Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #989 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Hungarian
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 164 minutes

Synopsis
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are finally together on screen in this riveting story about an intense rivalry between expert thief Neil McCauley (De Niro) and volatile cop Vincent Hanna (Pacino). McCauley will stop at nothing to do what he does best and neither will Hanna, even though it means destroying everything around them, including the people they love. With a solid supporting cast that includes Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Ashley Judd, and Natalie Portman, HEAT is a truly epic crime story.

Customer Reviews

A true rareity
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 movie.


This is a film for blokes; the bottom line for females viewers is that because the film is so unconventional and densely plotted, it may leave many of our make-up lovin' brethren in the dust. Too bad. Some reviewers on Amazon are all lined up to take shots at a film which can only be described as "over-rated; rubbish" by a viewer who simply couldn't follow the bread crumbs.


This movie is the "best thriller of the last twenty five years," UNCUT magazine; Nick James (award winning Journalist) actually wrote a book about the movie 8 years ago; 'nuff said. To be completely honest, it took me two or three viewings to really appreciate how great the plot points worked together.


Again, this is a great film for people who will appreciate the clever, intelligent way director/writer Michael Mann constructs the whole, however i believe Mann sometimes overreaches, such as including an unnecessary subplot involving a serial killer - Waingrove.


The soundtrack (available on Amazon) is astonishing and I found the music to be faultless as, like the moody backdrops, these added another dimension of drama and accent to the scenes. I know this review has wondered into the realms of awe-struck hero-worship, but I cannot praise this film enough. Bottom line - this is a movie for grownup blokes, the rest need not bother.

HEAT!
Heat combines 2 of the worlds best actors Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.With a solid supporting cast including, Jon Voight, Val Kilmer, Natalie Portman. Pacino plays Vincent Hanna, an old school cop hell bent on bringing expert thief Neil McCauley (De Niro) to justice and is willing to sacrifice anything
to do it.

Quite simply astounding!!
It's taken me years to pluck up the courage to this masterpiece. Much hyperbole has been written.. and it's all true. The re make of LA takedown and based on real life events in Chicago, Heat is Shakespearian dissection of it's two leads. Neil Mc Cauley (De Niro) is a cold blooded ruthless perfectionist, a man alone but not lonely, someone cool , not showey and prone to sudden acts of brutality or kindness. Vincent hanna (pacino) is his foil, a manic lunatic of a cop obssessed with tracking his prey, 2 marriages down and the third one crumbling, his suffering wife has to share him with all the filth of the city. A robbery goes wrong where the security guards are all shot courtesy of new team member Wayne Grove. Pacino is brought in to hunt the team down. Through bugging Slick (Tom Sizemore) he latches on and monitors the gang as they prepare their Opus magnus. He admires his nemesis so much that he has a coffee with him in what must be one of the most classic pieces of modern cinema. Both are a mirror image of each other. De Niro must do his job and Pacino will do his. Neither can change their spots, De Niro has to choose between his woman or settling some scores, Pacino must choose between his faltering marriage and troubled step daughter but can't resist the lure of the hunt. The character exposition is as good as ever commited to celluloid, the final shoot out is scarily realistic, the city looks beautiful is Mann's cerulean blue also seen in "Collateral" the cast is superb, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Hank Azaria, and even good old Senator/President Palmer Dennis haybert. Even good ol' Bubba from forest gump crops up as Pacino's colleagues. This is about as good as cinema gets believe the hype and own the film.