Heat (Remastered) [DVD] [1995]

I've watched this gripping, fascinating movie a few times since its release, but recently decided I wanted to know more about how it was made, and so bought the two-disc DVD edition. The film itself is a masterpiece: an expertly-wrought portrayal of two men in conflict: Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), a tenacious, idiosyncratic police officer, and Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), a smart, calculating thief. The story is ostensibly about Hanna's pursuit of McCauley and his gang following an armed robbery on the streets of LA, but the other components which have been added - including depictions of their women and private lives, their colleagues, the city and environments in which they work - make this a fully-realised, three-dimensional epic which repays repeated viewing. For example, I hadn't previously noticed the link between McCauley's dismissive response when Hanna asks him - in that justly celebrated face-to-face encounter over a cup of coffee in the middle of the chase - whether he'd ever wanted a normal life ("What the f*** is that? Barbecues and ballgames?") and the moment in their next meeting in the parking lot of a downtown supermarket when McCauley's shooting at Hanna, but hits... barbecues (amongst a lot of other things). In addition, there's the pleasure of watching great actors (which includes a very strong supporting cast, featuring Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Kevin Gage, Hank Azaria, Dennis Haysbert and others) making their craft appear effortless. In particular, Pacino plays Hanna as a man apparently (or pretending to be) just on the edge, especially in interrogation scenes: there's a classic moment when he does something unexpected when talking to Hank Azaria's character, and Azaria's look of unsettled astonishment is totally genuine. De Niro's reading of McCauley is someone who doesn't want to be recognized or remembered, but who's surprised to find himself making an emotional connection with the innocent Eady (Amy Brenneman). And then there are the intensely realistic action set-pieces - especially the bank heist with the unforgettable sound of gunshots echoing off the sides of the crystal canyons of downtown LA - which make everything else you've ever seen in this genre appear stale or derivative. The extras on this set include a detailed audio commentary film track from director Michael Mann, three trailers, an hour-long documentary about the making of the film, and two short features about the Pacino / De Niro coffee scene and the scouting of locations for the film. They provide a lot of entertaining and interesting detail about how the film came to be and how it was made, so if you're as much a fan as I am, it's a recommended purchase.

classic movie

PERFECTION! There is simply no other words to describe this film! An impressive, perfectly directed, perfectly casted, psychologically interesting and ultimately heartbreaking story about policemen and criminals, as good as the best film noir classics from the 40s and 50s. Below, more of my impresions, with some limited SPOILERS. This is the story of a gang of ruthless bank robbers, who don't hesitate to kill if they are forced to. There is the impressive leader, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), sniper/compulsive gambler and youngest member of the band Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer, in one of his best roles EVER!), adrenaline junkie Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore) and a stoic, strangely charismatic Latino thug known simply as Trejo (played, of course, by Danny Trejo). They all met in high security prison, they formed the gang after serving their time and they are determined not to go back. Ever. Following some events which you will have to discover by yourself they atract the attention of two people they would rather avoid. The first is an incredibly tough detective, Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), who heads his own team of veterans with an iron hand. The second is a certain Mr Van Zamt (William Fichtner), money launderer for drug cartels - he is not himself very dangerous and as it turns out not even very bright, but he can throw an almost unlimited amount of money at any problem he wants and that has consequences. Serious ones... I will not say anything more about the story. The casting is perfect, simply perfect. All main actors gave everything they could and even secondary and third range roles were played optimally, like those held by Jon Voight, Ashley Judd and young Natalie Portman. It is a long film (170 minutes) but not even one second was wasted. The amount of work put in making of this masterpiece is staggering as every scene, every decoration, every line of dialog were clearly reviewed and polished with utmost care. The scenario is VERY GOOD, strong, logical, rich in details - a very rare thing nowadays in Hollywood... The director also used some tricks, like a short moment when we see people through a termal vision camera - and that is an AMAZING moment! At one moment the hero and the villain will have a parley - rarely did I see such a great moment of cinema as the calm, polite but filled with deadly meance conversation around a cup of coffee between screen giants Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in "Heat"... There is only a couple of action scenes and they are all good, but THE scene of THE main shootout is breathtaking, simply breathtaking - this is EXACTLY as action but also war movies should be made! This is a violent movie, but violence is also kept under control, at exactly the needed level. This is also a tragic film, exactly as the best American film noir classics from the 40s and 50s but there are also accents taken from French gangster movies from the 50s, 60s and early 70s, which were and still are real monuments of cinema. Finally, there is the ending; it is a long one but the tension is maintained at the maximum level all the time. Also, the ending is right - tragic but morally right and that is another very strong point, too rare in modern cinema... I could go about this film much longer but I will stop here to avoid any temptation to give more spoilers... For my personal taste this is one of those films which simply reached PERFECTION! I will never part with my DVD and I will definitely watch and rewatch it again and again. ENJOY!

Slechte beeld te donker. Normale blu ray is betee, miskoop

The 4K release of Heat is amazing. Although without Dolby Vision, the colour is still amazing. The movie is needless to say great classic with amazing cast. I got this with Town 4K. Two best bank heist movie IMO. Go order it and enjoy the movie in 4K 😉

Super master 4K🔥 Le film est culte. Malgré les critiques en4K d'une image très sombre du HDR personnellement elke est plus sue très correcte.

Calidad tremenda. En español. Los extras son una pasada con entrevistas con Mann, Alpacino, deNiro, y como entrevistador Nolan... El como se hizo también genial en qué se baso, el como se rodo...

映画の作り方って基本こうだよな! と再確認できる傑作品と言っていいだろう。 どんなにハイレベルなCGであっても所詮は役者の演技力に敵わない。主役の2人から醸しでてる凄みが圧倒的で存在力が素晴らしい。ストーリーの内容はシンプルなのだが、メリハリが効いた流れなので飽きることなく4時間弱の骨太アクションを堪能できる。 男臭さが溢れたような世界に華を添える女優陣にクドさが感じられないのもいい。冒頭の債券強奪、銀行襲撃から白昼の銃撃戦、いずれも悪行とは思えないくらいの出来栄えに納得してしまう。 Blu-rayなので画質はもちろんのこと、音声もDTS仕様なので迫力があり臨場感が半端ない。 import版ですが、しっかり日本語音声日本語字幕あります。特典DISCも必見の価値ありですね。