Heat

Well, this is that film that made history for being the first time De Niro and Pacino appeared together.

First thing to remember when going into this film is that it's Michael Mann in the directors chair, though to the initiated that will become obvious in the first few scenes.  Mann, long time writer of crime stories, with scripts for Vega$, Starsky and Hutch and Miami Vice to his credit, seems to be very learned in the ways of the villain.  The level of technical detail, like in Thief (aka Violent Streets) is impressive to watch, none of it seems like techno-babble.  The film starts with tooling up with a job.

Mann loves a wide film format.  He will often place characters at opposite sides of the screen with a neutral background between them.  I even wonder at times if he feels confident shooting in daylight as so many of his best scenes are beautifully shot night sequences.

So Mann, a great director, and now in a position where he gets the best talent to put on screen too.

Heat is one of those films where the director gets a do-over; like Lucas getting studio budget to remake his student film "THX-1138 4EB", or Hitchcock remaking "The Man Who Knew Too Much".  This time the original was only a few years earlier in the form of a made for TV "LA Takedown".  Both versions have their merits.  The pacing is more lively in the 90 minute TV movie, as opposed to the more leisurely 2hr50 min of the cinema version, but Heat has more spit and polish which is undeniable.

Basic story?  Indefatigable cop, Pacino, is hunting down a very proficient thief, De Niro.  The two heroes are out and out terse phrased Italian American tough guys.  Every line of dialogue they deliver seems aggressive, irks me somewhat.  Still the characters grow more from the body language and plot.  De Niro's team are padded out with a psycho loser who messes up the first heist we see, and later, the same guy rats them out to a crime boss they've stolen from.  It's only when De Niro lets something get personal that we see his world become unraveled.  This compliments Mann's earlier "Thief" where James Caan's safe cracker loses it all when he inadvertently signs up with a crime boss, and again lets a personal life come in his way.

Heat is possibly one of the best Mann films, alongside "Last of the Mohicans".  Collateral may have more of an edge with Hitchcock like twists, and "Ali" is probably my favorite of his films.

8/10

My previous comments at MovieNerds.  And comparing to Rififi.