Indemnity to be labelled as the best of the genre. Before listing this as the best noir of all-time I'd list Double Indemnity since so much of it inspired it. I'd say most of the early Wilder noir's deserve to be ranked ahead of it (Sunset Boulivard, Ace in the Hole and Double Indemnity).
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