Heat (1995)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Michael Mann

Writer (WGA):

Michael Mann (written by)

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A Los Angeles crime saga.

Plot:

A Los Angeles crime saga, "Heat" focuses on the lives of two men on opposite sides of the law - one a detective; the other a thief.

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Armored Car Robbery | Police | Robbery | Blood

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Lt. Vincent Hanna
Robert De Niro	...	Neil McCauley
Val Kilmer	...	Chris Shiherlis
Jon Voight	...	Nate
Tom Sizemore	...	Michael Cheritto
Diane Venora	...	Justine Hanna
Amy Brenneman	...	Eady
Ashley Judd	...	Charlene Shiherlis
Mykelti Williamson	...	Sergeant Drucker
Wes Studi	...	Detective Casals
Ted Levine	...	Bosko
Dennis Haysbert	...	Donald Breedan
William Fichtner	...	Roger Van Zant
Natalie Portman	...	Lauren Gustafson
Tom Noonan	...	Kelso

Also Known As:

Fuego contra fuego (Argentina) (International: Spanish title) [es]
Heat (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Ajojahti (Finland) [fi]
Büyük hesaplasma (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Cidade Sob Pressão (Portugal) [pt]
Entasi (Greece) [el]
Fogo Contra Fogo (Brazil) [pt]
Goraczka (Poland) [pl]
Heat (Denmark) [da]
Heat (Spain) [es]
Heat (France) [fr]
Heat - la sfida (Italy) [it]
Heat, de Michael Mann (Spain) [es]
Horlivost (Slovakia) [sk]
Nelítostný souboj (Czech Republic) [cs]
Nelútostný súboj (Slovakia) [sk]
Skhvatka (Russia) [ru]
Szemtöl szemben (Hungary) [hu]
Tension (Canada: French title) [fr]
Vrelina (Serbia) [sr]
Vrocina (Slovenia) [sl]
Vrucina (Croatia) [hr]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

171 min | USA:188 min (original pre-aired NBC version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #34160) | Belgium:16 | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:14 | UK:18 (original rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:18A | Chile:14 | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 (re-rating) (2005) | Ireland:18 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

444 S. Flower Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Lt. Hanna is shown "checking chamber" on his handgun in at least one scene. This is a trademark of the character Nick Stone in a series of novels by Andy McNab, who was technical weapons training adviser on _Heat_ . Although not an uncommon thing to do with a handgun, it is rarely given such visual prominence in films. Also, the crew's tactics in the bank robbery shootout are notably similar to the "response to enemy fire" tactics featured in the book and film of McNab's Bravo Two Zero (1999) (TV).

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Detective Casals and Lt. Hanna are going to get Hugh Benny, Det. Casals shoots out the hinges of the door to Benny's place with a shotgun. A shot from a 12-gauge from this close would result in collateral damage and dangerous ricochets resulting in injuries to Casals and Hanna. However, Det. Casals can be seen loading Hatton breaching rounds into the shotgun earlier in the scene. These cartridges are designed to shoot out locks and hinges, and to minimize the risk of ricochets etc. Additionally, the "shots" that "hit" the hinges explode outward, from the other side of the door, and are inconsistent with a shotgun shot at close range.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Construction Clerk: Check, charge, or cash?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Frank TV: Money in the Frank (#1.2)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

La Bas

Captivating

Micheal Manns'(director of 'The Insider', and 'Manhunter') smooth, straightforward direction is studded with brilliant and very memorable cinematic gems in 'Heat', A bullet riddled drama with, yes , Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in their first on screen meeting.

What do you want to hear about 'Heat'. Is it DeNiro's best performance? No. Is it Pacino's best performance? I'd be lying if I said it was. Do the performances improve the story? Absolutely. Mann has written (he wrote it as well) a complex and exciting two-sided story that develops the hunter Vincent Hanna (Pacino) and the hunted Neil McCauley (De Niro) separately throughout much of the film. Underneath a hail of bullets Mann is able to paint both lead characters with the same brush by delving into the similarly tragic and chaotic personal lives of Hanna and McCauley, allowing for the final epic scene, which would have been too pretentious if it were not for the excellent performances of Pacino and De Niro.

Bottom Line: Not having seen this movie is akin to idiocy for anyone claiming to be a fan of movies. 9 out of 10