Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion Collection) (1955) On Blu-ray

Actor:           Ralph Meeker, Cloris Leachman, Gaby Rodgers, Maxine Copper, Albert Dekker        
Director:      Robert Aldrich
Genre:          Mystery
Year:            1955
Studio:         Criterion
Length:        106
Released:   June 21, 2011
Rating:         Not Rated (MPAA Rating)
Format:        Blu-ray
Misc:            NTSC, Black & White
Language:  English
Subtitles  :  N/A

DESCRIPTION:

In this atomic adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s novel, directed by Robert Aldrich (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Dirty Dozen), the good manners of the 1950s are blown to smithereens. Ralph Meeker (Paths of Glory, The Dirty Dozen) 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 masterpiece 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.

Special Features:

New high-definition restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Audio commentary by film noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini

New video tribute from director Alex Cox (Repo Man, Walker)

Excerpts from The Long Haul of A. I. Bezzerides, a 2005 documentary on the Kiss Me Deadly screenwriter

Excerpts from Mike Hammer’s, Mickey Spillane, a 1998 documentary on the author whose book inspired the film

A look at the film’s locations

Altered ending

Theatrical trailer

PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic J. Hoberman and a 1955 reprint by director Robert Aldrich