Heat

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie subpar DVD transfer.
Review: I think Heat is a great movie, but the DVD trannsfer was not that great. The picture quality was nothing special, but the sound was terrible. The effects track was alot louder than the dialogue and the bass track was absent in all the scenes except for the scene at the airport where the bass track seemed to be way too high. I'm sure I'll love the extras, but the DVD was a lackluster transfer.

Rating:
Summary: The Special Edition treatment that this film deserves.
Review: After the commercial and critical success of The Last of the Mohicans, filmmaker Michael Mann made his most ambitious film up to that point in his career with Heat. He cast legendary actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as the leads in what would be their first the on-screen appearance together in a movie (they were in The Godfather: Part II but never appeared in the same scene). Mann returned to a 1986 draft of a screenplay that originated before he made The Jericho Mile. A few years ago, Warner Brothers released a bare bones DVD of Heat. To celebrate the 10th anniversary, Mann has revisited his movie and assembled an excellent collection of extras.

Mann contributes a characteristically solid audio commentary. He provides a lot of details into the backgrounds and motivations of the film's characters. Surprisingly, there is very little overlap from the featurettes as Mann's comments start off strong but become more infrequent after the 90 minute mark.

The strongest extra is "The Making of Heat," an excellent 54-minute retrospective documentary that can be viewed in three separate featurettes or altogether. Many of the major and minor cast members are back for brand new interviews and offer insightful comments, including Al Pacino, Jon Voight, Ashley Judd, Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore amongst others. This is in-depth look at how Heat was put together and provides the whole story for casual fans and fascinating insight for devotees.

"Pacino and De Niro: The Conversation" explores the famous on-screen meeting between these two actors. Mann subverts our expectations by delaying their eventual meeting and then, when it does happen, it is at a diner over coffee and not what one expects with this kind of a movie.

"Return to the Scene of the Crime" features location manager Janice Polley revisiting many of the locations used in the movie. Mann wanted to find locations in Los Angeles that had never been put on film before in order to create a distinctive look.

Finally, there are 11 deleted scenes that include the most revealing excised bit of footage in a scene where McCauley and his crew get ready just before they enter the bank while one of his gang is interrogated by rogue psycho, Waingro that should have been kept in. There is nothing terribly earth-shattering about this excised footage but there are a couple of good moments.

The scale and star power of Heat was unlike anything Mann had ever tried before and firmly announced him as force to be reckoned within Hollywood. This two-DVD set is a fitting tribute for this important film. The transfer and sound are very well done with extras that are substantial and plentiful, providing a really good look at how this epic movie was put together.

Rating:
Summary: BETTER PICTURE? NO
Review: If you're thinking about buying this 2 disc version to get a better DVD picture transfer; don't bother. I couldn't tell a difference from the original release, which is good but could be much better.
Only buy this if you're interested in the special features.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent movie with a flaw or two
Review: OK I am editing my review. I will admit that when watching "Heat" for the second time, I was more impressed than with the first viewing. Interestingly enough, part of the reason for this was, the second time, I watched the "original" (1 DVD) transfer which actually had superior sound quality (another classic example of trying to improve something and making it worse)! Now, since this review is for the newer 2 DVD set, I suppose I should leave my "3 star" review - although the Amazon edit process won't allow me to change it, I would now give it a 4 if I could.

Pacino and DeNiro's performances are better than I had first described. Not as good as "Taxi Driver" or "Serpico", but good nonetheless. And now that I could make out the dialogue, I "retract" my statement that the movie seemed somewhat disjointed. The storyline was much more coherent and linear.

However, I still don't care for the "meeting" between Pacino and DeNiro - the conversation is too contrived and the whole episode too unbelievable. I guess the idea was to create a "respect" between the two that makes the ending of the movie "tougher", but that scene in the diner just doesn't work. I mean, a top L.A detective sitting down with his prime target over coffee and talking about their dreams? C'mon. "Heat" fans can diss me if they please - you be the judge.

And I still stand by my statement that Michael Mann's true masterpiece of this genre is "Thief", not withstanding the outstanding drama, action, suspense and special effects in "Heat".


Rating:
Summary: Best Cop Movie Ever!!!!
Review: Now with Comentary!!!!!!! Does it get better? Mr. Mann goes into character study and more. A must for all Heat lovers!!!
IS THERE A BETTER SHOOTOUT IN ANY MOVIE???????????

Rating:
Summary: Mann reinvents the police drama with "Heat"
Review: Inspired by a true story that occurred in 1964, Michael Mann's "Heat" reinvents the police action drama in the story of two men on opposite sides of the law who have respect for each other but, ultimately, must face off because of their roles in society. One a police officer named Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) the other a thief named Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) find they are flip sides of the same coin. McCauley hopes to pull off one big last score. His philosophy of life reflects that of a great thief; don't become attached to anything in life so that you can walk away. Pursued by an obsessed Hanna, he's driven only by the work and pushes his family away and pushes his men to capture McCauley before that last score goes down.

A brilliant crime thriller where Mann reinvents the genre inverting the clichés of the genre, the secret to "Heat" is the compelling story of duality that drives the characters and Mann's storytelling style and unconventional narrative that allows audiences to identify with both sides of the conflict. Stylish with rich visuals "Heat" captures Mann at the top of his game. "Heat" was, in fact, a remake of a film that Mann made for TV (as a possible pilot for a series). When producer Art Linson read the script he encouraged Mann to produce the original screenplay the way it was meant to be done with a top notch cast.

Using the same transfer as last year's bare bones release, "Heat" looks positively beautiful. Mann's compositions and use of light and shadow immediately pull you into this urban tale of rivals on the opposite side of the law. It appears that this is the same anamorphic transfer that was done for the 1999 single disc release of the film. As with the previous edition the blacks darker than black coffee and the colors are solid. The only thing new here are the extensive extras and Michael Mann's commentary track. The audio makes nice use of the surround sound format placing sound effects all around the room where appropriate.

A full disc of extras accompanies the film. Featuring 1 documentary divided into five parts which can be viewed in segments or all together, the first "The Making of Heat" features interviews with Mann and others from the production cast and crew discussing how Mann originally envisioned "Heat" (then called "L.A. Takedown") as the pilot for a TV series. The TV movie that Mann made in 1989 was an abridged version of the final script which, ultimately, became "Heat". Mann had just completed writing "The Jericho Mile" (a TV movie) but no one was likely to approve him directing a major motion picture with the scope suggested by the script. Producer Art Linson read the complete screenplay that Mann had completed and told him bluntly, that it needed to be a feature film. Mann got his first choice for both major roles; both Pacino and De Niro agreed to do the film from the moment they were asked. Pacino discusses that his amped up take on his character was created because he envisioned that Hanna was on cocaine using it to keep him going so he could reach his objective of capturing McCauley. Pacino points out that Hanna is "a hunter" and Mann states that he's "addicted" to complete the journey not so he can reach the end but just for the joy of catching the bad guy. In "Crime Stories" the actors and production crew discuss how "Heat" has elements of a Greek tragedy as these two characters move towards their collision with no way out. Mann was interested in looking at the lives outside the story for each of these characters giving them depth and background.

"Pacino and De Niro in Conversation" discusses the legendary showdown between Pacino and De Niro who meet together on screen for the first time. These two charismatic characters meet briefly in the film and that's the power of their meeting; delaying their screen time creates tension. Both generate dramatic sparks on screen even though it's a low key conversation as they share their nightmares and their dreams. "Return to the Scene of the Crime" features the location manager and associate producer who discovered the locations for the film to revisit them and discuss how they found some of the unusual settings for the film.

Mann's involving and intelligent commentary track really makes this worth getting by itself. While the documentaries are pretty good, nothing can beat Mann's insightful comments whether it be on Pacino's performance (and the background on the character that we never see but know from the actor's superb take on Hanna) to De Niro's meticulous working methods. It's one of the best solo commentary tracks I've heard.

Sporting the same anamorphic widescreen transfer as the previous bare bones release from last year, the extras are what make "Heat" worthwhile. Mann's intelligent commentary and the second disc filled with documentaries and 11 deleted scenes make this worth picking up. My only complaint is that I wish the film had been released with a "L.A. Takedown" as a third disc. This would have made this the ultimate "boxed" set of a classic film. Well worth owning with incredible performances, strong extras and a detailed & thoughtful commentary from director Mann.


Rating:
Summary: What are you people complaining about?!? This dvd rocks!
Review: I'm not gonna waste time summarizing the movie, because previous reviewers have already explained what's so great about this awesome crime epic. Like most of you reading this I waited years for Warner Brothers to give this masterpiece a proper dvd release. I already owned the bare bones 1999 dvd (Bonus features included 3 trailers. Wow...) and I eagerly bought this special edition. Contrary to some of the previous reviews, I noticed no flaws at all in the sound or picture quality of this dvd. In fact, the gunfights and explosions sounded better than ever! I'm very pleased with the bonus features, which include five documentaries, eleven deleted scenes, and commentary by the very talented director Michael Mann. There will never be another actor like Robert De Niro or Al Pacino, and here you get to see them in one of the greatest crime films of all time! The cinematography and special effects are amazing, Elliot Goldenthal's awesome music works flawlessly in the film, and the entire cast does an outstanding job. This dvd is an absolute must for any fan of the crime movie genre!

Rating:
Summary: Just Simply Fantastic!
Review: Al Pacino and Robert Deniro never starred in a movie before this. Well they were in Godfatheer 2 together but shared no scenes together anyway. They chose the right movie to star in together with Heat that's for sure. They both are equelly good here. Pacino plays a cop on the trail of criminals who are great at what they do. Deniro plays the leader of the robbers. Him and his team do a job that was just supposed to be steal the money from a armered truck and leave. Deniro's character believes in killing only when you have to. Things go bad though when a new member of his team turns out to be nuts and kills the guards out of cold blood.

This movie has a great script and great director that both give Pacino and Deniro a chance to do some of their best work. It's original and smart. Is one scene where Pacino pulls over Deniro and instead of arresting him. They go get a cup coffee and get to know each other as people. You don't get that much in movies at all. What shortly follows that scene is an awesome robbery scene that's one of the best ever filmed. This film just has it all. Realistic human emotion, a great cast and one of the best endings to a movie I've ever scene. Elliot Goldenthal's great musical score makes the ending even more powerful and beautiful . Why this wasn't nominated for best picture is beyond me.

Rating:
Summary: At last, the special edition
Review: I'd not describe the movie itself, assuming everyone knows it or can easily discover everything about it.
As for this special edition, the technical quality of the dvd is very high - which is so important in a movie like that based not only on story and characters, but also on photograpy, sound and movie score.
There is a feature-long commentary track by Mann himself, talking about actors, locations, the developing of the movie and so on...
The 11 deleted scenes are mildly interesting and can reveal something more about the characters.
There are also 3 behind-the-scenes documentaries, revealing some information about the realization of the movie, the true-crime Mann based is characters on and also some facts about the famous meeting between De Niro and Pacino. In the last documentary, two of the movie crew take us to visit some of the Los Angeles location used during filming, as they are now, ten years later. Remembrance of the movie shooting days follows.
There are also three trailers, if you are interested.
Personally, I'd have liked to have more, but maybe it's just my lust for everything about this movie.
However a must-have dvd both for the many fans of the film and for everyone who loves crime movies or good cinema.