Heat (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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: Pacino -vs- Deniro
Review: This is the best crime movie ever made, the lives of cops & criminals are explored very deeply here, In this film Pacino is a workoholic police detective, so devoted that his wife(Diane Venora)feels neglected, his stepdaughter (Natalie Portman) is going through adolescent confusion, & he is so obsessed that he can't see his life falling apart, DeNiro is at his best here as a career criminal that is so smart that it fustrates Pacino, a robbery gone wrong involving DeNiro, his companion Kilmer, as well as others is what draws the attention of Pacino, the cat & mouse game that the two leads play with each other are very entertaining at times, if not funny, the scene where DeNiro & his crew set up Pacino & his fellow officers on a potential target that is in hindsight a set up to see who is on to them is comical in itself as Pacino tells his men: "you know what they are looking at..... US!!!!, we just got made" fustrated Pacino arranges a meeting with DeNiro in the hopes of getting inside his way of thinking is by far the best sequence, the downtown shootout in which Pacino infiltrates DeNiro's supposed last robbery, is so realistic that the viewer is at times shaken up, this film definately plays on the theory that eventually a life of crime has no happy ending, the one on one showdown between DeNiro & Pacino is so tense that by the end you are left with nothing but strong emotion & a sense of respect that the two men come to have for one another, definately the thinking person's action movie. Highy Recommended!!!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Review: this movie has some of the best acting i've ever seen. the plot is great and the action scenes are also great. the dvd i'm reviewing now lacks extras, but a special edition is supposed to come out later this year. some might not like it being three hours, but i think the three hours i spent watching were well worth it.