Rypro 525

Michael mann doesn't do se's (except for some little known mgm disc that has a commentary as well)
And the tv movie 44 minutes that came on fx network a week ago is about the hollywood robbery.

mikehunt

the big "Bank of America" gun fight is one of the best gun fights in a movie, way better than anything john woo has done because it was more realistic (and I've really liked some of woo's hong kong gun movies)
the sound in the gunfight scene gets a too. most gun shots in movies are fairly soft compared to what you'd hear if you actually fired a gun, but Heat captured the sound much better and closer to how a gun sounds.

jdslater

this is one of my favourite films of all time.
the scenes he gives you are amazing, the train coming out of the steam, driving through the tunnel at night and being lit up, et al. i've seen la heat twice and there are some scenes that are good (flipping the gun magazine around in the shootout)but the way they say the lines are terrible.come on,one of the actors is called scott PLANK.
the bank job is amazing, just when it starts, the music quitely comes in all the way to when val comes out at spots the cops on the other side of the street and opens up,no second thought.i also love the shootout at the drive-in.i think tom sizemore is outstanding in heat.the moment in the diner when he looks at the other man reading the paper,also i would like to say that tom is one of the great hand actors in the world,look how he uses his hands in heat and passenger 57-excellent.

"what!you want a junior g-man badge for that?"

eedoon

I loved this movie too. Strong, sleek and enjoyable. But imo, the best scene in the movie is not the gun fight nor the bank job. It's the diner scene. Two great actors in the same table, delivering great line to each other. I can't ask more than that from any movie.

Geofferson

He did record a commentary for AB's upcoming Manhunter disc though.

tofu

I love this movie. It was like a long drawn out gunfight with Pacino and DeNiro going after each other. Probably one of the only movies that I've ever seen where the bad guy gets as much characterization as the good guy.

And the movie was a revelation to me because it was the first time that I'd ever seen Ashley Judd in a movie.

Buck Turgidson

James Wolcott, who usually writes smart and hilarious political pieces for VF wrote that. I kept the issue, and I recommend the article heartily to anyone who loves Heat, because James does, too, and he gives you a ton of good arguments as to why it's as great as it is. (I've tried to find it archived somewhere online, so far w/o success... )

I talked this film up in the "Neo-noir thread" if anyone is interested...

ArchibaldTuttle

I liked parts of it, but overall I think this movie could have been told in less than the nearly three hour running time, basically I wished the story would have been more focused and not running around to different sub plots (pacinos messed up family/marriage, De Niro's attempt at a real relationship, the whole Judd, Kilmer relationship etc etc), but then again maybe thats why you guys like it so much, as for the gunfight, I thought the best part about it was the location, the light and sounds of the planes taking off made the scene really cool, and I really liked the dynamic between De Niro and Pacino, I hope someday I will be able to watch this again all the way through without falling asleep

thats my two cents

Rypro 525

Even the gun stuff at the begining of the movie (where I am at now) is nice and loud. It sounds very realistic and can get to a point where you could have people mistake it for a real gun attack.

mikehunt

just watched it again today, well most of it anyway

KingSmoth

Watched it last night, and the night before. Still loving it, and has the best gun sound effects 3v4r.

Parcher, I'll e-mail you a copy of my paper when I'm finished with it. It is due Monday night, so I'll have it to you soon after.

Parcher

Thanks, King. I appreciate it. Dunno if my e-mail is listen in my profile, but it's [email protected]

Archibald, the subplots is what makes it so good and intelligent. I am a particular fan of De Niro's subplot with Eady.

Sure, it's long, as most Mann movies are. But Ali is his only movie IMO that's too long.

I really like how it's so long. Leaves time for many good scenes

Just think about Mann's talent: the names given in the movie.

Michael Cherrito. Chris Shiherlis. Vincent Hanna. Neil McCauley.

Gotta be the best naming yet.

EDIT: It's almost off IMDB top 250, at 249. Go in there and give it your honest vote which of course is 9 or 10

joliom

Heat is without a doubt an underrated modern classic. And, yes, it was a travesty that it was not recognized by the Academy, but keep in mind the Oscars are hardly an impartial or sagacious award (they passed over Citizen Kane in favor of How Green Was My Valley, for God's sake). I think Michael Mann is one of the great auteurs working in cinema today. Films like Thief (an early precursor to Heat), Manhunter, and Last of the Mohicans remain big favorites of mine. Heat, I think, is Mann's magnum opus, for reasons already mentioned. If it has any flaws they reside primarily with the acting. De Niro delivers a brillant nuanced performance, but Pacino is a bit less consistent. At times he is awesome, but other times he overplays his scenes. And the female leads, Ashley Judd most especially, give relatively weak performances. The worst instances are Diane Venora's "prozac and pot" speech and Judd's "I'm sick of it! - Sick of it!" spiel which makes me whince nearly everytime I see it. All the other performances are uniformly great, however, and the few lackluster moments do not effect it very much overall. As for the DVD, it is good, but not great. Thankfully it is in its proper OAR and anamorphic. But it suffers from excessive grain, noise artifacts, and edge enhancement issues that definitely can be improved upon. I just hope Warner takes the time to revisit this great film and give it the first-rate DVD presentation it deserves.

Jackskeleton

I love this film as it was set in many locations I grew up around. a lot of filming was done around my area and the gun shoot out goes down as one of my favorites. It is much more realistic then any john woo film. one hell of a great film.

Rypro 525

I watched it last night also. Somehow I think I fell asleep durring the diner scene with De Niro and Pacino, so could someone tell me what happened between this and when I woke up (or think I woke up) was when Portman's character

MarcinL

What gets me is the first part where they rob the armored car, for professionals seems to me that they went thru all the damn trouble just to make the movie look good.

Just so everyone is aware, there is a very easy way to rob the armored car.

1 Sniper Rifle (of course you need to be good at it not some dope amateur)

2. soon as its stopped, shoot a round underneath the car into the fuel distrtibutor, the explosion will be big enough that will flip the truck and most likely knock out the security peeps inside it, thats it no fancy rig trying it to tip over. but oh well its the movies

Jackskeleton

How many Armored cards have you robbed lately?

They don't want to do it in a public place.. and no way in hell will an armored car stop under the santa monica freeway like that. that area is just way to screwed up. no time for a sniper shot.. the way it was done seemed logical enough and look good to applease me.

isamu

Without a doubt one of my favs. I don't watch it enough. That being said...

Although your examples are noted, Pacino most quotable movies BY FAAAR are Scarface, and to a lesser degree, Carlito's Way.

Detective: We know you were on that boat...
Carlitolong pause)..."I don't like boats"
Carlito: Where are the keys to the safe?"
Fat Club Manager: "What keys? I dunno!"
Carlito: "I cut your ****ing liver out!!!"
Fat Club manager: "O KAAAAAAY!!"

Too many others to list...

KingSmoth

It's about time somebody gives Carlito's Way a little recognition. It's my favorite Pacino film, but I haven't spoken to a single person who has even heard of the movie...

shanester

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion but I almost fell I'm my chair when I read this..This films is a lot of things but definitely not boring. As others have said this is an urban masterpiece imo

shanester

I would buy a SE dvd in DTS just for the bank shootout!

BRAISKI

That was an amazing movie with an amazing cast!!! also the gun fight is was classic!!! It would be nice if they will release a Special Edition DVD with DTS in it

Parcher

All right, King. I am waiting for the analysis

Face/Off

Maybe he would've liked Pacino's performance more if he had used the Adam Sandler accent. Or if the movie were geared toward more the Vin Diesel crowd.

FRwL

It's like this thing which wants to be something but ends up being like a giant clump of shit that you try real HARD to keep it together but shit keeps falling here and shit keeps falling off there that in your continual effort to clump it all together you end up getting some clear tape and taping it, then you present it to the masses.

-Al Pacino is the hot-shot detective Vincent HANNA with marriage problems except he looks like his hair is a wig. The scene where he finds some Homer Simpson looking dude sitting on his couch eating in his wife's home is funny because she's getting sexed by him rather than Al Pacino? Also the scene of him picking up the kid at the end of the shootout was funny as shit because that kid is nearly as tall as him.

-Robert DeNiro practically looks like he just woke out of bed in all his scenes.
"Mumumum" with half-closed eyes like he was put to sleep for a dentist appointment.

-Tom Sizemore appears like he wants to suck heroin rather than go bankrobbing.

-Val Kilmer looks like he has down syndrome especially when he gets a new hair cut. Thank gawd he at least has his movie wife Ashley Judd.

-Al Pacino's police crew look and act like worthless piss-stains.

-Everyone in this movie looks really despicable and really miserable like they are all going to kill themselves at the end, i mean when the most joyous character is the psychotic badguy from Robocop 2 there's a problem.