Heat (Special Edition) (DVD)

...in mind I do think Heat is one of the best action crime dramas I have ever scene. I am never bored watching it, and have completely lost count how many times I have indeed watched it. I may have wanted more focus on the main characters, but Michael Mann's directing never the less was superb in this, making an audience glued for three hours is not an easy task, which in my views Mann successfully did with this film. Although Braveheart was the movie ...
...the shelf, I think Heat was the best movie of that year.



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My Thoughts on the Characters
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The roles of the characters were picked perfectly. I could never pick a favourite out of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, they both bring so many talents to any part they pick to play, but undoubtedly in this movie ... more

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are two of my all time favourite actors, so getting the chance too see them act alongside each other was an opportunity I was not going to miss out on.

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Plot Outline
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Al Pacino plays Vincent Hanna, a top L.A detective. Robert De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a cunning, professional thief.
McCauley has pulled off many high-tech robberies with amazing success which has now grabbed the attention of top detective Vincent Hanna, whose obsession with his work is driven by no expense to his own private life.
McCauley lives by one motto, which inevitably is the key to his success thus far, that being 'become attached to nothing in life that you can't walk away from if the "Heat" is on'.
Now McCauley wants too pull off one more big high-tech robbery, and move on with his life with the first women he has met in years that he can actually connect with.
His professional crew are more then equipped to help him, but detective Hanna is no cop to be fooled, and does not give up easy in his quest to bring him to justice. No one, not even Hanna has been able to get near McCauley and his crew, but when one of their robberies goes wrong detective Hanna is hot on their trail.
Sensing that they may be in hot water, they regroup for one final job, big enough for them to all go their own separate ways. No expense is spared for the job, guns, high explosives, armed cars, are all thrown in to the frame work.
However, Neil McCauley is tempted to ignore his life long motto that has been the belief of his success for decades when his love for his new flame burns brighter, which in turn lets detective Hanna get closer to him than he ever has before.
Both are challenged by incredible minded men on both sides of the law, which are pitted against each other with explosive outcomes.

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My Thoughts on the Movie
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We are no stranger to the plot, we have seen it hundreds of times before. What made this movie work was the fact that director Michael Mann brought these two cinematic icons, De Niro and Pacino, together for the first time, alongside a hot supporting cast of big names.
In this movie, I thought the 'good guy, bad guy' cliché was completely thrown out the window which was great and welcoming to the plot itself. However the plot could have been much better, for reasons of the way it was shot. The movie itself to me was shot in a sequence of what seemed to be many brief moments, which although there were good moments I couldn't help thinking there were a lot of unnecessary scenes. I would have liked to have seen Michael Mann focus more on the main characters than that of all the less supporting characters over this almost three hour long film, never the less, Manns approach to this movie using the quick scene method doesn't manage too get you confused or loose you which is something not too snarl at. It being three hours long was not a disadvantage to the movie whatsoever as the character build up was what the film was all about.
The stronger parts of the film follow the main characters personal lives, and the effects all of their chosen professions have on their partners which in turn gives the movie more depth and realism than most cops and robbers action thrill movies. There is plenty of drama which compliments the action played out outstandingly well by both De Niro and Pacino.

This movie all boils down to not so much having a tremendous plot, but just having brilliant characters that drew me in hook line and sinker. Having a movie with such a big cast of top names normally put me off as it never lives up to my expectations which for once weren't the case with this movie.

With all this in mind I do think Heat is one of the best action crime dramas I have ever scene. I am never bored watching it, and have completely lost count how many times I have indeed watched it. I may have wanted more focus on the main characters, but Michael Mann's directing never the less was superb in this, making an audience glued for three hours is not an easy task, which in my views Mann successfully did with this film. Although Braveheart was the movie we all heard about in 1995, sweeping many awards of the shelf, I think Heat was the best movie of that year.

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My Thoughts on the Characters
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The roles of the characters were picked perfectly. I could never pick a favourite out of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, they both bring so many talents to any part they pick to play, but undoubtedly in this movie you could not imagine the characters the other way round. De Niro was the best choice for the thief, he suited the role so well, and Al Pacino was the perfect cop, if roles were reversed I don't think it would have complimented the film as much as it did.
They explored both Pacino's character and De Niro's character so well, by showing both their emotional boundaries that drives them to do what they do, and what morals they choose to go by. Both characters are very much the same in many different ways, as they can both loose sight with their work, and not focus on the things that actually do or can make them happy.

The film also had a great supporting cast, Tom Seizemore played De Niro's right Hand man, and I have always been a fan of his acting, he is naturally calm and 'the cool guy', which really shows in this movie.

Also we have Val Kilmer, who is another part of De Niro's crew. Vals character is 100% committed to the job, and even with his marriage falling apart around him he will not let De Niro down. Ashley Judd plays his partner but unfortunately her talents are wasted in this movie as we see very little of her and what we do see is not her best work.

Then there are the love interests between the main characters. Amy Brenneman plays De Niros love interest. Her character is De Niros first women in decades to whom he has ever connected with and his one chance of living a normal happy life. She is unaware of what he does, but falls deeply for him and wants to be let in.
Pacinos marriage is also breaking down with his work driven obsession in catching De Niro. Diane Venora plays Pacino's wife and plays a good emotional part at feeling rejected due to a life style she can't understand.

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My Favourite Scene
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The movie was always going to be about Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Getting these two to play alongside each other is eye candy for many movie goers.
Although they have appeared together in Godfarther part 2, they never actually shared the same scene due to the timeline in that story. So director Michael Mann would have been thrilled to be the first to grab this opportunity before anyone else did. However they only shared one major scene in this movie together, which of course being my favourite scene of all.
It was done very simply with over the shoulder shots, with both cop and thief sitting down over coffee matching wits by saying very little at all, showing off their cool calm collectiveness, with stern faces and simple eye contact with low tones in their voices which really makes the scene work and draws you in.
The scene not only shows both characters at their most vulnerable however strong they look, but also shows off their massive respect for each other as actors. It was a scene I know that will go down in cinematic history no matter if the plot went down as being somewhat unmemorable. I completely loved it, and made the film a true blessing to me.

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DVD SPECIAL FEATURE
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Disc 1:
The Movie itself.
Audio commentary from writer/director Michael Mann
Theatrical trailers

Disc 2:
11 additional scenes

'Return To The Scene Of The Crime': Location Manager Janice Polley and Associate Producer Gusmano Cesaretti visit the real life L.A. locations used in the film

'The Making Of Heat - True Crime': Michael Mann and Chuck Adamson, Technical Advisor and real life inspiration for the Lt. Vincent Hanna character, discuss the Chicago crime scene and the events surrounding the real Neil McCauley (who Adamson took down in the late 60s) that inspired the film

'The Making Of Heat - Crime Stories': Mann, cast and crew discuss the twenty year origin of the script, the film's genesis and the complexity of the characters portrayed on screen

'The Making Of Heat - Into The Fire': Mann, cast and crew discuss training for their roles, filming in LA, shooting the climatic downtown heist and post production

'Pacino and De Niro': The Conversation - Mann, cast and crew explore this historic on-screen showdown in the pivotal confrontation at Kate Mantellini's
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My comments on the DVD features:
I am not always bothered about the DVD features as I believe a good film should speak for itself, however, this was a very worthwhile attribute to the movie and purchase. Michael Mann's views and commentary on the movie is very interesting, especially why he chose to shoot the movie in the way he did. And also the section on the 'Al Pacino and Robert De Niro Scene' was of much interest to me, as I really wanted to know why is was just the one scene, and from this I could see why and agreed completely with the director.
Overall it's a worthwhile addition to the movie and worth paying that couple of extra pounds than that of the normal DVD version.

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DVD AND CAST DETAILS
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Cast: Al Pacino ; Robert De Niro ; Val Kilmer ; Ashley Judd ; Tom Sizemore ; Jon Voight ; Danny Trejo ; Tom Noonan ; Henry Rollins ; Hank Azaria ; Diane Venora ; Natalie Portman ; Amy Brenneman ; Wes Studi ; Dennis Haysbert ; Jeremy Piven ; Tone Loc

Directed by Michael Mann

Running time 2hrs 56 mins approx Cert: 15

Genre: Action, crime, drama suspense

I brought the DVD from Amazon for £9.97

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OVERALL OPINION
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No one will be a stranger to the storyline, its been done, tried and tested many a time, some work, some don't, this one worked simply due to the performances of the cast. If your either a De Niro fan or that of a Pacino fan (although if you like one you are bound to admire the other anyway) this movie is a must for you. The supporting cast are good, and the story is more than acceptable. I feel it is a worthwhile viewing, and I would rate it 7 out of 10.
I enjoyed it very much and would say it was one of the best movies of 1995.

Thanks for reading, Dempsey 

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