Customer Reviews

Heat (Widescreen)

5 star:		(279)
4 star:		(63)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

What a superb study of characters and relationships. Michael Mann, the director, does it with his recognizable signature style and poignancy. (The ways he brings music/sound to his movies are unique and superior; but that is another topic..).

Let me state clearly, I am a huge fan of both DeNiro and Pacino. (OK, truth is, I will never bypass watching a DeNiro film, but have not always been as compelled to watch Pacino, even when it was free..). At first when I heard they were going to be playing 'against' each other, I felt uneasy. That uneasiness is one of the many experiences which makes this hero-less storyline, a fantastic piece of work.

Everyone, even those who may play a minor part in your life, has a long and deep story of his/her own. Obvious, right? But how often do we remember or realize that? For lack of a better example, say, if you crossed paths with a complete stranger and feel s/he was rude; and decide to retaliate... How many times do you really think/realise that stranger has a rich history just like yours, in terms of depth? Doesn't mean the stranger wasn't indeed rude..

'Heat' brings the historical depths of its characters to the fore which leads to the uneasiness, which the audience is forced to not ignore.

To name a few:

1) Newcomer 'Waingro', having spent most of his life in jail, without choice, brought his untamed prison-mentality to the game. -- Can't help but pity him; Can't help but being angry at his disregard for the serious consequences of his actions.

2) Val Kilmer - is serially unfaithful, yet we KNOW he loves his wife.

3) Ashley Judd - puts the love for her family first, yet is unfaithful to her husband

4) Diane Venora - is the self-proclaimed victim of spousal neglect, yet takes measured steps to make sure her husband KNOWS she is consequently unfaithful

5) Al Pacino - is a lousy husband, yet cries when confronted with the sight of crime victims.

6) Robert DeNiro - is as coldhearted as they come, yet is like a lost soul desperately reaching for 'something else'.

Arguably, DeNiro's character was the least contradictory. And this brings me to one 'flaw' I initially saw -- 'Why did he have to turn that car around to go to the hotel, when he is otherwise portrayed as very smart throughout?' That had made me uneasy. But the portrayal of his invincibility did not stem from his intelligence and street-smarts. Rather, his ego unflinchingly ruled him throughout, to his detriment.

These are miniscule examples of the brilliance of Michael Mann's work here. There are no single-dimensional characters. There are no clear-cut heroes. Both Pacino and DeNiro can only be 'alone' -- no choice. All the main characters are, in fact, alone. Uneasy. Brilliant.

Since The Godfather Part 2, moviegoers and critics have been asking: Who is the better actor, Pacino or De Niro? It is a question that can never really be answered (although Spinetinglers considers Pacino to be the best!). Everyone who is a lover of contemporary cinema has an opinion. Michael Mann, the director of Heat, gave us a moment that we treasure: these two demigods of cinema meeting on screen for the first and only time, so that people who care about this question can do a direct comparison. The net result of this was, of course, more arguing over who was better. They meet in the oddest of circumstances--a brilliant detective, Vincent (Pacino), is pursuing a brilliant thief, Neil (De Niro). Vincent pulls over Neil's car and asks him for a cup of coffee, Neil accepts, and the pair sit in coffee shop showing us all that neither is intimidated by the other. Pacino brings his own unique style to the scene; he is as erratic and demonstrative as usual. De Niro sits back and underplays the gravitas of what this scene means to film, and what it means to cinema history. Both are superb and neither one leaves the coffee shop being able to convert the diehard Pacino fans or the diehard De Niro fans.

this movie has some of the best acting i've ever seen. the plot is great and the action scenes are also great. the dvd i'm reviewing now lacks extras, but a special edition is supposed to come out later this year. some might not like it being three hours, but i think the three hours i spent watching were well worth it.

How do you boast about your own (film) greatness without appearing obviously conceited? If you're Michael Mann, you write and direct HEAT, one of the best films of 1995 and one of the last true cinematic crime epics. HEAT brings Mann's TV classic CRIME STORY full circle (the film is actually based on Mann's made for TV flick, LA TAKEDOWN) but with an all star cast. Pacino gets to rework the dialogue Dennis Farina made famous: "You do not get to watch my television set!" and "When these guys come out the door of whatever score they take, they're in for the surprise of a lifetime." Like Farina's Lt. Mike Torello, Pacino's Lt. Vincent Hanna, LAPD R/H MCU, is a great cop whose career brillance has been paid with fatal personal consequences: 3 failed marriages, no social life, an empty future. This is all in a day's work for Pacino: great performance, unforgettable character...rivaled by DeNiro's Neil McCauley, a career criminal with a single tier life, told bold faced with the film's most powerful lines: "Have no attachments, allow nothing to be in your life that you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds if you spot the heat around the corner." There are few cop dramas as powerful as HEAT, largely credited to the Mann script and technical advice from Rey Verdugo (who appears as a Las Vegas detective in one of the more comical scenes) and long time friend Charles Adamson, who worked on CRIME STORY and THIEF. Ashley Judd never looked more ravishing than she did here.

A truly amazing film, and too good to ruin by writing a novel sized review. Cast: Among the best ever assembled. Action: Riveting all the way through the three hour movie. Plot: Cop vs Robber, but it is much more then that. The Bank Scene: One of the best action sequences in movie history. The Action: Raw and bloody, De Niro is calculating, fierce and committed, along side his nemesis and tireless rival Al Pacino. Conclusion: You won't know who you'll want to win or who you'll want to lose, brilliant and complex characters played by Oscar winners, what more can you ask for.

Two men on opposite sides of the law, both loners obsessed by what they do. Two of contemporary cinema's greatest actors, facing off for the first time in their 30+ year-long careers. A director with an impeccable sense of style. And a tremendous ensemble cast, whose every member delivers a truly stunning performance. These are some of the ingredients that elevate Michael Mann's "Heat" high above any average thriller.

The film's mood is set from the very first camera shots, following Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) from a subway station to a hospital, to drive off with an ambulance he'll be using in his crew's next score. While we don't hear him speak a single word, his movements alone are unquestionably those of a leader; a man in absolute control of every situation. Like many of "Heat"'s crucial scenes (including the two lead characters' sole face-to-face encounters in a coffee shop and during the grand finale), the opening shots are set at night; and the hard contrast between almost black darkness and brightly shining neon lights thus established from the start is soon revealed as a hallmark of the movie's cinematography. One of the next shots shows McCauley's adversary-to-be, homicide Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) making love to his wife (Diane Venora). But afterwards there is no coziness; no conversation and no joint breakfast. Their relationship is disintegrating and, although fully aware that his obsession with his job is turning his life into a "disaster zone," it is ultimately Vincent who is sacrificing it to that very obsession. Similarly, Neil has adopted a discipline of never letting himself get attached to anything he can't "walk out on in 30 seconds flat" if he feels the heat coming on: a discipline looming in the background even of his growing feelings for Eady (Amy Brenneman), with whom he has gotten involved against the instinct that told him to treat their encounter as a one-night-stand. Similarly troubled is the relationship between Neil's friend Chris (Val Kilmer) and his wife Charlene (Ashley Judd); but there Chris is the one who wants to hold on to their marriage, whereas Charlene, no longer able to cope with his gambling and immaturity, wants out, although she still clearly loves him.

Vincent and Neil are pitted against each other after an armored car holdup of Neil's crew goes awry when a new man named Waingro (Kevin Gage), who will soon be revealed as a ruthless serial killer, escalates the robbery by shooting one of the guards. Knowing that they are now all up for first-degree murder, the gang don't hesitate to kill the other guards, so as not to leave a living witness. Yet, with the police on their trail they still plan two more scores; one at the Precious Metals Depository and one at a downtown bank, the latter of which in particular proves fatal when it ends in a shootout turning L.A.'s business district into a virtual war zone. Further complications arise out of Neil's attempt to sell the bearer bonds stolen in the holdup back to their owner, a shady businessman named Van Zant (William Fichtner), who ultimately pays a high price for underestimating him.

Shortly before the bank heist, Vincent and Neil have a brief but crucial encounter in a coffee shop; and what has heretofore been mere respect developed from afar grows into a feeling of empathy and kinship when they discover their similarities. Yet, neither is willing to cross the lines: "I won't like it," Vincent ultimately tells Neil, but "if it's between you and some poor bastard whose wife you are going to turn into a widow, brother, you are going down." Neil responds that on that coin's flip side, he, too, won't hesitate to kill Vincent if he gets in his way. And with their positions thus established, the action is up and almost never lets off again, until they meet again during their final chase over LAX's airfield.

"Heat" is a self-described "Los Angeles crime saga," which by implication almost necessarily means that it's not characterized by down-to-earth realism; nor does it strive to be. Of course you do *not* walk away from a midday shootout with what looks like the better part of the LAPD's Central precinct (and unquestionably the movie's saddest unintended consequence was the real-life shootout provoked in imitation of this scene a few years later). Of course it's doubtful that guys like Vincent and Neil would ever sit down together over coffee - more likely, their encounter would have brought about Neil's arrest for murder, as Vincent by this time arguably had probable cause. Of course a real cop's loyalty would always be with his colleagues, and even respect for an adversary like Neil wouldn't propel him to hold his hand, after that same adversary had shot several of his fellow policemen. But all this is ultimately beside the point. This movie's entire dynamics are driven by the antagonism between its unexpectedly similar protagonists; and on that basis, their mutual feelings of empathy and even brotherhood are entirely credible.

The pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino was a (long-overdue) dream come true; for their performances alone, "Heat" deserves highest honors. While Pacino is his usual self as a supercharged bundle of dynamite, De Niro shows incredible (mannerism-free!) control, contrasting Pacino's bursts of temper with a chilling coolness that can nevertheless flip into ruthless violence in a split second, or into tenderness and emotion in his scenes with Eady. They are complemented by the stellar ensemble cast, also including, inter alia, Natalie Portman in her U.S. film debut as Vincent's troubled stepdaughter (after her very first appearance alongside Jean Reno in Luc Besson's "Leon"), John Voight and Tom Sizemore as Neil's associates Nate and Michael, Hank Azaria as Charlene's love interest and Mykelti Williamson and Wes Studi as Vincent's fellow cops. All in all, this is a truly outstanding production - and despite almost 3 hours' running time, not a minute too long.

Michael Mann has created a brilliant epic view of the LA crime scene with his movie Heat. From the music selection (Moby, Kronos Quartet, Lisa Gerrard and more) to the acting (DeNiro, Pacino, Sizemore and Kilmer), Mann has gone to great extents to make this a perfect film. I can't think of another crime movie that feels so real. Multiple stories surrounding the main plot give it an intense dose of reality, untouchable by most modern day action flicks.

In order to rate this DVD, you have to look at two distinct entities. 1) The Movie 2) The DVD

The Movie - Michael Mann is one of the premier directors for those of us who enjoy Home theatre. His rock scores move easily from foreground to background. The Cast is excellent of course; Pacino, DeNiro, Voight and Kilmer are all excellent as you would expect, and it is one of the best good guy bad guy scripts ever written. Some of the more modern film makers would do well to take note of how the sub-plots and character development build and maintain in this film. You actually care what happens to supporting actors in this story. The Movie itself I rate as 5 Stars. Excellent.

The DVD - Again, with any Michael Mann film, the sound was incredible. You could hear shell casings bouncing off the ground, and at one point during a shoot out with an incredible amount of breaking glass, I felt the need to brush some glass off my shoulder. Doesn't get better than this! Dolby Surround 5.1 worked amazingly well on this film. This is the kind of movie that makes you truly pleased you bought a Surround Sound system. On the other hand....Where is the EXTRAS??

No Actor or Director Interviews, No commentary, No deleted scenes, not even the typical cast and crew filmographies! Why buy it in DVD? Another down side? Cheap Case. It isn't a hard plastic case, but one of those cheap cardboard containers that don't close properly. As a matter of fact, the DVD came loose from the holder during shipping and was slightly scratched.

So here you have it. Excellent Movie, (inferior) case, and non-existant extras that we buy DVD's for. Consider renting this film as opposed to purchasing. DVD - 2 Stars.

I was a bit disappointed with the transfer to Blu Ray. I am generally finding any films in the 10 year or older range OK at best on Blu Ray as compared to more recently made films. There are some exceptions of course. Heat was not bad but it wasn't as stunning as I was hoping it would be. Perhaps my expectations were too high after watching Dark Knight which was partly filmed in IMAX. If you don't have the Heat DVD already then get the Blu Ray for sure as regardless it is a GREAT cop and robber movie, maybe one of the best. The scene when they are coming out of the bank, oh BOY, turn up the volume and enjoy!

Heat...Heat is brilliant. It is worth seeing simply for the fact that it is the only movie in which DeNiro and Pacino share a scene (and, oh boy, what a scene!). This 3 hour crime saga is a character study of two men at the top of their respective games. DeNiro is a thief, a pro of the highest order. He is a man for whom the Job is number one and everything else comes second, but his credo of 'dont let anyone slow you down' is shaken when he gets involved with a young woman. Pacino is a hyper-motivated robbery-homicide detective who is on the downslope of his third marriage, obsessed with catching DeNiro. The cat-and-mouse game between Pacino and DeNiro is played out across L.A., punctuated with numerous high-octane action scenes, one of which being one of the best heists scenes ever put on celluliod. This film is Michael Mann at his best. Everything is top notch here; the cinematography, the writing, the soundtrack, the acting, everything. It should be noted that real life bank robbers in L.A. took a cue from this movie and committed a robbery that mirrored the one in Heat eerily. You might remember the news shots of heavily armed and armored robbers, dressed and outfitted exactly like the guys from Heat, firing assault rifles on LAPD tactical squads for over half an hour while trying to escape before being taken down. This only proves how realistic the action scenes are in this film.