A Few Words About A few words about...™ Heat -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Once one gets past the marketing "sizzle" of two actors who once had roles in the same film, but never worked together, Heat can be accepted for what it is -- an extremely high quality police / crime drama about the definition of levels of good and evil.

A great many words are unnecessary here. Warner Home Video has harvested an image and pressed it to Blu-ray for a high level of perfection.

Great film.

Beautiful Blu-ray.

Highly Recommended.

RAH

 

[Carlo_M]

I am so eagerly anticipating this title. Thank you for the brief review RAH. I'll be picking this up on release date...

 

[Nick Martin]

I'm sure a lot of people are wondering about the supposed "content changes" Michael Mann made, which makes for a different running time according to the cover art that's been posted online.

 

[Brian Borst]

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare8/heat.htm lists a runtime that's only 12 seconds longer than the dvd versions. The reviewer mentions the blurb on the cover, but he doesn't think the film itself was changed. That the same audio commentary is on the disc, would be further evidence towards that statement.

 

[Southpaw]

The WHV press release actually just states that he supervised a new transfer. I think it's just worded badly on the case art because I don't believe any actual content changed from the original. Here is the transcript from the press release:

[COLOR= rgb(24, 24, 24)]Burbank, Calif., July 20, 2009 – Prior to the recent opening of his well-received motion picture Public Enemies, director Michael Mann went back into the telecine facility to personally supervise a new high-definition transfer of Heat, the crime classic that starred powerhouse duo Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.[/COLOR]

 

[Dan Keliikoa]

Thank you Robert! This is my #1 favorite film. I think it's perfect from top to bottom...can't wait for some BluRay goodness on this one.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Originally Posted by Southpaw The WHV press release actually just states that he supervised a new transfer. I think it's just worded badly on the case art because I don't believe any actual content changed from the original. Here is the transcript from the press release: Burbank, Calif., July 20, 2009 – Prior to the recent opening of his well-received motion picture Public Enemies, director Michael Mann went back into the telecine facility to personally supervise a new high-definition transfer of Heat, the crime classic that starred powerhouse duo Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

On the back of the Blu-ray case (which is as far as I've gotten with the HTF review copy), it states as follows:

New Content Changes Supervised by Director Michael Mann

If he didn't change anything, that's more than "badly worded"! But I just verified the Beaver's running times; so who knows? I'll just have to watch it and see whether anything leaps out at me.

 

[Nick Martin]

It could be different framing of certain shots, changed lines of dialogue, alternate takes - those wouldn't make for a big difference in running time.

My one and only problem I've had with this film since the VHS days is that the dialogue is often difficult to hear, while the sound effects (gunfire) is thunderous. It makes for a very uneven listen and a lot of volume button pressing.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicholas Martin

It could be different framing of certain shots, changed lines of dialogue, alternate takes - those wouldn't make for a big difference in running time.

Exactly, this is not an extended cut. IIRC, the original, albeit unofficial, announcement actually pointed this out.

 

[Southpaw]

I wish someone from WHV would chime in here and straighten this out.

 

[esl88]

I'm glad this looks good in Blu-ray. Warner has had a few misses in the past, but it's good to hear this isn't one of them.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Originally Posted by Southpaw /forum/thread/294401/a-few-words-about-heat-in-blu-ray#post_3622865

Is the winking smiley meant to suggest that there's already someone from WHV in this thread?

Just on an initial viewing focusing on a/v quality, I noticed a line that's been dropped in Hanna's conversation with Marciano (the Vegas scumbag played by Hank Azaria). There's probably more that went by me because I wasn't looking for it.

 

[Dan Keliikoa]

I certainly hope no lines were cut! I don't think there's a wasted line in the whole film.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Originally Posted by Dan Keliikoa

I certainly hope no lines were cut!

So far I've only found one. But the important point is the confirmation that, yes, the Blu-ray does involve some degree of content change. Since I have other reviews to finish first, I wanted to post that fact sooner rather than later.

For anyone who's wondering, the dropped line is "Ferocious, aren't I?" The rest of Hanna's speech is unchanged. Now I know that for some people a single line of dialogue is important. For others, it depends on the line. Personally I don't consider this a big deal. I bet most viewers wouldn't even notice it. But if someone wants to get agitated about this, I can't stop 'em. It's not a good reason to miss out on an excellent Blu-ray, IMO.

 

[Dan Keliikoa]

I can live with that....just was getting concerned that there would be more instances of it. I already pre-ordered this from amazon so I'm definitely on-board!
You gotta say, Al's ad-libbing of that whole scene was awesome LOL.

 

[Edward Schatz]

I've read negative things about the picture on blu-ray.com but I hope they are misguided people.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Originally Posted by Edward Schatz

I've read negative things about the picture on blu-ray.com but I hope they are misguided people.

Can you be more specific?

 

[Felix Martinez]

Originally Posted by Michael Reuben




Can you be more specific?

There's some buzz about a change in brightness in certain spots, including chapter 17 between 00:54:32 and 00:54:33. I don't have the disc yet so I can't confirm.

 

[Carlo_M]

And if one were so inclined to listen to some conspiracy buffs, they say the two didn't work together in this film either! [/url]

Once one gets past the marketing "sizzle" of two actors who once had roles in the same film, but never worked together...

 

[TonyD]

Originally Posted by Carlo Medina

I don't go that far but I was annoyed that you don't actually see them on screen, both of their faces at the same time.
All you get is a couple of over the shoulder pov shots of the other guy in the diner then a long shot near the end of one guy holding a gun at the other.

The movie is great, but there was some hype that this was their first on screen film together and you really didn't get it.