Having developed his skill as a master of contemporary crime drama, writer-director Michael Mann displayed every aspect of that mastery in Heat, an intelligent, character-driven thriller from 1995, which also marked the first onscreen pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The two great actors had played father and son in the separate time periods of The Godfather, Part II, but this was the first film in which the pair appeared together, and although their only scene together is brief, it's the riveting fulcrum of this high-tech cops-and-robbers scenario. De Niro plays a master thief with highly skilled partners (Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore) whose latest heist draws the attention of Pacino, playing a seasoned Los Angeles detective whose investigation reveals that cop and criminal lead similar lives. Both are so devoted to their professions that their personal lives are a disaster. Pacino's with a wife (Diane Venora) who cheats to avoid the reality of their desolate marriage; De Niro pays the price for a life with no outside connections; and Kilmer's wife (Ashley Judd) has all but given up hope that her husband will quit his criminal career. These are men obsessed, and as De Niro and Pacino know, they'll both do whatever's necessary to bring the other down.
Mann's brilliant screenplay explores these personal obsessions and sacrifices with absorbing insight, and the tension mounts with some of the most riveting action sequences ever filmed--most notably a daylight siege that turns downtown Los Angeles into a virtual war zone of automatic gunfire. At nearly three hours, Heat qualifies as a kind of intimate epic, certain to leave some viewers impatiently waiting for more action, but it's all part of Mann's compelling strategy. Heat is a true rarity: a crime thriller with equal measures of intense excitement and dramatic depth, giving De Niro and Pacino a prime showcase for their finely matched talents. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Overrated but OK This film is overly long by at least an hour - I mean, was Pacino's suicidal step-daughter's issue ever resolved, more to the point did we ever care? - but the action scenes are competant and the shoot out on the streets of LA is top drawer bang bang. For me, it was a watch-once film, and a watch-the-above-shoot-out-several-times, type of film. Can't recommend it particularly, unless you like shoot-outs, of which, did I mention already, this film includes a very good one. The film could have been improved... more info
Fantastic!! I absolutely love this film. It has the perfect balance between action and drama and the performances are truely great. I love the fact that my two favourite actors (Pacino and DeNiro) are in it as enemies. I cannot believe that some people have given it 1 star!!
Heat is a true rarity Some say Michael Mann is an acquired taste. I say an appreciation of Mann's films, notably Heat, The Insider, Collateral, Ali, Thief and Manhunter, means you have taste. At sixty-three, he's a world-class filmmaker who's still breaking rules and rubbing nerves raw. The bottom line on this 1995 classic is that is a very smart, tightly paced, action-packed crime thriller with beautiful cinematography and great performances underscored by a compulsive tension that builds from frame one until the end of the... more info
One of the best films of the 90's I am assuming I am commenting on this film for those who have not seen this film and for those people I pity you. Its a crime thriller. Won't describe the story as its not particularly original and not the best thing about this film. You've got Pacino and Deniro on screen in a film for the first and possibly last time which should be recommendation enough. Youv'e also got director Michael Mann at the top of his game. An awesome supporting cast firing on all cylinders. Arguably the best "shoot-out" in any... more info
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