Heat

Easily one of the best films I’ve ever seen. Michael Mann’s masterpiece Heat has been a film that’s been on my radar for a little while now, and I’ve been itching to see it. Finally that time has come and even with my sky high expectations it managed to surpass all of them. Can’t believe this is the first Mann movie I’ve ever seen and while I’m sure I’ll watch more of his stuff now, there is no way he tops this. The cinematography is fantastic throughout with some stand outs being, the shot of both men after Vincent kills Neil, and the shot of the gun on the table with Neil overlooking the ocean. Which was inspired by Alex Colville’s 1967 painting “Pacific”.  I knew that we were in for a treat right away watching that first robbery go down. How coordinated and (almost) perfectly executed the robbery is shows that these guys don’t fuck around. This whole sequence had me in awe and hooked me immediately. I also found that while watching this scene reminded me a lot of the opening heist in The Dark Knight, which checks out as Nolan says that Heat was one of his biggest inspirations when making that film. This is even further supported by actor William Fitchtner who plays Van Zant in Heat, who is casted once again as the bank manager in the opening sequence of The Dark Knight. Now if this was my reaction to the beginning of the movie you can only imagine how I was for the main bank robbery in this film. That scene along with the absolutely insane shootout that follows it had me on the edge of my seat throughout its entirety. Quite literally one of the best action scenes I have ever seen, as well as one of the loudest. Due to Mann’s commitment to authenticity he decided to place microphones around their LA filming areas for the shootout. Unlike most movies that will add their gunshots during post production. This causes the sound of the gunfire to be so loud and so real, as this is literally what LA sounded like during their shoot. It also seems like this scene was very difficult to film for other reasons as well, as logistic control and attempting to minimize the disruption in downtown LA made it so they could only shoot the scene on weekends in between other scenes. The dedication to making his film as realistic is possible is something I can really respect. * > “I’m alone I am not lonely.”* This is what happens when two all time actors at the peak of their careers do a film together. De Niro and Pacino steal every scene they are in for a full two hours and fifty minutes. Both of these characters are very similar when it comes to their determination, but have different motivations. Where Neil seems to be determined to finally start over with someone he loves, Vincent is to committed to his work to be present for the people he loves. Can’t forget about Val Kilmer (RIP to the legend) either who also is amazing in this film. Him and Ashley Judd deliver one of the best no dialogue scenes I’ve ever seen late in this movie. Pacino and De Niro are so good that it feels like Chris takes a back seat in the the story, but this final scene with him provides so much tension and emotion that it’s a great end to his character. Mann also excels at small details and callbacks. Some being obvious and some far more subtle. The big obvious one that’s also one of the funnier bits in the movie is the callback to the tiny tv that sits on the counter. Being called back to after he rips it out of the wall screaming “you can ball my wife if she wants you to…but you do not get to watch MY FUCKING TELEVISION SET.” Another detail/callback I noticed being less obvious was the soaked carpet when Vincent gets back to the hotel. Vincent doesn’t notice it a first even though the camera pans to it right away, instead he walks out to the balcony to enjoy the scenery, not even realizing that he’s wasting precious time. It’s once he walks back inside and notices the mess that he quickly springs into action and thankfully still gets there just in time. After this scene though I couldn’t help but think back to an earlier conversation between Vincent and his wife, as she was explaining to him how distant she felt from him. Vincent makes this remark about saving energy while at home because he needs it at work to constantly be on edge, once he switches out of work mode he consistently seems to become more distant to his family. I think him switching into this mode as he walked back into that hotel room caused him to miss a detail that he never would have normally, causing him to almost lose his stepdaughter. Now is this just a tiny detail that I’m over analyzing for no reason, possibly, but moments like these just reinforce how perfectly crafted each aspect of this film is. I’m sure I will catch even more moments like this than I already did once I inevitably rewatch.  So glad that I got around to this before it left Netflix cause otherwise I don’t know when I finally would have seen it. Michael Mann’s Heat is a masterpiece in every sense of the word and I’m so excited to watch more of this guys movies. 10/10