CLOSURE: Central Library will be closed Tuesday, July 21, through Saturday, July 25, while emergency repairs are made to the building’s cooling system. We expect to reopen Monday, July 27. Click for more details on holds, program schedules, and returns during the closure. 

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

The big heat

Call Number

  • 4K BLU-RAY MYSTERY/THRILLER (CEN)

Edition

4K UHD + Blu-ray special edition.

Languages

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Performers

Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin, Jeanette Nolan.

Publication Information

[New York, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2025]

Physical Description

2 videodisc (89 minutes) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded sheet (illustrations ; 16 cm)

Audience

Not rated.

Summary

"Noir doesn't get any more hard-boiled than this scorching tale of vice and retribution, a film that finds director Fritz Lang working at the peak of his Hollywood style--stripped to the bone, simmering with outrage, and fatalistic to the core. A tightly wound Glenn Ford stars as a homicide detective whose investigation into a sprawling crime syndicate becomes a shockingly personal, hate-fueled quest for revenge. Costarring an iconic Gloria Grahame as the mink-coated gangster's moll with her own axe to grind, and featuring a supporting cast led by a sensationally sleazy Lee Marvin, The Big Heat hits with raw, unstoppable force."--Container.

Notes

This is a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and requires a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player; it will not play in standard Blu-ray or DVD players. For full 4K UHD effects, a 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR and a high-speed HDMI (category 2) cable are required.

Based upon the Saturday evening post serial by William P. McGivern.

Originally produced as a motion picture in 1953.

Special features: New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack ; one 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features ; new audio commentary by film-noir experts Alain Silver and James Ursini ; new video essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme on the women in the film ; audio interviews with director Fritz Lang, conducted by film historian Gideon Bachmann and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich ; interviews with filmmakers Michael Mann and Martin Scorsese ; trailer.

Contents

  • [Disc one.] 4K Ultra HD version
  • [Disc two.] Blu-ray version.