Heat

A brilliant character driven action thriller with drama and emotion all the way. Despite the long runtime, the pacing never drags. The Magic of this action movie is that you believe the people you see in the screen. You care for them and everything they go through. All of the scenes are influential, the script and the score are iconic. Two thumbs up!

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.

I really believe this is one the great crime movies of all time. It has some drawbacks that wouldn't make me recommend this for family viewing - tons of f- words by Al Pacino and a few bloody scenes, but as far as a fascinating crime story: wow!

This movie made modern-day history because it was the first time two of the great actors of this generation - Pacino and Robert De Niro - finally acted together in the same film. Those two didn't disappoint, either. They were great to watch and one of the huge highlights of the film, to me, was when they faced each other in a simple conversation over a cup of coffee. That conversation has always fascinated me, no matter how many times I've heard it. It was such a "landmark" scene that It's even the subject of a short documentary on the special-edition DVD.

As with the conversation scene, the shootout segment in the streets of Los Angeles still astounds me no matter how many times I see it. The other action scenes are intense and memorable, too, and the cast in here is deep. This isn't just Pacino and De Niro. It's Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Jon Voight, Diana Venora, Natlie Portman, Tom Sizemore, Amy Brenamann, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Mykelti Williamson, on and on.

Put that fabulous cast under Michael Mann, one of the best directors in business, add a great soundtrack and interesting camera-work and you have a great film. At three hours long, it never bores one and at same time, doesn't overdo the action, either. I read one critic criticize this film because of the time taken to examine the personal lives of the main characters, but you can't have three hours of nothing but action. The only scene I felt went on a bit too long was the ending chase at the airport, but that's nitpicking considering the film as a whole.

This is just one of those movies where a great cast and director live up to their billing.

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.

One of the most amazing things about Heat is the scale of the film; it is nearly three hours long and packed to bursting with mind-blowing visuals. It seems one of Michael Mann's main priorities was to make a film with a dreamlike feel to it, to portray LA as a dusty oil-painting on which complex characters could play out their lives. One of the main themes is the similarity of the career criminal and the street-wise cop. It is fascinating to find yourself really feeling for DeNiro's tragic bank-robber, a man of philosophical merit who realises he's stuck in a life of crime he doesn't want to lead. Pacino's cop is less easy to sympathise with, but he too leads an in-escapable life of guns and crime. What really stands out is the climax. On the whole, Heat has to be the best cops n' robbers film ever made, indeed, one of the best films. An epic, wonderful, sad, adrenaline-fuelled exercise in scale and grandeur.