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.

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Video Quality

The Criterion Collection presents The Big Heat on 4K UHD Blu-Ray courtesy of a terrific 4K digital restoration by Sony from the 35mm Original Camera Negative and a 35mm Fine-Grain Master Positive. The film is presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio in 2160p Dolby Vision/HDR. The film was released on Blu-Ray twice previously by Twilight Time in 2012 and 2016. Those releases are long out of print, and we have never seen those transfers derived from older masters to make comparisons. What we can confidently say is that this new presentation looks spectacular. The transfer is clear of nearly all potential dust specks and print damage that you might expect from a film of this vintage. And, as expected from Sony, this transfer retains the filmic quality of the picture with fine film grain harnessing a world of detail.

The black and white cinematography of Charles Lang is a work of art with smooth gradients and subtle textures in the design elements. The frame presents some exquisite depth to the canvas which gives way to a pleasing sense of scale within the settings. The contrast remains tight and provides valuable improvements in sharpness. With Dolby Vision, black levels are deep without any unwanted nuisances such as digital noise or compression artifacts, and highlights never come up short with blooming. The restoration reveals plenty of textural facets in the clothing and production design. The Criterion Collection will make film noir fans happy with this one.

Audio Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc comes with a lovingly remastered LPCM 1.0 mono track with optional English SDH subtitles. Since this is a noir, you do have many of the hallmarks of the genre such as gunshots, loud outbursts, car engines, and more that transport you into this narrative. Even with all of this at play, there do not seem to be any serious instances of age-related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. This track does everything it needs to guarantee that dialogue comes through clearly. Environmental sounds are conjured well alongside everything else for a consistently good experience. The score sounds great without any shortcomings in the fidelity. Criterion has given this film the thoughtfully preserved audio presentation it deserves.

Special Features

The Criterion 4K UHD Blu-Ray of The Big Heat includes a foldout pamphlet featuring the essay “Fate’s Network” by author Jonathan Lethem which explores the themes, the work of Fritz Lang, the legacy of the film, and more that is very illuminating. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: A new commentary track from film-noir experts Alain Silver and James Ursini in which they discuss the legacy of the film, how it fits into the career of Fritz Lang, the background of the performers, the impact of the production code, the influence of the producers, and more.

The Women of The Big Heat: A new 28-minute visual essay in which critic Farran Smith Nehme dives into the place of women in film noir, how Fritz Lang uses them in his narratives, the different archetypes they occupy, parallels to real-world issues, the performances of the women, and more.

Fritz Lang: Two archival audio interviews are provided in which the filmmaker discusses his career, how he views the audience, notable themes that appeal to him, and more.

- Lang with Bachmann (1956) (16:08)

- Lang with Bogdanovich (1965) (6:54)

Martin Scorsese: A six-minute archival interview with filmmaker Martin Scorsese in which he discusses the impact of watching the film as a kid, the themes of the picture, the visual language of the film, the legacy of the film, and more.

Michael Mann: An 11-minute archival interview with filmmaker Michael Mann in which he discusses the influences of German expressionist cinema on the film, how the women stand out in the story, the morality of the feature, and more.

Trailer (1:44)

Final Thoughts

The Big Heat is one of the more vicious film noirs to be released during the Hays Code era, and it stands as one of the best Fritz Lang outings we have seen. The moody cinematography sets the stage perfectly for this dark tale of corruption and revenge. The ensemble is firing on all cylinders from the star power of Glenn Ford to the burgeoning persona of Lee Marvin. This is a prime example of how impactful a good film noir can be. The Criterion Collection has delivered a new 4K UHD Blu-Ray that offers a grand A/V presentation and some marvelous special features. This is a must-own for fans of the genre. Highly Recommended

The Criterion Collection edition of The Big Heat is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD and Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: The Criterion Collection has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.