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    Ian Jane
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  • Heat

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    Released by: Warner Brothers
    Released on: November 10, 2009
    Director: Michael Mann
    Cast: Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore
    Year: 1995
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    Those who remember when Heat was released theatrically back in 1995 will probably remember that there was a massive amount of hype surrounding its debut. Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro were at the peak of their box office prowess (this was before they turned into the caricatures they seem to have become) and after all, this would be the first time that the two titans of crime films had actually shared screen time together. Surely a cause for celebration, right? Something fans had been waiting for since The Godfather II teased at the potential for such a pairing?

    Written and directed by Michael Mann, who has a knack for telling a good crime story to be sure, Heat didn't set the world on fire the way so many predicted it would, probably because it's an overly long film. I can remember leaving the theater underwhelmed, impressed only by the shoot out in the streets that comes towards the last third of the picture. At the time, I think I along with countless others, wanted more action out of a film that delivered primarily drama. Age has been kind to the picture, however, or maybe I've just grown up a bit but upon repeating viewings, the picture has grown on me.

    Based on some real life incidents that took place in 1970s Chicago, Mann's retelling is set in mid-nineties Los Angeles where a thief named Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro) makes a very good living robbing various locations around the city. McCauley and his crew are quite ruthless, never allowing themselves to get attached to anything on a personal level that may interfere with their abilities. On McCauley's case is an LAPD detective named Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) who becomes increasingly obsessed with catching McCauley to the point where his personal life is starting to quickly erode. Consumed by his work, Hanna makes it a personal mission to stop McCauley and his crew while they prepare for the biggest and most complicated heist of their career…

    There are long stretches in this film where things move at a very slow and deliberate pace. Some might see this as padding the film but it actually really helps to flesh out the two central characters as they ultimately engage in what is a large scale game of cat and mouse, one always trying to outsmart the other. DeNiro and Pacino play their parts well, really getting into character the way you'd expect two talented actors of their stature to do and making the movie that much better for it. When they eventually do meet, the scene is a strong one - maybe not as electrifying as you'd expect it to be, but yes, it delivers and the ways in which their respective lives mirror one another is quite fascinating.

    Equally important to the film, however, are the supporting players, which is easy to overlook when you've got DeNiro and Pacino in the two leads. Val Kilmer delivers one of his best performances here while Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, a young Ashley Judd and a young Natalie Portman all do fine work. Danny Trejo pops up in a small part as do Tom Noonan, Hank Azaria, Henry Rollins and yes, even Tone Loc all appear in the picture and deliver some pretty decent work.

    If the action doesn't come as quickly or as frequently as maybe some of us wanted at the time, so be it, as the picture is able to tell a gripping story without the need for a shoot out every five minutes. When the picture does become violent, these scenes carry some weight and as such have more impact and much of that stems from the fact that the characters are as well developed as they are. The end result is an epic, sprawling and literally massive film that requires your full attention for three long hours but which ultimately delivers a completely rewarding and engrossing experience.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    Heat is presented in its original 2.40.1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, presented here in a VC-1 encoded 1080p high definition transfer. How much you get out of this will depend, obviously, on how you want the movie to look. Those expecting a pristine and clean looking image may be disappointed in the way Mann shot this film and intended it to look because much of the picture goes for a gritty feel and a fair bit of it looks intentionally bleached out resulting in what can only be called color fading. Keep in mind this in intentional, however, and it comes pretty close to replicating the theatrical look of the film. Detail is much improved over the standard definition releases and black levels are good as well. This won't be a disc that pops off the screen at you but Warner has done a pretty good job here, bringing Heat to Blu-ray that, well, looks like Heat has always looked but with improved clarity and resolution.

    An excellent English 48kHz 640 Kbps Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is how you're going to listen to this Blu-ray release and there's not too much to complain about here. Dialogue is easy to understand and the levels are properly balanced. There's some great surround activity during the action scenes, you'll really notice it during the finale, but quieter moments benefit from the rear channels as well and it's not hard to pick up on some subtle ambient noise scattered throughout the film. There aren't any problems with hiss or distortion to complain about and all in all, the movie sounds very good here. Compared to the SD release there's a lot more punch and power here, the sound just has more impact and as such plays a bigger role in the film's effectiveness. Standard definition tracks are provided in English, French, Spanish and German Dolby Digital 5.1, and in a Portuguese Mono mix while subs are offered in English, French, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swedish.

    Writer/director Michael Mann supplies a pretty decent commentary track for this release and you'd think at almost three hours in length he'd run out of things to talk about, but no, he fills the space quite well and manages to keep it interesting throughout. He talks about the importance of the casting in this picture as well as the cinematography that was employed in addition to covering locations, the events that inspired this picture, how he feels about various parts of it in retrospect, and more. There are times where he clams up now and then but generally this is a good talk that lets us into his head a bit.

    Just as interesting, if not more so, is the hour long documentary The Making Of Heat which is cut into three parts - True Crime, which covers the real life exploits that inspired this film; Crime Stories, which explains how it took twenty years for this story to finally get filmed and why; and Into The Fire, which covers what it was like shooting this picture on location in Los Angeles. This is a pretty in-depth look at how Mann got this project finished and it provides some really interesting contextual information about its history and origins.

    From there check out a couple of shorter featurettes starting with Pacino And DeNiro: The Conversatino, a ten minute piece where the two screen legends are given a once over as we get a look at what it was like for the pair to work together on this feature. It's a bit self serving and promotional at times but no less interesting for it. Return To The Scene Of The Crime is a twelve minute documentary that lets us tag along with the film's location manager and producer to discuss the importance of the cinematography and location shooting that Mann employed in the picture. It's a pretty praise intensive but they make some interesting points and those who appreciate dissecting a film's visuals should find this quite interesting.

    Also worth going through are the eleven deleted scenes that Mann trimmed from the film in post production. There are ten scenes here and they probably would have just padded out an already long film without adding much to it, but it's nice to see them included regardless as they do flesh out a few of the characters a bit more even if they don't quite feel one hundred percent finished.

    Rounding out the extras are seven minutes worth of trailers, menus and chapter selection. All of the supplemental material on this release is presented in standard definition.

    The Final Word:

    Heat holds up well fifteen years since it hit theaters thanks to a great story, some equally impressive writing and an excellent string of performances. Warner treats the film with the respect it deserves on Blu-ray, loading it with supplements and offering up impressive audio and video.
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