Heat

I have very little interest in most action films or violent movies, so I am not the sort of person that would normally watch a film like "Heat". However, on a lark and because it's apparently such a good film I decided to give the film a look. Well, I must say that thought I was not in love with the film it sure was exceptionally well made and had a lot to offer--even for folks like me.

The biggest reason I liked the movie and thought it was made so well was its rich and complex plot. At nearly three hours, there is lots and lots of time for the plot to slowly unfold. It also allowed for several concurrent plots to interweave themselves through the film--the story about the master criminals, the cops, another criminal as well as a rogue nut-job that just likes to kill. It's almost like a mini-series in this respect. I also loved how this was not a set-bound film but was made throughout LA--though I wonder how this was possible, as it must have tied up huge portions of Los Angeles! I also loved some of the characters--particularly Robert De Niro's oddly professional and scary criminal boss. It was one of his very best performances.

There's very little to complain about in the film, though I thought Al Pacino's character was a tad over-acted at times. Unlike De Niro, I had a harder time believing Pacino was real. Perhaps it's just me....

Overall, if you don't mind the violence and the occasionally frenetic pace, then this is a film well wroth seeing. Extremely well-directed and never dull.

Sound like a bold statement? Devotees of classic cops and robbers flicks of old will no doubt take exception, but I believe that Michael Mann achieved some measure of perfection with Heat. To break this three-hour gem of a film down to its core, this is a film about men - strong men - and the supporting role that he women of the film have on them for better or worse. Take Pacino as good cop Vincent Hanna: one of the most intense characterizations of the tragic hero that I have ever witnessed, as he laments the demise of his third marriage to a pill-junkie wife. A fact which he discusses with his archnemesis (De Niro) in what history will regard as one of the most frenetic scenes in the history of film. The dialogue in this scene (at the very end of the first tape, if you own the VHS version) sets up the last half of the film beautifully, as our two rivals come to the joint realization that they have no hand in choosing the paths that will lead them to their ultimate confrontation: their very natures so define their respective actions that any attempt to do otherwise would simply be a waste of time. While I have heard others (who I am ashamed at times to call close friends) say that Heat drags in places, I will concede that there are moments in the film that require more than the cursory attention that they give to the movie they happen to be watching at any given time (I'm sorry not every director is Jerry Bruckheimer), there are poignant developments of character in Heat that many would casually disregard. I am thinking of the interaction between the ex-con who finds conditional employment in a diner with an opportunistic scum of a boss, and whose girlfriend is so proud of him for swallowing his pride and not simply giving the sonofabitch a good pummeling. But there is a catharsis that I felt for that same ex-con when De Niro's character presents him with the opportunity to take just one more score, for old time's sake. Who doesn't feel for this guy - this minor character in a film with big-time heavyweights who gets to shine for a few brief moments. That's what Heat is really: a series of brief moments, some touching, others traumatic, and still others incredibly horrifying in the feelings that they inspire in the romantic who, like me sees not black or white portrayals of protagonist and villain, but a montage of grays that combine to create a vivid spectrum of film characterization that could not be found in hundreds of films combined. One of my five favorite films of all time, Heat is a cinematic banquet of intense imagery and pulse-pounding action. Come hungry.

Heat (1995) is a movie that is in my DVD collection that I recently rewatched on Tubi. The storyline follows an underground high end burglary team looking for one big last mission and a parallel story about a successful police officer who is struggling at home. As the buildup to the big heist unfolds the two worlds come closer and closer together until the ultimate collision happens.

This movie is directed by Michael Mann (Ali) and stars Robert De Niro (Goodfellas), Al Pacino (Scarface), Val Kilmer (Willow), Jon Voight (Anaconda), Mykelti Williamson (Forest Gump), Ashley Judd (Kiss the Girls), Tom Sizemore (Black Hawk Down), Wes Studi (Deep Rising), Natalie Portman (Leon: The Professional), Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs) and Dennis Haysbert (Far from Heaven).

This cast is absolutely amazing top to bottom. The writing is also excellent and delivers the backstories to each character to perfection and the dialogue is out of this world. The chemistry of the cast throughout the film worked perfectly and the action scenes are intense and very well done. You find yourself rooting for both sides the entire film. The conclusion to such a huge movie is excellent and fits the film perfectly.

This is an all time classic that is an absolute must see and an easy 10/10. I would strongly recommend seeing this.

For some reason I cannot stop thinking about this film lately.

You know that feeling of having seen it about 3 or 4 times in the last 12 months is not enough? That's what I feel at the moment.

I rate it as Mann's best. It's his most kinetic,vibrant(for a film mostly shot in steely blue),agonising,stirring,brash,violent and brilliance in such a simple story.

What games did you play as a young kid? Cops and robbers.Good guy.Bad guy.

We all know De Niro and Pacino could have been either main part,but can you imagine it any other way round. Pacino doing ice cool calm? De Niro the manic outbursts,arms flailing? It wouldn't work. We know these men now.We know neither will stop at what they do.And yet there is no way either would stop the other.Unless they had too. Which leads us too the characters. All of them.

This is an extended family where you feel you know all of them without knowing anything at all. The cops are similar to the robbers and vice-versa. Perhaps Mann is telling us were all the same.Except in what we do.Every speaking part holds substance in this movie, and the support cast is astonishing when you actually read the caliber of who appeared in this film.Tom Sizmore, Val Kilmer,Ashley Judd,Ted Levine,Wes Studi,Hank Azaria,William Fitchner,Henry Rollins,Dennis Haysbert,Tom Noonan. And Natalie Portman, for chrissake! Try getting that cast again.

A real 10/10 film. And that Moby song at the end(God moving over the face of waters) gets me every time.

I have been hearing about this movie for years and kept telling myself to see it ffs, and today I did. Seeing who was cast during the opening credits, I knew I was in for a treat. I was lucky that I had never had the plot spoiled for me and I knew absolutely nothing about what was coming.

Regarding the cast, let me mention an actress I have been a fan of since her turn on FX, and she is also the mother-in-law of a friend, Diane Venora. She played her part with such a wide spectrum of emotions that I was completely drawn into her empathy, anger, aloofness, and deep sorrow. It tore me up, actually. She was the perfect match for Pacino's manic character.

Speaking of Pacino, his performance was one for the books. He was a dude on the razor's edge of completely losing it and uses his job as a form of a security blanket. It's his happy place which unfortunately makes any semblance of a normal life impossible.

Now lets talk about De Niro's performance. In a word: Perfect. It's sad in today's world, people judge an actor on their political beliefs rather than how they perform their craft. De Niro's beliefs are polar opposite from mine, but I could not care less. He was fantastic as the professional thief who is likeable, deadly, and when all is said and done, a scourge of society. Rooting for him is wrong, but you can't help to just a little.

The movie was filled with great performances particularly from Val Kilmer, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman, and damn, Kevin Gage's evilly maniacal portrayal was downright demented. The entire cast was top notch. Kudos to the casting director.

Watch this movie for the intense ride of hovering between good and evil. It does not disappoint.