Heat

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: Heat did not have to be a lot of the things that it was, or have the things that it had. For instance, it didn't have to be three hours long. There were a lot of extra scenes that could have easily been left out, or cut shorter. Al Pacino did a great job (as always), and De Niro did well with what they gave him to work with, which wasn't great. Val Kilmer was not needed to play his part, as was the same situation with Ashley Judd's character, and with Jon Voight's. For a better Michael Mann film, see The Insider. Heat was fine to watch once. It had its good elements, but not enough to spend another three hours for a second viewing. It is not something that kids would enjoy, and its R rating is due to violence and language.

Rating:
Summary: Best movie ever.
Review: Heat contains two of the greatest actors that the world has ever known, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro. These two alone make the movie buy worthy. The plot, acting, I loved everything about this movie. If you haven't seen it, I suggest that you do.

Rating:
Summary: Feel the L.A. heat........( 4 1/2 stars)
Review: Fully a misunderstood plot by many, and stated as overlong, it was all of the combinations of dramatic interventions and conversations with the husk of a charged crime thriller. Imagine how real life cops/crooks wouild go through this adventure "real time". With sequences, like the little girl that Pacino fathers who nearly killed herself, or the torn tendencies of De Niro finding an outside interest that heeds no guns or "hot info" and is ashamed of his profession, is interesting. The cast, Pacino and DeNiro are the cake, as well as well-focused-on-the-job Val Kilmer as Chris, Judd as the hurt yet still clinging-to-hope wife, and a strong support of minor roles as well.

The gunbattle was so brutal, and surreal, and even though I don't promote gun violence at this level anything "good" for life as we know it, it was still a fact of what could happen. The gunpower and gunplay was much more real than most capers out there.

Way to go Mann....way to go.

Rating:
Summary: Please don't hunt me down like an animal for this review
Review: De Niro and Pacino on screen together for the first time. It should be cinema magic. Unfortunately even what is quite possibly the biggest name cast of the nineties can't save this movie from being way overlong and having a script, written by director Michael Mann, that can only be described as appalling.

I mean the characters and dialog in this thing are grist for the mill in TV's "Law and Order" and its ilk. Pacino plays Vincent Hanna, a cop "on the edge". He actually says that he's "on the edge". Unbelievable. Frankly his character is overplayed and annoying, he spends a lot of the time smugly admiring his offscreen criminal opponents, sharing a sneaky admiration that his fellow cops aren't edgy enough to appreciate. Thats when we're not forced to endure his cardboard cutout crumbling marriage. Oh dear.

De Niro is excellent, and his role is certainly the most unique and interesting. The much talked about scene where De Niro and Pacino meet in a cafe is also a unique and atypically well written twist, but these moments cannot save this movie from being dragged down in tedium and mediocrity well before it comes to its predictable shoot-out conclusion.

What a waste of some of the best acting talent around today.

Rating:
Summary: Pacino, De Niro, Kilmer, Judd, and Voight
Review: An allstar cast including Al Pacino (Scarface), Robert De Niro (Goodfellas), Val Kilmer (Batman Forever), Jon Voight (Mission:Impossible), Ashley Judd (High Crimes), Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan), and Natalie Portman (Star Wars)! If that list of names right there alone left you speechless wait until you actually see the movie. 'Heat' is about a hard working cop who loves his job as much as his family if not more sometimes (unfortunately) who is chasing down L.A.'s finest criminal's which are of course Kilmer, Voight, Sizemore, and most importantly De Niro who is of course the leader of the pack. In this high tension action-thriller it is different then most others because of cops sitting it vans eating donuts or etc. (as they try in the beginning) Pacino actually publically meets De Niro and sits down for dinner with him at a city restauraunt and discuss how similarly different there lives are and how one of them in the end will have to kill the other in order for two things to happen. Number one De Niro says he never is going back to prison again and Pacino would have to kill him in order to stop him. Number two De Niro would either have to "A" retire or "B" kill Pacino in order for him to stop hunting him down. TO BE CONTINUED...

Rating:
Summary: Masterful Crime Story
Review: Michael Mann's hand can be felt all over this movie. I mean, we grew up with Miami Vice and then Crime Story, so the groundwork was well-laid. But you never get the sense at any point in any one of his movies (up until "Ali") that the director doesn't have a clue.

... The acting is first rate (although Pacino often throws a bit too much ham onto the plate), the script is fantastic, the pace, conviction, editing are all brilliant, and the musical score (various artists) is perfectly suited throughout.

Truly a 5-star movie, extras or no extras. This is why you buy it on DVD; because it will stand the test of time.

Rating:
Summary: Pacino and DeNiro together holding hands into the sunset!
Review: After all these years and 2 hours after the movie it happens.... Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino talk face to face in a diner. I know it sounds stupid but for the past twenty years writers have thought of every stupid excuse to put these two heavyweights in a movie together but it never happened. Finally Heat has the two starring in the same film but both actor's are on different sides making this a true classic Crime Story. It's almost like one of those classic detective films but for this era instead with a sleek style and shiny criminals joining dirty ones to make big heists. Val Kilmer is in it and he's alright ... Anyways, the fact that this is the only movie that stars DeNiro and Pacino since the Godfather 2 and the fact that this time they are both in the same time frame so when the two talk to eachother it's something you have to see for yourself. You can tell the scenes where done almost surgically when the two appear on the same screen. Anyways this movie is good and it's an essential to any Action movie collector!

Rating:
Summary: Michael Mann's masterpiece
Review: I saw this movie on TV a while back and didn't think much of it. I then rented it after a co-worker recommended it and thought it was hypnotic. I bought it when I first got my DVD player, but hadn't seen it in three years until last night. An article in the new Vanity Fair "Hollywood" issue said this was one of the most underrated of the 90's, and the author said that whenever it's on he watches it all, so I figured I'd see how it held up. While I don't have much affection for any other Michael Mann films I've seen, "Heat" comes perfectly together. I'm not sure that it's "operatic" qualities differ much from "The Insider" or "Ali," but it's tone is so controlled and the amount of depth Mann conjures from simple camera angles or expressions gives an epic feeling rarely seen in movies. In 1995 the big news was that Al Pacino and Robert De Niro would be sharing screen time, they only have two scenes together, though both are full of tension. While the supporting cast is perfect (I don't normally think much of Val Kilmer, but his steely portrayal here hits the right note), this is a film about two men driven. They may respect one another, but they both know that they must prevent the other from taking them down. Seeing this in widescreen reveals all of its layers and beauty, and the thematic grandeur may remind some of--don't scoff--of Coppola's "The Godfather, Part II." I love the film equally for its details as its making Los Angeles out to be a whole universe. I could keep going, but better to see it than read my babbling. A few last thoughts: the use of B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone" is one of the best uses of a song in a film. And if the western has disappeared, this is the closest thing we're going to get in regards to its complexity, just with streets and cars replacing the feel of the dirt and horses. Mann makes "Heat" breathe. It gets in your bones in that way only truly special movies do.

Rating:
Summary: "But you do not get to watch my ... television set!"
Review: A cops and robbers show with Pacino as the head cop and DeNiro as the head of a crew who take down scores. DeNiro's crew is a very professional group who have done time in the past but it hasn't deterred them from what they do best. They don't bother with penny ante stuff, as DeNiro's says in the restaurant to Pacino, "You see me doin' thrill seeker liquor store hold ups with a born to lose tatoo on my chest?" This movie in a way reminds me of a modern day "Wild Bunch", although these guys probably have more in the way of human feeling, although not much more. People who get in the way get shot. DeNiro's is a very high risk profession and the biggest risk is who you have working with you. The enlistment of Waingrow at the start of the show turns out being a big mistake. I don't see how he could have gotten away from them in the parking lot though. DeNiro banged him up and surely would have heard him crawling away. If you demand realism this show will be a disappointment but it is realistic enough to make you overlook what isn't. Jon Voigt, Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Tom Sizemore and a few others put in strong performances. There's even a scene with Tone Loc. You'll recognize the voice.

Rating:
Summary: Heat
Review: In The Crime Infested Streets of Los Angeles Detective Vincent Hannah(Pacino)has never lost a case,never given up,and has allways stayed on top.But now he must test his skills againts a new enemy, he will meet his match in a master theif(De Niro) and his equally brilliant group.Pacino and De Niro finally meet again since THe GODFATHER Part II.