Heat [Blu-ray]
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val KilmerDirector: Michael Mann
Studio: Warner Home Video
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 171 minutes
DVD Release: November 3rd 2009
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DVD Review
Having developed his skill as a master of contemporary crime drama, writer-director Michael Mann displayed every aspect of that mastery in this intelligent, character-driven thriller from 1995, which also marked the first onscreen pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The two great actors had played father and son in the separate time periods of The Godfather, Part II, but this was the first film in which the pair appeared together, and although their only scene together is brief, it's the riveting fulcrum of this high-tech cops-and-robbers scenario. De Niro plays a master thief with highly skilled partners (Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore) whose latest heist draws the attention of Pacino, playing a seasoned Los Angeles detective whose investigation reveals that cop and criminal lead similar lives. Both are so devoted to their professions that their personal lives are a disaster. Pacino's with a wife (Diane Venora) who cheats to avoid the reality of their desolate marriage; De Niro pays the price for a life with no outside connections; and Kilmer's wife (Ashley Judd) has all but given up hope that her husband will quit his criminal career. These are men obsessed, and as De Niro and Pacino know, they'll both do whatever's necessary to bring the other down. Mann's brilliant screenplay explores these personal obsessions and sacrifices with absorbing insight, and the tension mounts with some of the most riveting action sequences ever filmed--most notably a daylight siege that turns downtown Los Angeles into a virtual war zone of automatic gunfire. At nearly three hours, the film qualifies as a kind of intimate epic, certain to leave some viewers impatiently waiting for more action, but it's all part of Mann's compelling strategy. Heat is a true rarity: a crime thriller with equal measures of intense excitement and dramatic depth, giving De Niro and Pacino a prime showcase for their finely matched talents. --Jeff Shannon
User Reviews
Best Crime Drama You Will Ever See - Rating: 5/5
There are precious few movies I even have interest in watching more than once...very few. This is definitely one of them! What a brilliant opus of cinematic work by Mr. Mann! I feel also this is his greatest work, and having the greatest actors of our time in Mr. Pacino and DeNiro has a large part in this. They are in their finest form in this brilliant movie and it truely shows. No greater "grandstander" of an actor in Mr. Pacino, and he does deliver indeed in this one as detective Vince Hanna. Mr. DeNiro portraying the crime mastermind is a landmark role of such caliber that is so brilliant it will never be forgotten. VERY few actors could have stood up well against DeNiro in this movie, and Pacino is most assuredly one of the very very few. Own the Blu Ray when it comes out...I am sure it will sell in huge numbers as this gem of a movie has developed an enormous cult following.
Great Movie Great Extras - Rating: 5/5
Great Movie. Acting and directing is top notch. Easily one of the best movies of the 90s
RELEASE THE BLU RAY ALREADY!! - Rating: 5/5
One of the Best Action movies on the planet still hasn't made it to Blu Ray. Why?? Warner Brothers, if you are listening, RELEASE THIS BLU RAY! The movie is flawless. If you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself to watch it!
Michael Mann's the man - Rating: 5/5
Heat hmmmmm, the only problem with this film is, well you have to watch it a couple of times to really get it. A big part of that problem is not the film itself but the rubbish DVD transfer. I'm always finding myself having to use the subtitles in certain scenes. A good BLU-RAY transfer is long overdue. Oh and that fire fight in down town L.A. in true HD DIGITAL sound oh...yeah!
An Absolute Classic. - Rating: 5/5
This was a very good movie, but what made it truly spectacular was having De Niro and Pacino alongside one another in the one film (Godfather II was good, but didn't necessarily have the two actors working directly with one another).
Either way, from directing to the screenplay, this film is hard to fault.
