Heat : A Los Angeles Crime Saga | Al Pacino, Robert De Niro

Heat : A Los Angeles Crime Saga | Al Pacino, Robert De Niro | Classic

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Heat : A Los Angel...

	Heat : A Los Angeles Crime Saga Al Pacino, Robert De Niro Warner Home Video, 1996 average customer review:based on 504 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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

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One of the best films of all time-stellar visuals, and performances!

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Al Pacino and Robert Dinero absolutely SIZZLE in this film. Michael Mann adds his brand of visual seduction, as the film's "blue" look and atmospheric music and scenes add a spectacular feel to this film. The "cat and mouse" game is complicated by the fact that we learn about the personal lives of all lead characters, and it truly allows you to "cheer for the bad guy". The movie, minute by minute, is one of the best crime sagas ever created. Fanastic cinema, highly recommended!

Classic

Great movie that will become a classic. Deniro and Pacino doesn't get any better than that, especially with all of the other actors involved. I have watched the film many times and will continue to do so.

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Mann pairs Pacino & DeNiro for some "Heat"

After watching DeNiro & Pacino in their most recent outing, "Righteous Kill", I came to appreciate this film even more although they had more screen time in this one than in "Heat", "Heat" is still a crime classic in the Warner Bros tradition. Each character is clearly delinerated and all the situations we see them in are compelling particularly DeNiro's and Pacino's characters--there is never a dull moment in this actioner. The supporting cast of Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Diane Venora, Tom Sizemore, and a very young Natalie Portman is excellent and of course Mann's visual style really put us in that mood of doom. Rather than give away any details of the plot, if you're in the mood for a crime saga--check it out!! I can't wait for the Blu-ray to appear someday.

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Mediocre

The film, much hyped for the first onscreen meeting of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, opens with an only in Hollywood heist of an armored bank truck. The newest member of the gang- Waingro (Kevin Gage)- panics, which results in the murder of the 3 guards. De Niro's character, Neil McCauley, the gang's leader, attempts to kill the screw up, but he escapes. Meanwhile, Vincent Hanna (Pacino), LAPD homicide expert, takes over the case. Needless digressions include Hanna's failing marriage with his faithless wife Justine (Diane Venora) & suicidal stepdaughter (Natalie Portman), Waingroe's revelation as a serial killer of prostitutes, McCauley's contrived and sparkless romance with a lonely bookworm 25 years his junior, Eady (Amy Brenneman), & the backstory of the newest member of the gang. If the long and superfluous digressions are not bad enough, the implausible action scenes & character interactions are worse- this is an absolutely abominable screenplay, folks. Here are just some of the implausibilities: after figuring out that McCauley's thieves have turned the tables on him Hanna stops McCauley, who absurdly agrees to a cup of joe with him. This is the big `Clash of Titans' the film hypes, but is as realistic as John Ashcroft breaking bread with Osama bin Laden. Instead, we get insipid dick on the table banter as Hanna warns McCauley he just might have to `take him out'. McCauley counters, `Oh yeah? I just might have to take you out.' It would have been a hoot had McCauley replied, `You talkin' to me?', but no such luck.... In short, Heat is a mediocre movie at best- its visual style accounting for whatever props it deserves. It was only 2 years later that the brilliant L.A. Confidential came along & showed America what a truly great crime film could be. As for the DVD itself? It's no-frills- there's no commentary, 3 trailers, but the actual transfer of the film print is very clean, as is the sound quality. Curiously, the DVD package seems to recapitulate the making of the film: great attention paid to the shine, but a fairly hollow core.
I waited years to see this film because it was so overhyped, just like I waited years to see the abominable Schindler's List. Heat is not that bad, but post-9/11 this sort of juvenilia all seems kind of unreal.

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Containing one of the best shooting scenes I've ever seen!

It contains one of the best shooting scenes I've ever seen! This scene is worth the whole movie. However, the last half is dragging and boring. The acting is interesting.

It's definitely worth watching once.

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