Heat

It is intellects like these that leave the world in pieces, never to fix or change anything that is wrong. I guarantee you these are the same people who think "The Fast and The Furious" is an award worthy film, watch "reality" tv shows (i.e. Average Joe), and vote the new Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears songs onto the Billboard top ten.

Bottom line, "Heat" is an epic. Pacino and De Niro are epic. The film is about character. It is about true REALITY, what the world is really like out there. Life isn't a big bowl of cherries 24/7 like our culture tries to depict (especially to our youth) today. We all don't have the golden life, we all don't have our rich mommies and daddies to live off of.

There bad things out there, and people who have to deal with them to protect all the happy shiny people. The decisions these people make are based on them having the qualities that are portrayed in this film. The "Dirty Harry" buffs need to crawl back under their rock because its a bunch of B/S. Doesn't work that way holmes. In the real world these "tough" guys get the long kiss goodnight. You do what is honorable without letting love or friendship stand in your way. That is what makes the difference.

After having said all of that, I will conclude with saying this is a must see but only for mature individuals who have depth of perception and the ability to think outside of what has become the box. If you think "The Fast and The Furious" is academy award worthy material, "reality" tv shows are classic, and vote for teeny music on the billboard... stay away from this. Stick with what you can handle, this will only overwhelm you.


Honey...I Shrank The Crew....   August 18, 2005
Duke Turn 2 (Bear Butte Montana)
12 out of 23 found this review helpful

This L.A. crime saga stars Rick Moranis as Neil McCauley, a professional stick em up type who plans one last caper before following the setting sun...presumably with love interest Michelle Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer meets Moranis while they are both picketing a West LA Taco Bell for a Save the Chiwawas protest.

Eugene Levy plays hard-boiled copper Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, who is obsessed with capturing Moranis and the rest of his gang before they turn downtown LA into a battlefield. The last caper that Moranis hatches involves taking the gang and injecting them with some type of "metabolic mass shrinkage serum" that he gets from Rob Schneider. Schnieder plays a zany and off-balance research chemist who moonlights as a male escort.

After the gang is given the serum and reduced to Barbie and Ken size, they launch into a bank heist that goes pretty wrong. One big problem is that they soon discover that no one in the group can drag the four duffle bags full of money thay have to take away from the stick up. Additional high jinks come about when they arrive back at the full-size getaway car.

The downtown, up and down the street shoot-out after the bank heist is particularly noteworthy although you can't tell who the coppers are shooting at. Eventually the cops get bored and clear the area, stepping on two of Moranis's crew in the process....

In the final scenes, Levy pursues Moranis into and across a Putt-Putt minature golf course and Moranis is mortally wounded and falls under the windmill on hole number six and collapses.

All in all a pretty good crime drama with shrinking bad guys and pretty good timing.


"All I am is what I'm going after."   May 1, 2008
Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California and Germany)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

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 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 sacrifices 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. Also troubled is the relationship between Neil's friend Chris (Val Kilmer) and his wife Charlene (Ashley Judd); but there it is Chris 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: He won't like it, Vincent ultimately tells Neil, but if it's between Neil and "some poor (...) 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 dream finally 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.

Also recommended:
The Godfather DVD Collection (The Godfather/ The Godfather - Part II/ The Godfather - Part III)
Donnie Brasco (Special Edition)
Serpico (Widescreen Edition)
The Score
Ronin


Intelligent and exciting thriller   January 29, 2000
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

Michael Mann has constructed a masterpiece of a cops-and robbers movie in a genre that so often receives the slam-bang approach. While being a little concerned that the movie would be a repeat of his handling of the novel "Red Dragon" - that became the movie "Manhunter", or a big screen "Miami Vice", nothing could be further from the truth. Mann skillfully brings out first rate performances from the lead players: The master thief of De Niro juxtaposed with Pacino's workaholic cop is a masterstroke of casting that works so well. Pacino is delightfully over the top in his portrayal of the dedicated, sacrifice-everything police professional determined to stop the equally professional "crew" headed by De Niro. The crew is wonderfully played by Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore, with Sizemore in particular giving one of his finest screen performances as the action-seeking professional crook who could, financially, walk away from the life of crime that serves to fuel his adrenaline glands as much as his bank balance.

Robert De Niro is outstanding in his portrayal of Neil, the time-served thief: A man determined never to go back behind bars, yet unable or unwilling to pursue any other way of life. The meeting of De Niro and Pacino in the coffee shop scene is a cornerstone to the explosive action sequences that climax with the final bank heist. This has to be one of the all-time greatest actions sequences ever filmed and is a set piece of the movie that will become, undoubtedly, a benchmark for other action movie directors. It out does the car/train chase scene from "The French Connection!" Top marks to Mann for the tight and well-edited screenplay and direction, leaving you wanting more even at the end of three hours. Well worth the money!


Superb action film   April 29, 2000
Jamie Bouadana (Rhymney UK)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful

What a superb action film with a great story line. "Heat" got its name because this is how the police are referred to in the movie. A classic quote for the movie is where Robert De Nero(criminal) says to Al Pacino (cop) "Don't have anything you can't walk away from in 5 seconds flat when the heat are around the corner" Don't be put off by the films length thinking you can't possibly sit watching a film of that length. Heat is directed my Michael Mann who also directed the Oscar film "The Insider". The line up of actors Val Kilmer, Al Pacino, Robert De Nero need no introduction they are all superb in the movie. I watched this movie for the first time on DVD and if anything you want it to go on longer seeing Denero "outwhit" Pacino, missing each time when trying to catch him, wondering whether he will catch him or will he get away? The DVD itself for the money is well worth it you have a full length exciting, action packed, great acting film for a very reasonable price! The Dolby 5.1 is awesome, the beginning scene dives straight into the action which gives you the pleasure of listening and watching the quality of the DVD. Don't let the lack of extras put you off a great purchase of the DVD, the film is worth the money on its own.