Who'd have thought university would be so time-consuming!
Who'd have thought university would be so time-consuming!
Member since:19.06.2005
Reviews:131
Members who trust:90
You may have noticed that the advertising campaign for the recent Miami Vice film has said "from Michael Mann, director of Heat". And like me, you may have been wondering, what on earth is "Heat"? Well, I'll tell you. It's an epic crime thriller that unites Al Pacino and Robert De Niro; two great actors who have surprisingly never worked together. I could have sworn they were both in the Godfather Part 2, but maybe not…
Robert De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a thief who is trying to organise one last armed robbery before he retires and leaves the country. Al Pacino is Vincent Hanna, the detective trying to bring him down, whilst also trying to keep together his crumbling marriage. As if these two star leads weren't enough, there is a large supporting cast of famous names and faces, including Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman, John Voight, William Fichtner (from the TV show Invasion), Hank Azaria (from The Simpsons) and Dennis Haysbert and Xander Berkeley (who were both in 24). At times having such a famous cast was distracting, since I started playing "spot the actor" rather than watching the film.
Heat was made in 1995, making it… erm… eleven years old now (and they say that kids are getting stupider…) so it's sometimes funny to see all these people when they were
younger. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro look just the same as they have done for the last thirty years, but Natalie Portman is a little girl, and Dennis Haysbert makes a pretty badass young black man before he went all presidential.
The story of Heat is extremely complicated, so I'll just give you the basics. It starts with a daring armed robbery on a delivery vehicle by Neil and his crew, during which they accidentally brutally murder all the guards. They blame one of the crew for the mess-up, and are about to kill him, when he escapes. It certainly won't be the last they see of him.
Neil also meets a young lady (Amy Brenneman, I think) and falls in love, thus compromising his golden rule: "never have anything you can't walk away from in 30 seconds flat if you see the heat coming round the corner". The film spends a lot of time examining this relationship, as well as the relationship between Vincent, his wife, Justine (Diane Venora) and his step-daughter Lauren (Natalie Portman), which is put under great strain by his obsession with his cases.
Vincent has his own team to help him track down Neil and his crew, and do so through a heady mix of informants, betrayals and clever investigation. In many ways, Vincent and Neil are extremely similar; they just happen to be on the opposite sides of the law, and they are dramatically thrown against each other in this thrilling film.
First and foremost, the story is excellent. It is very complicated and sometimes hard to keep up with, due to the sheer number of characters and the multiple plot strands, but if you concentrate, it's definitely worth it, with numerous twists and turns to keep you intrigued. It's extremely demanding of the audience, but you could never complain of an insufficient pay-off.
The script is also very good indeed, apart from one scene where Vincent's wife drifts intro a monologue that was completely unlike normal speech and sounded ridiculous. Al Pacino makes plenty of wisecracks, but in general it's quite heavy stuff. One of my favourite lines is when Hank Azaria says "Who?", to which Pacino responds "Who? Who? What are you, a f***ing owl?" I must warn any sensitive viewers out there that there is a lot of swearing in this film, as well as a fair bit of violence, but what did you expect from a crime thriller?
If you've seen any other Michael Mann films, such as Collateral or Miami Vice, you'll know that he specialises in night-time cityscapes, and that his films are photographed exquisitely. Heat is no exception. Dark is definitely the key word here; much of the film takes place at night in Los Angeles, with some absolutely gorgeous cinematography to capture the atmosphere. There's one scene with Neil and his girlfriend looking over the whole city, and it's so astonishing that it almost looks fake.
There are also some excellently filmed action sequences. The opening robbery and the subsequent shootings by the gang (wearing hockey masks) are strangely exhilarating, and Heat features one of the best, most action-packed shoot-outs you will ever see. Neil's crew take on the police on the streets of L.A., and they just create carnage, with plenty of vehicular destruction and a whole lot of bullet holes. This scene is loud, visceral and goes on for a very long time - very exciting. The final scene is also incredibly tense, and again Mann's use of dark and light plays a huge part.
Heat really is an intelligent action-thriller. It features fantastic performances from not only the two leads, but from virtually the whole of the cast (although I wasn't too convinced by Natalie Portman early on), and it's not all action and chases - there's plenty of time spent developing the two main characters and examining what makes them tick. Considering it's billed as the film that brings De Niro and Pacino together, they're only on screen together for a disappointingly short time. However, due to the hunter/hunted nature of the story, this is inevitable, and when they do come together for their main scene in the café, they really have a connection of some kind.
At 171 minutes, Heat is very very long, and you may think that sitting through nearly three hours of Al Pacino could cause you to fall asleep. But this running time allows for a story with a lot of depth, and most importantly a lot of twists and surprises. Trust me, you'll be completely gripped. ___________________________________________
You can buy the DVD of Heat for the low low price of £5.95, from www.filmnight.com.
Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring:
Robert De Niro … Neil McCauley Al Pacino … Vincent Hanna Val Kilmer … Chris Shiherlis Jon Voight … Nate Tom Sizemore … Michael Cheritto Ashley Judd … Charlene Shiherlis Natalie Portman … Lauren Gustafson Dennis Haysbert … Donald Breedan Hank Azaria … Alan Marciano William Fichtner … Roger Van Zant
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
You're costing me all my Exceptionals today, fella!!! Heat is a fantastic film with practically everything about it being spot on - from one of those casts that are to die for, great acting from all, THAT shoot-out scene and not least of all... getting two of the most famous movie icons EVER in the same scene and the same frame(s) of film. Fantastic! A well deserved E for both yourself and Michael Mann!!!
pinkmatchstick 26.11.2006 12:59
Good review, this is a classy intelligent film, and yes Pacino and De Niro did indeed appear in GFII
Having developed his skill as a master of contemporary crime drama, writer-director ... more
Michael Mann displayed every aspect of that mastery inHeat, an intelligent, character-driven thriller from 1995, which also marked the first onscreen pairing of Robert ...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
When Al Pacino and Robert De Niro square off, 'Heat' sizzles. Written and directed by ... more
Michael Mann, Heat includes dazzling set pieces and a bank heist that USA Today's Mike Clark calls 'the greatest action scene of recent times'.It also offers 'the mos...
Having developed his skill as a master of contemporary crime drama, writer-director ... more
Michael Mann displayed every aspect of that mastery inHeat, an intelligent, character-driven thriller from 1995, which also marked the first onscreen pairing of Robert ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
When Al Pacino and Robert De Niro square off Heat sizzles. Written and Directed by ... more
Michael Mann Heat includes dazzling set pieces and a bank heist that USA Today's Mike Clark calls "the greatest action scene of recent times". It also offers "the most...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Heat [DVD] [1995]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78533018.jpg "Heat [DVD] [1995]")
exceptional by (2%):
very helpful by (98%):
