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Heat (1995)

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Information

Year
1995
Runtime
170 min.
Director
Michael Mann
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rating *
8.2
Votes *
411,175
Checks
44,165
Favs
3,436
Dislikes
238
Favs/checks
7.8% (1:13)
Favs/dislikes
14:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. Flicker's avatar

    Flicker

    Uh, yeah. Very little of this film worked for me.

    The dialogue was horrendous, made several degrees worse by Pacino delivering one of the most bizarre performances I've ever seen from him. It's not forgivable, especially considering the acting he's proven he can do, and that the character he's playing is little more than the well-trodden, workaholic cop with messy home life.

    DeNiro was better, although he created a character so completely incapable of chemistry or romance that his relationship with Edie doesn't make a lick of sense throughout the entire film. Honestly, he doesn't even smile at her, they just fire off questions as if they're in some two-way interrogation–no back and forth–and after they've extracted enough information from each other they decide to start making out. What?

    Other than the fact that I didn't find either of the main characters worthy of empathy, which is sort of huge, the film tried to go way too big. There are too many supporting characters and side stories, most of which are unnecessary and jarringly spliced in, and because of it few of the scenes flow at all. It would have been okay if the plot was competent enough to keep track of everything it introduces, but the pacing completely misappropriates its time. The result: the few great stories with some promise, which only needed patience to be masterfully developed, were severely truncated. As another commenter previously mentioned, what the hell happened to Val Kilmer? I guess that one scene was supposed to imply him leaving forever, despite the entire movie insisting that his wife meant everything to him?

    Apart from a tiny handful of great scenes and shots that were well composed, Heat doesn't earn that much redemption. The score had the tendency to be both out of place and in your face, all the characters seemed to live in confusingly similar houses, and the movie had two obnoxious cases of "just forcibly embrace the rightfully emotional women until they do what you want."

    Ultimately, I don't know how a film could drag so severely and still have such attention deficit, but this poorly executed mess manages to pull it off. Worth watching if you don't like DeNiro having emotions, enjoy Pacino speaking as though he's always on cocaine, and get off on watching male characters assert their dominance by randomly breaking shit in bursts of spontaneous and unprovoked anger.     8 years 5 months ago
  2. herk mondo's avatar

    herk mondo

    I saw this, and i really don't get the hype, This is a so so heist movie. For me it wasn't the great actors movie movie everyone is making it out to be. 3 years 8 months ago
  3. Siskoid's avatar

    Siskoid

    When Heat's casting director credit came on, I felt like standing up and applauding. This movie is LOADED with great actors, even in the smaller parts. Marketed as Al Pacino and Rovbert DeNiro FINALLY acting opposite each other, it also stars Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, John Voight, Ashley Judd, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, William Fichtner, Dennis Haysbert, Hank Azaria, Danny Trejo, Tone Loc, and kiddie Natalie Portman! I mean geez! Even though it's a three-hour heist-cop picture, director Michael Mann never lets it get boring, and even relishes in showing us his characters' personal lives. A typical film might use one of these as a subplot, but personal lives are used as additional "heat" placed on the main characters. And Pacino-DeNiro going head to head? It seems there was a choice to have them play to type, but even if their characters behave very much like other characters they've played (extrovert and introvert), it's the chess game between the best cop and the best thief that makes Heat exciting. Deserves to be mentioned more when discussing awesome crime dramas. 6 years 1 month ago
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Activity

  1. nytocincy checked this movie 15 hours 42 minutes ago
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In 21 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #27 in IMDb's 1990s Top 50
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    IMDb's 1990s Top 50

    27
  2. This movie ranks #29 in Time Out's The 101 Best Action Movies Ever Made
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    Time Out's The 101 Best …

    29
  3. This movie ranks #33 in IMDb's Crime Top 50
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    IMDb's Crime Top 50

    33
  4. This movie ranks #33 in IMDb's Thriller Top 50
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    IMDb's Thriller Top 50

    33
  5. This movie ranks #37 in MovieSense 101
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    MovieSense 101

    37
  6. This movie ranks #38 in Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
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    Empire's The 500 Greates…

    38
  7. This movie ranks #54 in FilmTotaal Forum's Top 100
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    FilmTotaal Forum's Top 1…

    54
  8. This movie ranks #90 in 101 Gangster Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    101 Gangster Movies You …

    90
  9. This movie ranks #98 in FOK!'s Film Top 250
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    FOK!'s Film Top 250

    98
  10. This movie ranks #126 in IMDb's Top 250
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    IMDb's Top 250

    126
  11. This movie ranks #241 in Reddit Top 250
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    Reddit Top 250

    241
  12. This movie ranks #325 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…

    325
  13. This movie ranks #393 in TSPDT's 1,000 Noir Films
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Noir Films

    393
  14. This movie ranks #395 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
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    The Guardian's 1000 Film…

    395
  15. This movie ranks #419 in Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life
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    Time Out's 1000 Films to…

    419
  16. This movie ranks #453 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
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    Mark Cousins's The Story…

    453
  17. This movie ranks #696 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
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    Sight & Sound's The Grea…

    696
  18. This movie ranks #887 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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    1001 Movies You Must See…

    887
  19. This movie ranks #888 in Box Office Mojo's All Time Worldwide Box Office
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    Box Office Mojo's All Ti…

    888
  20. This movie ranks #949 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
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    David Thomson's Have You…

    949
  21. This movie ranks #959 in Box Office Mojo's All Time Adjusted Box Office
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    959
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