568 Kiss Me Deadly

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Jeff
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568 Kiss Me Deadly

#1 Post by Jeff » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:52 am

Kiss Me Deadly

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In this atomic adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s novel, directed by Robert Aldrich, the good manners of the 1950s are blown to smithereens. Ralph Meeker stars as snarling private dick Mike Hammer, whose decision one dark, lonely night to pick up a hitchhiking woman sends him down some terrifying byways. Brazen and bleak, Kiss Me Deadly is a film noir masterwork as well as an essential piece of cold war paranoia, and it features as nervy an ending as has ever been seen in American cinema.

Disc Features

- New high-definition restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary by film noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini
- New video tribute from director Alex Cox
- Excerpts from The Long Haul of A. I. Bezzerides, a 2005 documentary on the Kiss Me Deadly screenwriter
- Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane, a 1998 documentary about the life and work of the author
- Video pieces on the film’s locations
- Controversial altered ending
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman and a 1955 reprint by director Robert Aldrich

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Finch
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#2 Post by Finch » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:03 pm

Solid sounding material on the Aldrich although they haven't gone to town on this one as they have with the Laughton and McKendrick discs. Still, immensely grateful that they were able to licence this from MGM!

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matrixschmatrix
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#3 Post by matrixschmatrix » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:08 pm

I don't even think you have to pay Silver and Ursini, you just say 'rion' three times into a mirror and they show up for a commentary

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Tribe
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#4 Post by Tribe » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:09 pm

It's a nice touch that the "altered ending" is included.

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colinr0380
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#5 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:10 pm

Fantastic news. Sections of that A.I. Bezzerides documentary relevant to Thieves' Highway had been excerpted on that disc and was one of the highlights of that DVD, so it will be interesting to see a bit more of it!

However it is also a shame to see documentaries chopped up in this way to act as extra feature fodder. I wonder if it is or will be available anywhere in a complete form?

And of course Alex Cox is appropriate due to both the film's cult status and the influence this film likely had on the radioactive contents of the trunk of the car in Repo Man!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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domino harvey
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#6 Post by domino harvey » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:11 pm

Tribe wrote:It's a nice touch that the "altered ending" is included.
It was actually the only extra on the MGM disc

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Tribe
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#7 Post by Tribe » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:16 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Tribe wrote:It's a nice touch that the "altered ending" is included.
It was actually the only extra on the MGM disc
Yes, it was...but that was back in the day, and at the time, before becoming spoiled with extras, I was tickled to death to be able to see both endings.

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colinr0380
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#8 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:36 pm

I'm very excited about the locations feature. Weren't some of the locations in the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles (the same area the M remake was filmed in, and Criss Cross) just before it was totally changed out of recognition?

Just thinking about the ending of Kiss Me Deadly, I presume it was also an influence for a particular exploding beach house scene of Lost Highway (about ten seconds in on this video)?

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antnield
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#9 Post by antnield » Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:11 pm

colinr0380 wrote:I'm very excited about the locations feature. Weren't some of the locations in the Bunker Hill area of Los Angeles (the same area the M remake was filmed in, and Criss Cross) just before it was totally changed out of recognition?
As was Kent Mackenzie's The Exiles - there's a whole before-and-after featurette on the Milestone and BFI DVD editions.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#10 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:21 pm

Actually, Bunker Hill wasn't changed into the Downtown Los Angeles of today until the seventies. It's only filled with offices of glass and steel and half-million dollar condominiums. The Exiles is probably a more honest representation of what the area was like, but Kiss Me Deadly does have some beautiful images from it. All the street locations give you an idea of what downtown and Los Angeles looked like before the skyscrapers invaded. Lots of sprawled out wide streets. If you haven't seen Los Angeles Plays Itself, there are some great moments devoted to just this movie. One of my favorite special features from last year was the mini-doc about the locations Chaplin shot in Los Angeles for Modern Times and I'm happy that Criterion is continuing it.

Props55
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#11 Post by Props55 » Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:00 am

Fantastic news! I'd been hoping this would materialize eventually ever since the MGM deal was closed. Extras sound great but I'd really have prefered Glenn Ericksen or Eddie Mueller (with James Ellroy??!!) on the commentary track. Ursini and Silver, while excellent in the early days of Noir DVD, have really turned into a burn-out case. And I agree with colinr about the Bezzerides doc. "Cineaste de Notre Temps" redux. (And will we ever get part two of Anderson's John Ford doc?) There must be interview film or tape somewhere of Aldrich (perhaps from French TV?) but I'm damned if I can ever remember seeing any. He must be the most under-represented American director of his generation with regard to on-camera footage.

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Peacock
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#12 Post by Peacock » Tue May 31, 2011 10:24 pm


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Arn777
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#13 Post by Arn777 » Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:03 am

Awesome film, akin to watching a David Lynch fil, surely a big influence on Lynch?

hollyharry
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#14 Post by hollyharry » Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:11 am

Arn777 wrote:Awesome film, akin to watching a David Lynch fil, surely a big influence on Lynch?
Probably. The opening credits to Lost Highway are very similar to the opening credits to Kiss Me Deadly.

stwrt
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#15 Post by stwrt » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:08 am

A commentary soundtrack from Alex Cox would have been good. The 6 minute short piece we get isn't really long enough.

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daniel p
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#16 Post by daniel p » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:18 pm

blu-ray.com review also

I haven't seen Kiss me Deadly yet, can somebody please explain this comment from the above review (without spoiling the film if possible)?:
Cinematographer Ernest Laszlo's lensing is legendary. The opening sequence, for instance, which sets the tone for the entire film, and then the shocking finale, which was copied by Steven Spielberg in Raiders of the Lost Ark, are absolutely brilliant.
Looks like a great disc, and sounds like a great film!

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aox
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#17 Post by aox » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:19 pm

worth a blind buy?

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Cold Bishop
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#18 Post by Cold Bishop » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:28 pm

daniel p wrote:can somebody please explain this comment from the above review (without spoiling the film if possible)?
Nope. I don't think you can. But it's a pretty influential ending in general.

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Murdoch
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#19 Post by Murdoch » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:35 pm

Just see the movie, it's the best noir out there.

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daniel p
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#20 Post by daniel p » Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:39 pm

Ok thanks, will buy it with next purchase.

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Tribe
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#21 Post by Tribe » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:13 am

aox wrote:worth a blind buy?
While it's a relatively late variation within the cycle, if you like film noir, it's definitely worth a blind buy.

Mr. Ned
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#22 Post by Mr. Ned » Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:59 am

I take it since the cover art hasn't been changed Netflix doesn't have the new CC edition in stock. Too bad. Is this worth splurging on the next B&N sale?

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scotty2
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#23 Post by scotty2 » Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:09 am

Look at the Lists Project Noir rankings and you will get a sense of the forum's affection for this one.

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swo17
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#24 Post by swo17 » Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:53 am

Mr. Ned wrote:I take it since the cover art hasn't been changed Netflix doesn't have the new CC edition in stock. Too bad. Is this worth splurging on the next B&N sale?
Netflix doesn't stock any new Criterions anymore, unless they're for films released in the last couple years. See here. If you want to be able to rent Criterions, join Blockbuster.

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Tribe
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Re: 568 Kiss Me Deadly

#25 Post by Tribe » Wed Jun 22, 2011 12:38 pm

I like this take on Kiss Me Deadly by Alain Silver from Film Noir: The Encyclopedia (and there may be something of a spoiler):
SpoilerShow
...Kiss Me Deadly ranks with the most important examples of film noir by any director. It has the menace of Night and the City, the grim determinism of Out of the Past, the cynicism of Double Indemnity, the reckless energy of Gun Crazy, and the visual flourish of Touch of Evil. Kiss Me Deadly also reflects such contemporary issues as McCarthyism and moral decline and the nuclear peril that haunted the end of the noir period. These, too, are part of the fabric of film noir. Aldrich's early career coincides with the beginning and end of the classic period of film noir; and he would revisit many of the noir cycle's themes in later films....But as a symbol of what film noir epitomized or of the powerful, malevolent forces lurking in its vision of the modern world, nothing would ever loom larger than a mushroom cloud over Malibu.
And as many times as I've seen KMD...it never dawned on me until last night that Jack Elam was one of the toughs at the beach house!

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