DVD Talk Forum - Michael Mann

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Re: Michael Mann

Thief though Heat does have some great sounding gunfights.

Re: Michael Mann

Collateral. I found it rather inspirational. The hit man telling the cab driver off for not pursuing his dreams is pretty awesome. Made me want to get off my ass and pursue mine.

Re: Michael Mann

I voted The Keep even though Thief is very good too. Nobody can understand why I like The Keep as much as I do, but I've read the Nightworld series (begins with The Keep) by F. Paul Wilson, and I'm hoping that one day they'll release the extended version of this movie on DVD. The books are excellent, the movie not nearly as much, but I still want to buy the extended version on DVD. What I'd really like to see is more of the story in this series explored in other movies, culminating in a grand finale reproduction of the final book Nightworld. Talk about scare the shit out of you... -kd5-

Re: Michael Mann

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamphorn (Post 10309622)

Collateral. I found it rather inspirational. The hit man telling the cab driver off for not pursuing his dreams is pretty awesome. Made me want to get off my ass and pursue mine.

:up:

Re: Michael Mann

I can acknowledge The Insider as his "best" film from a construction standpoint, but my favorite is easily Collateral.

Re: Michael Mann

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenVulture (Post 10309203)

Sort of a dead heat between Collateral and The Insider (with Thief coming in third), but I chose the former, not only because it is probably Mann's most purely entertaining work, but also because there's little to no fat--its focus is squarely on the cat-and-mouse game between Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, with no other distractions (not to mention Cruise and Foxx are both outstanding).

Shame that Heat is the complete opposite of what I just said: two awful performances from Pacino and De Niro (one is comically over the top, the other is practically comatose), some painfully bad dialogue, lots of characters and subplots that add nothing to the movie except make the film feel overstuffed. Great soundtrack, great shootout in the middle of the movie, but 10 minutes of great footage in a film just shy of 3 hours is a pretty bad ratio.

But overall, Mann has a pretty impressive track record: the only movies that could be considered disappointments would be the aforementioned Heat, Ali (fell into the "greatest hits" trap that many generic biopics do) and Public Enemies (I think a lot of my negativity towards this film has do with the awful decision to shoot on digital, making it look quite cheap and ugly in several scenes, which is a bit of a shock coming from Mann). Everything else is aces.

I heartily endorse this post and its contents. Well said GreenVulture, I agree with just about everything you've said there. Particularly regarding Heat which I've come to see as increasingly childish as I've grown older. Al's shouty school of acting is particulary tiresome, as are the cloding lines he's often given to speak. That "get out if you feel the heat round the corner" line is depressingly poor.

Re: Michael Mann

Heat by a longshot, followed by Miami Vice, Collateral and The Insider

Re: Michael Mann

Heat, no question to me there. Last of the Mohicans is a second. I also love Collateral, and thought Public Enemies was pretty good as well. While it isn't a masterpiece and is definitely the weakest of his action movies, Miami Vice does not deserve all the hate it gets.

Ali on the other hand almost put me to sleep. However, the Rumble in the Jungle sequence at the end almost saves the movie.

Re: Michael Mann

Quote:

Originally Posted by gryffinmaster (Post 10309756)

I can acknowledge The Insider as his "best" film from a construction standpoint, but my favorite is easily Collateral.

:up::up:

This is exactly what I was going to post.

Re: Michael Mann

Heat. I really love this movie but aside from it I really don't care for Michael Mann's stuff in general. Public Enemies was okay but slightly disappointing.

Re: Michael Mann

The Insider Hands down! The only other Mann film I would consider better than average is Heat.

Re: Michael Mann

Heat and The Insider are brilliant. Thief is an underrated gem, and so is Manhunter. I also love Collateral.

Re: Michael Mann

Heat, but it was a hard choice. Insider at a close second.

Re: Michael Mann

The only Mann movie I've seen that disappointed me was Public Enemies. That said, I selected Heat.

Re: Michael Mann

Ali is underrated. Is it because people hate Will Smith?

Re: Michael Mann

Heat, but the fact that he made a half-way decent Miami Vice reboot is impressive.

Re: Michael Mann

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnonomusBob15 (Post 10321347)

Ali is underrated. Is it because people hate Will Smith?

Agree. It is underrated.

It's also one of Smith's best performances.

Not sure why it doesn't get more appreciation. :shrug:

Re: Michael Mann

Heat for me, despite it's flaw (Al Pacino's performance).

Re: Michael Mann

I've never seen any of these films, even though I own three of them.

Re: Michael Mann

Wow, Heat is at 58%. So far, this poll is a landslide.

Re: Michael Mann

I've got the Miami Vice blu ray, but I haven't watched it yet.

My pick went to Public Enemies, although Heat certainly could have just as easily been my choice. They're both really, really good.

I just think Public Enemies is an underrated movie - I actually enjoyed it more the second time with lowered expectations than the first time. (The first time I went in expecting more than I should have, which did affect how I felt about the movie at the time - although I did like it quite a bit.)

Re: Michael Mann

The Insider is his best movie.

Miami Vice is his most underrated.

Public Enemies is one of the most disappointing movies of the last decade. His worst film as a big budget filmmaker.

Re: Michael Mann

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike45 (Post 10309087)

The Last of the Mohicans. The theatrical release not the directors cut.

Yup, agree 100%