There may be no other film from 1967 that feels as vibrant and current as Norman Jewison's classic In the Heat of the Night. The fact that the film is four decades old this year - and has received a great Anniversary DVD to mark the occasion - is astonishing for a number of reasons. It's a testament to the filmmaking ability of everyone involved that the film feels like it could be made today, but it's also a sad commentary on how far we still have to go in the civil rights movement that the issues around the film - racism, South vs. North, class - still resonate so deeply. The tale of a black homicide detective caught between justice and prejudice in the Deep South struck a nerve in 1967 and it has lost very little of its power to do so. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture, and, if you haven't seen it, you have missed required viewing for "Film 101."

"Turning Up the Heat: Movie-Making in the '60s" is a longer and more thorough featurette but for pure enjoyment, we'll take "The Slap Heard Around the World." In one of the most incredible scenes in movie history, Sydney Poitier's Mr. Tibbs finds himself on the end of a racist plantation owner's open hand and rather than take it, like his people have for so many years, he strikes him back. It's a scene that will NEVER lose its dramatic power and is perhaps the best cinematic snapshot of a country that was shifting from one era to another in the history of the medium.

None of them are bad, really, but under an hour total on In the Heat of the Night feels a little skimpy for In the Heat of the Night, a film that has been taught in classes and dissected by writers for years. It's a classic and it deserved more than three featurettes and a commentary. But we'll take what we can get.

Before you can understand the four decades of racially charged films that came after it, you really need to see In the Heat of the Night. It was a daring and riveting film that has lost none of its dramatic power in the four decades since it was first released. To put it bluntly, you're not a movie fan if you haven't seen In the Heat of the Night and with a new Anniversary DVD, you have no more excuses.