Rating: 
Summary: CONTEMPORARY FILM NOIR
Review: THIS FILM WAS LARGELY IGNORED WHEN RELEASED IN 1981. IT WAS ALSO CRITIZED FOR EXCESSIVE VIOLENCE. BUT THE VIOLENCE ONLY COMES IN THE FINAL CONFRONTATION AND IS CERTINELY JUSTIFIED GIVEN THE ELEMENTS THAT PRECEDE IT.
'TANGERINE DREAM' SCORES THE MODERN DAY FILM NOIR WITH ELECTRIC EFFECTIVENESS.
JAMES CAAN IS 'FRANK' IN THIS CHARACTER STUDY OF A PROFESSIONAL SAFE CRACKER TRYING TO MAKE ONE LAST SCORE AND RETIRE TO HIS IDEALIC PERCIEVED SELF CONSTRUCTED LIFE.
NORMALLY AN INDEPENDANT OPERATOR, HE GRUDINGLY THROWS IN WITH THE MOB TO EXPEDITE HIS DREAM.
BUT WHEN THE BIG JOB IS DONE AND PAYDAY COMES FRANK FINDS HIMSELF ANCHORED INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BAD GUYS THAT HE WANTS NO PART OF.
THIS DARK SULLEN FILM IS WELL DONE THANKS TO MICHAEL MANN OF 'MIAMI VICE' FAME, WHO DIRECTS IT WITH A REALISTIC EDGY FEEL THAT HASNT BEEN SUCESSFULLY COPIED YET EXCEPT BY HIMSELF IN ANOTHER CRIME FILM CALLED 'HEAT.'
THE MOST MEMORABLE SCENE IS PLAYED OUT WHEN FRANK SHOWS UP TO COLLECT HIS 'END.' THE MOB BOSS FINALLY REALIZES THAT FRANK IS NOT GOING TO CONFORM EASILY AND WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE HE TELLS FRANK TO "JOIN A LABOR UNION." TO WHICH CAAN'S 'FRANK PUTS HIS HAND ON HIS .45 TUCKED INTO HIS WAISTBAND AND RESPONDS WITH "IM WEARIN IT."
THE CRIME BOSS KILLS FRANKS PARTNER AND HAS FRANK HIMSELF BEATEN.
FRANKS ENVISIONED HAPPINESS IS SHATTERED AND HE SETS OUT ON ONE LAST MISSION TO DESTROY ALL HE HAS WORKED FOR AND THE MOBSTERS IN THE PROCESS.
THE FINALLY IS INTENSE AND REALISTIC WITHOUT BEING OVERDONE.JAMES CAAN'S AGGRESSIVE 'FRANK' IS EXTREMELY WELL DONE. SUPPORTING ROLES ARE ALSO NOTABLE WITH JAMES BELUSHI AND TUESDAY WELD.
'THIEF' IS A MOVIE THAT MOVES AND IS THE BEST EFFORT AT CONTEMPORARY FILM NOIR TO DATE.
Rating:
Summary: Steal This Movie
Review: The movie is just terrific combining Michael Mann's characteristic visuals and subject matter detail, James Caan's mad dog persona, and a truly creepy Robert Prosky performance. If you pay attention, you will also see an extremely brief appearance by William Peterson (CSI) who would star in Mann's next film Manhunter. I can't recommend this movie enough for people who like gritty crime dramas or just good film making. Superb.
Rating:
Summary: Caan Rocks
Review: This is a hard edge movie that any action lover can't turn down. See Caan kicking ...!
Rating:
Summary: James Caan is a an American legend.
Review: Seen this movie last nite and it blew me away,a super ultra cool thriller from Michael Mann and starring one of Hollywood great the one and only James Caan.His performance alone is the reason for every movie fan to see this gem.Thief also score great in cinematography ,music,editing etc.This film now rank in my top ten greatest film ever made.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Poor Transfer of a Beautiful Film
Review: The movie is a work of art, but this DVD makes it look like it was shot on digital toilet paper! The image is soft, and when something moves fast it is blurry. The end contains some sped up shots, where the sound is out of sync! Add all this to the fact that the DVD says Michael Mann supervised the transfer and you have one big "huh???" The commentary is also pretty bad. James Caan does most of the talking, and they hardly ever discuss the film specifically. It's more stories about the different thieves they had in the movie than the actual film itself, which is a shame. If you can, track down the VHS put out by MGM 10 years ago. The print is dark, grainy, and electric! It makes the movie seem real and immediate, and there is NO DIGITIZATION and NO POINTLESS ADDED SCENES!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic crime drama........
Review: James Caan is at his best as a thief who hooks up with the wrong people. Caan plays Frank a thief who always works alone and with minimal help from trusted aids (Jim Belushi in an early role) and never takes a job to high risk. Agianst his better judgment he hooks up with Leo (Robert Prosky) a mobster who enlists Frank to do a high profile job. Frank has problems of his own like his new wife Jessie (Tuesday Weld) and trying to adopt a child, not to mention the police know he is in town...Well of course things go wrong and Leo informs Frank that he is not a man to be messed with. By the end Leo finds out Frank isn't either. Willie Nelson has a small but pivital role as an inmate friend of Franks.
Not sense the Godfather has James Caan had a better role. This movie is the kind of Great drama we can expect from Michael Mann who brought us Heat, The Insider, Manhunter and Ali. Caan is both menacing and vulnerable at the same time. He seems like nothing bothers him on the outside but lets you in just enough to understand.
Rating: 
Summary: A crime film about Style.
Review: The heist-plot of 'Thief' is old hat - a master-criminal who wants to settle down with his family does one last job to ensure their future security; the police butt in and there is the usual spiralling of violence involving comrades and betrayal, as well as the meticulous focus on the mechanics of the heist. Even the film's poltical insight - the crooks are blue-collar workers, whose thieving is 'honest' labour involving sweat and technical skill; the bribable police are brutal parasites; the new crime cartels are monopolies swallowing up 'the little man' - is taken from that pioneering heist movie 'Rififi', although it is given a particularly 80s inflection here, with the ugly urban spaces already, in 1981, bearing the scars of Reaganite depletion. What is unique in 'Thief' is debut director Michael Mann's style. 'Thief' opens with a virtually wordless sequence as James Caan, a thoroughly professional craftsman, does his job with the tools of his trade, which happens to be the dismantling of a safe. Unlike many heist movies, which use the set-up of collaborative, against-the-clock crime, financed by shady businessmen as a metaphor for the film-making process, 'Thief' as a film can be more profitably compared to the object of Caan's criminality. 'Thief' gleams with a hard, gem-like brilliance, as Mann uses neon light, reflecting and liquid surfaces, geometric shapes, stylised movements and lean visual rhythms to transform the raw materials of crime, violence and city spaces into something shiny and beautiful. 'Thief' tries to contrast the 'formalism' of crime, its methodology and style, where Caan channels his aggression into professional control, with the messiness of the human-interest story, where he is emotionally vulnerable; but Mann seems much more interested in the former, with lumbering dialogue and dragging pace hobbling the latter. In the crucial scene in which Caan admits to his fiancee his criminal present, prison past and dreams for the future, Mann seems more fascinated by the illuminated symmetry of the motorway outside. The patient heist sequences, in which the crooks work like factory welders, are much more successful in revealing character. The astonishing, ritualistic climax, in which Caan is transformed into a kind of Terminator lost in the finale of '2001', has not yet been equalled by Mann.
Rating:
Summary: You Can't Con Caan The Ex-Con!!
Review: I first saw this movie on the big screen 3 times upon its original release. This movie has the kind of intrigue and noir atmosphere that was incredible in the theatre, and that "Tangerine Dream" soundtrack in Dolby surround, was truly unforgettable. ..............Out on the brightly lit nightime rain soaked streets of Chicago, we meet Frank. James Caan brings him to life as the all time coolest, sexiest, street savvy and self assured robber to hit the silver screen. In my personal opinion, this remains Caan's finest role to date. ............... We open as Frank gets shorted in a diamond heist payoff by a fence. By going after his shorted payoff, he meets mobster heavy "Leo" played by Robert Prosky...............Leo is impressed with Frank and makes him an offer to come on board as a "freelancer". Just "a couple of moves" for Frank, and Leo sells Frank the idea that he can make his dreams of independence... financially and personally, come true. There is an unforseen price to be paid. Watch and find out!!..............Frank has a picture collage that represents his life, and the pictures on it, represent different elements of that life. When Frank meets Tuesday Weld in a coffee shop he frequents, to get calls about "moves."(No cell phones back then!) He persues her relentlessly, having decided she fits one of the pieces of his puzzle. She's skeptical, but, at last, Frank convinces her to "be" with him..................Now with the wife piece of the puzzle in place, Frank goes to work for Leo. Soon after, other outside parties are interested in a piece of his action. Frank is annoyed, and the relatioship with Leo begins to sour.............Frank agrees to one final job. Although successful, the payoff from Leo isn't what he had in mind. Frank is angry that the elements of his puzzle didn't pan out. He subsequently sets out to destroy all that stands in the way of his dreams. .................Finally, when it's payback time, a wonderfully filmed noir slow motion finale begins with that sensual Tangerine Dream soundtrack. I find it very similar to the ending of Pink Floyds "Comfortably Numb" classic of the same era. ........... Director Michael Mann, famous for his "Miami Vice" TV series, as well as "Manhunter" and the famed Al Pacino/Robert DeNiro classic "Heat", shows his great potential in this early noir masterpiece. Every element in this film is perfection. Dialogue, cast, atmosphere, and the aforementioned fabulous soundtrack that enhances every scene beautifully. "Thief", has it all. The cameos from Willie Nelson and Dennis Farina in his debut on the big screen, replete with BLACK hair, as one of Leos henchmen, are also fun surprises along the way................... Overall, "Thief" sizzles with real quality filmaking on every level.
Rating:
Summary: A feast for the eyes and ears
Review: Thief was broadcast on BBC television a couple of weekends ago. Prior to seeing it I never even knew the film existed. After seeing it I knew I had to own it.
Thief isn't available on video or DVD in the UK. However this is one of those rare exceptions when I am prepared to spend extra on airmail and have it delivered from the US.
Much has already been written about the visuals and there is little I can add. Like other reviewers I have to mention the soundtrack which to me is one of the best I've heard in any film, matched only by The Long Good Friday. There's just something about that turn of the 80's music that creates a tremendous atmsphere.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: Based loosely of the book "The Home Invaders" by Frank Hohimer, this has got to be the most realistic crime movie ever made. Being from Chicago helps out a lot. The characters you see in this movie are the type of people that you run into in Chicago. From Taglia to the fat Italian fence, these guys are like people you deal with in Chicago. Robert Prosky, who plays Leo, is based after the real life character Leo Rugendorf. He was one of the most cold blooded gangsters ever to walk Chicago. Leo real life job was as a bails bondsman and fence for his crew of jewel thieves he employed. Hohimer was one of them. And he owned a meat factory, which is were he got rid of his victims. ... A lot of people are turned off by this movie because its slow and there's not much action. This movie is as real as it gets. The dialogue, music, and acting is superb. Mann is probably the best director of realistic movies around. What I like the most about him is that he stays loyal to his actors. He uses most of his actors in more then just one movie. John Santucci was in Thief, Miami Vice and Crime Story. Dennis Farina was in Thief, Manhunter, and Crime Story. William Peterson was in Thief and Manhunter. That's just to name a few. Anyway get this movie if you like intelligent stories that does not need action and if you want to know what the crime world is really like.
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