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Movies / On DVD / Heat
Heat

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Heat (1995)

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Reviews Counted:55

Fresh:48

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.7/10

Runtime: 4 hrs 17 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: "Never have anything in your life you can't walk out on in thirty seconds..." is the motto of expert thief Neil McCauley (De Niro). After his next break-in, McCauley plans to retire from his outlaw... "Never have anything in your life you can't walk out on in thirty seconds..." is the motto of expert thief Neil McCauley (De Niro). After his next break-in, McCauley plans to retire from his outlaw life and move to New Zealand. However, Vincent Hanna (Pacino), a Los Angeles police detective, obsessively tracks McCauley's gang of thieves, who have left three security guards dead in an armored truck robbery. As the detective gets closer to tracking them down, the crooks plan another big heist, this time at a bank. Hanna soon gets a lead that helps him determine the identity of the criminal mastermind who engineered the thefts, and discovers McCauley is a man as driven and relentless as the detective himself. Although he doesn't have enough evidence against the thief to make an arrest, Hanna convinces McCauley to join him for coffee, at which point the two engage in casual conversation and discover that their lives are remarkably similar. However, each man makes it clear he'll kill the other if necessary. Though they know the police are closing in on them, McCauley and his men risk going through with the bank job. A violent shoot-out and car chase result, but the criminals escape. Hanna continues to pursue them unceasingly, at the expense of his already-crumbling marriage. Eventually Hanna and McCauley face each other for the last time in a thrilling showdown at the Los Angeles airport. With HEAT, director Michael Mann achieves the nearly impossible task of making three hours go by in a flash with his use of the hand-held camera for action scenes and a moody score that echoes the characters' emotions. Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, and others play characters that are also crucial to the plot, but never distract from the central conflict between McCauley and Hanna. The acting is outstanding, the story is riveting and the action scenes are breathtaking. Both De Niro and Pacino are perfect as two men driven to sacrifice nearly everything for their respective professions. With edge-of-your-seat action and insightful drama, HEAT is a crime film at its most intense and personal. [More]

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Natalie Portman

Director: Michael Mann

Director: Michael Mann

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Heat

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

As Heat progresses, its sensational looks pale beside storytelling weaknesses that expose the more soulless aspects of this cat-and-mouse crime tale.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

There have been plenty of cops and robbers stories like Heat over the years, but seldom has the formula been done so well.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
03/27/03
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

No review available.

comment Comment
03/19/03
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

A quintessential cops and robbers face-off, with De Niro and Pacino superb in enemy roles.

comment Comment
02/10/03
Shannon J. Harvey
Shannon J. Harvey
Sunday Times (Australia)

No review available.

comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

Michael Mann works well with actors, but the film in general could have been tighter. It clocks at almost 3 hours, even though it's not an epic.

Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal

Powerful and compelling drama about two similiar men on the opposite sides of the law find themselves on a collision course.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/21/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

With two veteran players like these it's a tossup as to who plays the cop and who plays the bad guy

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
08/24/01
Shane Burridge
Shane Burridge
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Heat could have easily fallen into cop-robber cliches, but Mann lifts it to a higher level with intense character development and interrelated plot lines.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/27/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

Michael Mann and a superlative cast have taken a classic heist movie rife with familiar genre elements and turned it into a sleek, accomplished piece of work, meticulously controlled and completely involving.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/13/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

All the squealing tires, flying bullets and falling bodies cannot save Heat from drowning in its own banalities ...

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment 1 Comment
01/01/00
Andrew Ross
Andrew Ross
Salon.com

The cop/ crime stuff that makes up the bulk of the movie is well thought out and well directed.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Andy Spletzer
Andy Spletzer
Film.com

There isn't much to recommend this movie until Pacino and De Niro finally share the first of their two scenes together.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment 1 Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

As notable as the cinematography is De Niro's performance, which helps you remember why he became a legend in the first place.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

[F]ans of the two stars will probably find it worth their while.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

... while the sometimes hard-to-follow script often demands too much of the viewer, this film is one that's truly worth seeing.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

This is a movie about chemistry, straight up.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia City Paper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
Philadelphia City Paper

As with his other works, [Mann] binds sound, music and pictures into one hypnotic triaxial cable and plugs it right into your brain. He makes this almost-three-hour experience practically glide by.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

This is the first time De Niro and Pacino have acted together, and each gives a strong, watertight performance.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Edward Guthmann
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Heat

September 17, 2009: Five Favourite Films with Nick Love
Nick Love isn't known for heart. The film which earned him his "From the director of..." title card, The Football Factory, is nothing if not violent, loud and not particularly... More...

October 25, 2007: Mann to Direct De Niro in Frankie Machine
Robert De Niro is returning to his Mafia roots -- and Michael Mann is taking him there. More...

September 04, 2007: De Niro, Pacino Get Company in Righteous Kill
Film fans had to wait decades to see Robert De Niro and Al Pacino share scenes in 1995's Heat. Their second act -- next year's Righteous Kill -- is coming together much more... More...

May 18, 2007: De Niro and Pacino ... Back Together Again!
Fans of "The Godfather Part 2" and "Heat" may want to read this: Looks like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are about to reunite to make another crime thriller.... More...

See All

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