R | 1h 53min | Drama, Romance, Crime, Mystery, Thriller | 28 August 1981 (USA)
A late arrival to the American New Wave period, Lawrence Kasdan nonetheless cemented his stature in that era by co-scripting “The Empire Strikes Back” and being the solo screenwriter on “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” both produced by George Lucas. So impressed and confident was Lucas with Kasdan’s skills, he vouched for him to Warner Bros. and guaranteed any funding due to budget overages for Kasdan’s directorial debut “Body Heat.”
As with fellow New Wavers Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdonavich and others, Kasdan was a huge fan of European film noir and set about to make a modern-day thriller with all of the earmarks and calling cards of the late ’40s and early ’50s….