Heat

Pros: Spectacular action scenes; well acted; gorgeous cinematography
Cons: Weak female characters; slow in spots; very long

"We’re sittin’ here like a couple of regular fellows…you do what you do, and I do what I gotta do..."

...Those "couple of regular fellows" are Vincent Hanna (played by Al Pacino), a brilliant Detective Lieutenant with the Los Angeles Police...

Pros: Ensemble acting by an all-star cast featuring Pacino and De Niro, direction, script, cinematography, atmosphere.
Cons: Overlong and overly melodramatic, some unnecessarily weak subplots whose threads are never sewn up.

That I put off seeing director and writer Michael Mann's stylized epic 1995 cops 'n robbers film Heat for nine years is a crime for which I have no excuse. After reading this review, you'll have no excuse at all. The film's graceful ...

Pros: Powerful Crime Drama, an Epic film with superb cast and great Script.
Cons: Would like to have seen a little more of Waingro's side job throughout..

Michael Mann already had a lot of critical acclaim from the 80's hit series "Miami Vice" and more recentley the movies "The Insider" and "Collateral". In the middle of it, the core, is the strongest of them all...HEAT. The plot when laid out on a ...

Pros: Cast, characters, action, direction, story
Cons: Al Pacino

Obsessed, workaholic LA detective Al Pacino trails highly efficient, tight-knit robbers led by smart, detailed Robert De Niro, whose motto is; Never get involved in anything you can’t walk away from in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat coming. Amy ...

Pros: intelligent, provocative, filled with eye candy and great performances
Cons: none worth mentioning

Heat is a very cool flick, precisely because it knows what it's doing. This is not a stupid actioner, with silly over-the-top characters shooting oversized guns between rabbit romps in the woods (with illiterate vixens dressed in daisy-duke shorts). ...

Pros: Great gun battles
Cons: Soapy complications and side plots

Heat (1995)

Director Michael Mann's crime thriller "Heat" is the story of two men, outlaw Robert DeNiro and good guy Al Pacino. DeNiro plays "Neil". a career criminal who specializes in "scores", big robberies....

Pros: Outstanding cast and performances; fairly interesting story; some intense moments.
Cons: Screenplay entirely too complicated; more confusing than mysterious; utilizes many Hollywood formulas.

It's a shame "Heat" is not the fantastic crime movie you'd expect it to be. It has so much potential to be an epic and exciting film, especially considering the all-star cast, the director and the premise. But the film is a bit too epic for its own good ...

Pros: strong script, tight directing, great acting
Cons: a couple of fairly unbelievable scenes

Heat” (1995) is a near great cops and robbers movie. Al Pacino plays the main cop and Robert De Niro the main robber. The movie begins with De Niro and his gang with great violence attacking and looting an armored car. Pacino, as the homicide...

Pros: Heat is a high-precision, well-executed action drama with all the ingredients of a great film.
Cons: There are a few loose ends that are left open to the viewer's imagination.

There is a man, a man whose name is Mann -- Michael Mann, who developed an idea, that turned into a movie, that inspired the casting of two of the greatest actors the world has ever seen, and put them face-to-face. The Mann, the idea, the movie:...

Pros: Good performances. Michael Mann's usual careful directorial choices.
Cons: Overly long. Overly melodramatic.

This week was, of course, New Years and it was just a tad too eventful for my taste. I was, of course, invited to a major gala function at the Beverly Hills Hotel where I had a few cocktails and traded decorating tips with Esther Williams (fond of tile)...

Pros: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer
Cons: Tell me when you find one

If you are like me and have liked every Al Pacino movie you ever saw and asked for more, liked every Robert De Niro movie you ever saw and asked for more, and have liked Val Kilmer in many a performance, you are on the road-kill with this one.

...

Pros: Acting, Writing and Best Shoot out Scene Ever!
Cons: If there are any, 15 words could pin point them.

Finally, two great tastes, that taste great together, in one powerful cookie. DeNiro and Pacino on screen with each other for the first time. I wonder who decided which role each would play? The roles are that of a cop (Pacino) and robber (DeNiro)....

Pros: Everything you could want in an action movie
Cons: Lengthy, but worth it.

If you like a bang 'em up, shoot 'em dead, heart pounding thriller, then this movie is classic for you. From emotional issues such as depression, gambling problems, and drugs to passion and love to action and ingenious plots, this movie grabs you from...

Pros: Intense, satisfying performances, *actual* realism for a change, one of the great shoot-outs ever filmed and, of course, Ms. Judd.
Cons: Just a tad too long.

When Heat came out in 1995, I was immediately thrilled. The cast: Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Tom Sizemore, Tom Noonan, Wes Studi, Danny Trejo (the driver - his more notable rolls have included the TittyTwister's bartender in Dusk 'Till Dawn...

Pros: De Niro vs. Pacino: Need I say more? Well then, Michael Mann's stunning cinematography.
Cons: Subtle plot details which are hard to follow if not paying careful attention.

An epic is defined as "a long narrative poem, on a grand scale, about the deeds of heroes and warriors." Though certainly not a poem, fans of this movie will see the poetry of director Michael Mann's breathtaking cinematography. How can one make Los...