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List Price: $26.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 16401
Released: February 22, 2005 |
| Our Price: $8.00 |
| Used Price: $1.89 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
HUNTERS & THEIR PREY--NEIL & HIS PROFESSIONAL CRIMINAL CREW HUNTTO SCORE BIG MONEY TARGETS (BANKS, VAULTS, ARMORED CARS) & ARE, IN TURN, HUNTED BY LT. VINCENT HANNA & HIS TEAM OF COPS. ABOTCHED JOB PUTS HANNA ON THEIR TRAIL WHILE THRY REGROUP & TRYTO PUT TOGETHER ONE LAST BIG 'RETIREMENT' SCORE.
Description of Heat (Two-Disc Special Edition):
Having developed his skill as a master of contemporary crime drama, writer-director Michael Mann displayed every aspect of that mastery in this intelligent, character-driven thriller from 1995, which also marked the first onscreen pairing of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The two great actors had played father and son in the separate time periods of The Godfather, Part II, but this was the first film in which the pair appeared together, and although their only scene together is brief, it's the riveting fulcrum of this high-tech cops-and-robbers scenario. De Niro plays a master thief with highly skilled partners (Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore) whose latest heist draws the attention of Pacino, playing a seasoned Los Angeles detective whose investigation reveals that cop and criminal lead similar lives. Both are so devoted to their professions that their personal lives are a disaster. Pacino's with a wife (Diane Venora) who cheats to avoid the reality of their desolate marriage; De Niro pays the price for a life with no outside connections; and Kilmer's wife (Ashley Judd) has all but given up hope that her husband will quit his criminal career. These are men obsessed, and as De Niro and Pacino know, they'll both do whatever's necessary to bring the other down. Mann's brilliant screenplay explores these personal obsessions and sacrifices with absorbing insight, and the tension mounts with some of the most riveting action sequences ever filmed--most notably a daylight siege that turns downtown Los Angeles into a virtual war zone of automatic gunfire. At nearly three hours, the film qualifies as a kind of intimate epic, certain to leave some viewers impatiently waiting for more action, but it's all part of Mann's compelling strategy. Heat is a true rarity: a crime thriller with equal measures of intense excitement and dramatic depth, giving De Niro and Pacino a prime showcase for their finely matched talents. --Jeff Shannon
Heat (Two-Disc Special Edition) Reviews:
What a total disappointment of a Blu-Ray! :( There should be laws against treating such a *great* movie like this! 
2009-11-24 - This release truly was a gargantuan disappointment. "Heat" is one of my all-time favorites and Michael Mann one of my favorite directors. I actually did not have huge expectations to this first incarnation of Heat on Blu-Ray--knowing the problems that exist on both the original 1999 DVD release (which I might add was pretty ok at the time, but not by today's standards) and the subsequent 2005 "Special Edition" (which had some interesting extras and commentary, but no change to the feature itself.)
But I mean honestly, I am in awe that not only does this disc have basically _the same_ audio track (re-encoded into Dolby TrueHD)--complete with the same muffled audio which for the most part totally lacks any kind of force, and dialogue which in some places is so low it borders on being ridiculous.
I can honestly say that it had no improvement, whatsoever, over the Japanese DTS edition which was released a couple of years back (which also is far from perfect.)
Ok, granted. The audio is not 100%--that I might be able to live with. After all--this is close to being my favorite movie. However, it also has received a *minimal* upgrade on the video side.
No, I am not referring to the inherent film grain. This disc has many scenes which look like they are taken straight off the original DVD and upscaled to 1080p. The lack of detail is most prominent when pausing the movie at certain scenes. Background detail also varies strongly throughout. Yes, it is a Blu-Ray and obviously it will look better than the DVD but I have a quite respectable stack of older movies which completely puts this release in the dust. The bitrate is for the most part around 15-22Mbit/s, peaking at just under 30 in some cases; but seldom reaching this point.
Just to illustrate that minimal care has been given to the video aspect, note that it even has the _exact same_ color-change problem which occurs after Amy Brenneman's character (Eady) hangs up the phone with McCauley / De Niro (at 54:32)
While this is all bad enough, later on I actually notice that some of the dialogue has been *CUT OUT*. (Why haven't other reviewers noticed this?) Specifically where Diane Venora's character (Justine) is talking to Vincent Hanna / Pacino after the office party has ended. From the passage below, the first part ("you sift through the detritus") has been omitted(!). I actually had to rewind to verify this, as this kind of thing is pretty unusual, and not something I've noticed on any of the previous DVD versions:
You sift through the detritus, you read the terrain, you search for signs of passing, for the scent of your prey ... and then you hunt them down. That's the only thing you're committed to. The rest is the mess you leave as you pass through."
Just to make it clear--this was not some one-off problem with my disc or equipment causing it to skip ahead at that particular juncture. No drop-outs to the digital audio signal was witnessed either.
To me, cutting out dialogue (especially something as relevant and beautifully phrased) in such a fashion is completely baffling. I don't know what on earth happened to this release while it was mastered on Blu-Ray, but this just topped it all off and prompted me to eject the disc. I could not bear to see what other flaws or edits it might have been subjected to.
I might add that, never once have I not watched this movie to the end. And I have watched it probably 30 times. But this was truly an abysmal experience. Warner, are you listening? You have plenty of other awe-inspiring releases, and some which are decades older than this one which look (and some which sound) a zillion times better--Superman, North by Northwest, The Road Warrior, Bullitt, The Dirty Dozen--to name a few.
After I submit this review I will create a return request for this item. I urge all others who truly love this movie to do the same; and not put up with what is basically a repackaged & cut version of the original DVD.
What a waste of a truly great disc format.
The Many Flames of Heat 
2009-11-21 - Heat offers textured characters in what otherwise would be a a "cops and robbers" movie. The networking of criminals and police is interesting in itself. Add the emotional toll taken on Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Val Kilmer, and Dennis Haysbert and their women, and the viewer sees the police and criminals as real people with real emotions. Even the coldest melt. Pacino's and DeNiro's characters meet one-on-one over coffee, and the arch-enemies reveal their mutual respect for one another--and their dedication to their craft. A classic scene.
My Favorite Movie !!!
2009-11-21 - THIS MOVIE IS VIOLENT - but, if you can get past that, you will find a truly AWESOME cynematic experience and epic performances by an all-star cast; it is an entirely new genre: it's not the traditional "cop" movie (like Lethal Weapon or Die Hard, where we instinctively root for the law), nor is it the traditional "gangster" movie (like Casino or Goodfellas, where we find ourselves sympathetic to the "bad guys"). Rather, time is split in this film, focusing almost equally on the lives of the "good" and the "bad" guys. So, who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist here? We see "good" guys sometimes doing "bad" things, and we see "bad" guys trying to do what would otherwise be considered the "right" thing. At its essence, Heat is a story about two powerful, determined men on opposite sides of the law: Neil is a career thief, who has never allowed anything/anyone into his life that he couldn't leave behind in an instant, if he felt the heat closing in; and Vincent, a driven detective, whose devotion to his job leaves him no time for his family. The film shows us how each man is the source of the other's misery - but when they collide, neither one is willing back down! An all-star cast + a "signature" Michael Mann ending = a very powerful movie!
BETTER IN BLURAY
2009-11-16 - HEAT became my favorite film after I first saw it on HBO. Although having it on DVD, I recently bought the Bluray version. While not the sharpest transfer in my collection, the 5.1 audio is superb (clear dialogue; the gunfight after the bank job, the helicopter flyby leading to the face-to-face between Neil and Vincent, and the whining and screaming jets at LAX). Overlooking a few flaws (such as Vincent grabbing a shotgun off a uniformed cop at the hotel without identifying himself), HEAT is true to life, and the covert police techniques equally apply to the intelligence game. It is hard to understand why HEAT didn't make a bigger impact when in theater release.
understatement is underrated
2009-11-13 - I firmly believe Heat is the best movie ever made. The relatable and genuine characters drive the compelling and well-paced plot. The action is fresh and breathless, and the heralded shootout at the bank heist is amazing in its violence and complexity.
As a writer myself, what I appreciate most in this movie is the sincerity of the characters and the generally understated way they go about their lives. Conversations are stripped of all excess dialogue, but they are so much richer for it. I credit the ensemble nature of the cast for most of this commendable attribute to the movie. Good supporting actors with only a few minutes of screen time, like John Voight and William Fichtner, are engaging and entirely believable. What I think makes their performances effective is that the actors understand they do not support the movie themselves. Therefore, they can pour themselves into a two-minute scene without having to worry about sustaining that kind of effort over the course of a two-hour movie.
There are many more examples of this, but I will provide three.
When the pursued crew meets up to decide whether to rob a bank, Sizemore's character Cheritto is counseled to drop out of the heist because for someone in his situation it's an unnecessary risk. Sizemore's acting in this scene alone merits an Oscar nomination, even though he only delivers three lines. The emotion on his face, though, speaks paragraphs.
In another scene, Dennis Haysbert's character Donald is propositioned to participate in the bank heist at the last minute. He's on parole and is working a crummy job at a diner, and the temptation to return to the action, the money, and the world of crime that he is familiar with is so clear in his expression. What's also clear is the expression he gives to his internal conflict: He knows what he is doing is wrong, but he acts against it on impulse. By and large, these characters have already made their moral choices and are living with the consequences with a calm resignation.
Finally, Val Kilmer's character Chris goes to his wife after the botched heist. But with a simple gesture of her hand, she waves him off, as she is being surveiled by the police. He recognizes the signal and leaves, presumably never seeing her or his son again. In a gesture, his life is completely changed. What's better, it's done entirely without dialogue.
