Heat (1 Viewer)

[Michael Costa]

Heat was a good movie but like I read earlier in this thread, it has its flaws.

Pros:

1. Acting by DeNiro, Kilmer and Sizemore I thought was great.

2. Bank heist shootout was a classic.

3. Action sequences were directed well.

Cons:

1. Too long for me. Seemed stretched out.

2. I hate it when Al Pacino yells every line.

3. Relationships with the females in movie (besides Ashley Judd character) were not well done.

4. The cop team characters were uninteresting (besides the guy who was the weirdo in Silence of the Lambs).

I think he should have concentrated on the DeNiro vs. Pacino aspect or concentrated solely on bad guys but trying to cover everybody with enough screen time to make them interesting just wasn't possible.

I'd give it 3 out of 4 stars. I definitely enjoy watching it, as long as I can fast forward thru some scenes.

 

[Bernhard]

I sure hope they'll include the longer version on the new DVD...

"Who? Who?! What are you, a f***ing owl?"

 

[Jim Dalton]

Both HEAT and GOODFELLAS are movies I will NOT buy until they are re-released as special editions or director cuts.

Until then, I'm holding on to my $$$.

 

[Kevin Grey]

If there's one thing a Michael Mann movie guarantees its an awesome soundtrack. Even the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, sonically very different from his other movies, kicks all kinds of ass.

Heat ranks somewhere very high in my all time favorite movies.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Heat is a masterpiece in my mind.

In more than your mind, Zach It's a technically brilliant film, full of great performances and excellent writing. I was floored when I saw it (with those great commercials using the recently discussed "God Moving..." by Moby). I'll happily double dip. I have a list of films my wife MUST watch, and this is very high on the list.
Take care,
Chuck

 

[Shawn_McD]

Yes, I like movies that have scenes that resemble first person shooters.

The Bank Scene reminds me of playing Counter Strike or something.

The Scene at the restraunt with Deniro and Pacino, CLASSIC.

Its almost like Deniro/Pacino were different sides of the same coin.

 

[Paul.S]

Sam (Hatch) said in his post #18:

I've heard this criticism expressed before and I gotta once again disagree. I surmise you might be referring in no small part to the post-work scene wherein a buzzed Breedan asks his lady Lilly "whatchu proud of me for?" It's a touching scene that both raises the impact of Breedan's death later and supports the picture's larger critique of work and the tolls it takes on relationships in the lives of men obsessed with it.
Also, especially given the film's setting in hyper-"multicultural" L.A., I also found this small development of an African American male character and his relationship with his woman fitting and very refreshing. This is all the more so given Mann's casting the pic such that bruthas aren't only on the "wrong" side of the law, thanks to Mykelti's Sgt. Drucker.
". . . been pagin' yo' ass all day--I hate muthafuckin' pagers. Goddamn speed freak, jackin' methamphetamines--why don' we violate his ass right now?"
"Hey, where is yo' empathy brutha? It's a substance abuse problem."
"Empathy was yesterday. Today--you're wastin' my muthafuckin' time."
It's on Scorsese's list of top 10 movies of the 90s.
Bring on that 2-disc SE, Warner. It's about "muthafuckin' time"!
-p

 

[ChuckSolo]

The performances by the main actors in "Heat" were great, but, we can't forget the fine performances by Wes Studi and Ted Levine either. Just a couple of "forgotten" actors that should be recognized more often. Unfortunately, Studi is most often type cast as a Native American. Levine on the other hand is very versatile. His character in "Heat" was so, so different from the Buffalo Bill character he played in "Silence of the Lambs."

 

[Alex Spindler]

Additionally, Levine is one of my favorite elements of the TV Show Monk, where he gets to play the straight man to really excellent comedic effect. It's great to see him be able to stretch his wings a bit.

I actually like that almost every person has a bit of character thrown in. The guy Ashley Judd is having an affair with, Henry Rollins as the bodyguard, a wheelchair bound Tooth Fairy as the bank information specialist. Every single one of them feel like they exist beyond just their speaking parts.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

a wheelchair bound Tooth Fairy as the bank information specialist.

That's Tom Noonan who played the bad guy in Robocopy 2 and in the excellent X-Files episode 'Paper Hearts'. An actor capable of truly creepy performances.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Of course, there's plenty of strip clubs in L.A. - so her adult life will at least be a well paid one.

Cast Ms. Portman again, and I'd pay to see that sequel.
Recently I've been trading favorite movie picks with an old college friend of mine with whom I hadn't corresponded in years. When I got to 1995, I settled upon Heat as my favorite film of that year. I like to view it as sort of a western updated to modern L.A. - Pat Garret and Billy the Kid with cell phones. The outlaw even arrives in town on a train in the beginning.
DeNiro's character is perhaps one of the flat-out coolest ever put in a movie. When he sucker punches Wayngro - I could just watch that over and over again. Or that look of grim satisfaction on his face when he shoots Van Zandt. DeNiro makes the film as far as I'm concerned. I unapologetically rooted for him right up until the end. I'd have much preferred if he'd shot Pacino, but c'est la mort.
--Jefferson Morris

 

[Alex Spindler]

I actually was wishing that they would have killed each other. There would have been something so satisfying about having them both come through with their conviction to be the one to do it.

 

[Paul.S]

Jefferson:

When he sucker punches Wayngro - I could just watch that over and over again.

LOL--right on!

"He was makin' a move--I had to get it on!" POW!

And the shot of Sizemore leaning into the aisle and the look on his face as he glares at the guy wondering what the fug is goin' on at that table . . .

There was a plaque at that table at Bob's Big Boy in Sherman Oaks, CA commemorating this scene of the film having been shot there. People kept stealing it so they stopped replacing it.

-p

 

[John Doran]

DeNiro's character is perhaps one of the flat-out coolest ever put in a movie...DeNiro makes the film as far as I'm concerned.

i totally agree - it is, for my money, the role he was born to play. he's never been better, and never will be.

 

[Holadem]

Agreed. Too bad this role is and will probably continue to be overshadowed by his earlier academy award winning roles.

--

H

 

[dannyB]

Just to be sure, there's no confirmed release date for the SE? I've heard both June and July, but is it all still a rumor?

 

[Paul.S]

Re Bobby D: I'm also quite taken by his performance, in the same year as Heat no less, as Jewish (!) bookmaker Sam "Ace" Rothstein in Casino.

-p

 

[Alex...]