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The Movie
After the critical and commercial
success of The Last of the Mohicans,
Michael Mann found himself with some serious clout in theHollywood establishment. As an unabashed, drooling and
hyperventilating fan of that 1992 film, I can only remain in awe of how Mann
made such a fantastic movie out of one thoroughly coma-inducing snorer of a
book. Heck, if I could only go back in time just once, I'd head back to the
19th-Century and congratulate Twain on his list of James Fenimore Cooper's
Literary Offenses... but that's guano for another cave. After the
success of Mohicans, the former Miami Vice executive producer
turned his sights on a subject that had been on-the-brain for decades: a
realistic take on "cops and robbers", based on real people and events, epic in
scope while at its core remaining a gritty procedural. Mann's first take on the
subject matter was the 1989 television movie L.A. Takedown, which
formed the basis for 1995's
big-budget
remake Heat, a
thrilling and first-rate crime drama that is primarily noted for its on-screen
pairing of acting legends Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Surprisingly
enough, the $60 million movie grossed a disappointing $67 million in
domestic box office, although the film cleaned up on home video, becoming a
cable and rental favorite among the
masses.
It's not too difficult to see why; some flaws
aside, this is a great picture.
Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Pacino) is a hunter, a ruthlessly
commanding and aggressively tenacious officer in L.A's Robbery/Homicide
division. Hanna's a phenomenal cop, in no small part due to his inability to
balance anything else in his life. He's been through three wives with no
noticeable success on the domestic front; he remains icily distant
from wife number three Justine (Diane Venora), who is ostensibly
cheating on him, while ignoring her disaffected daughter Lauren (Natalie
Portman). Hanna's criminal counterpart is Neil McCauley (De Niro), a first-class
thief and consummate professional. McCauley is nothing short of smart,
calculated, and guarded. He takes no risks, nor does he engage in any
thrill-a-minute kicks. His criminal activity is his job, and he covers every
single angle with nothing less than 100% dedication and patience. If he has to
drill through steel, he spends his nights reading up on metallurgical stress
fracture points. His personal credo provides proof positive of the dedication he
retains for his profession: "Don't let yourself get
attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if
you feel the heat around the corner." He lives alone, retains no personal
attachments, and lives a non-descript life that will in no way distinguish him
as anything other than mundane and ordinary.
Both men are tangential to each other. They are
anthropomorphic personifications of their careers, the very best at what they
do, the epitome of everything they represent, both positive and negative. Hanna
cannot keep a marriage afloat, given that he has to disassociate what he does
during the day with what (and who) he comes home to at night. And yet, Hanna can
never achieve true disassociation, remaining obsessed to the spectre of his job.
Comparatively, McCauley has the freedom to achieve any kind of domestic
situation he desires, yet he consciously eschews that type of personal
connection with anyone. His complete dedication to the perfection of his
technique requires that he avoid any sense of permanency in all aspects of his
life. Both men are razor-sharp brilliant, but the film transposes traditional
roles – the brash, explosive intensity of the cop contrasts against the cool,
calculating precision of the robber.
Heat
begins with McCauley and his gang
knocking over (literally) an armored car in a well-planned bond heist that goes
awry thanks to loose cannon Waingro (Kevin Gage). A new recruit for the gig,
Waingro's callous and capricious execution of one of the guards (thus forcing
the gang to have to execute all of the guards) brings them to the
attention of Hanna and his crew. While the heist is successful, McCauley ends up
in the position of having to eliminate Waingro as an unacceptable loose-end.
Through a fluke of luck, Waingro escapes execution, and McCauley moves on to
another endeavor: the daytime heist of $12 million from a downtown L.A. bank,
with Hanna hot on his tail.
The plot is almost simplistic in description, but the movie is anything but.
The two-hour, forty-five minute film is an elaborate character study, and not
just of the two main actors either. The storyline is rich with fully fleshed,
realistically depicted and thoroughly researched characters. Val Kilmer delivers
a strongly understated performance as Chris Shiherlis, McCauley's right-hand man
and perhaps the closest thing he has to a brother. Chris is a degenerate
gambler; any money he can score goes to paying off his various debts, a fact
that does not go unnoticed by wife Charlene (Ashley Judd), a former prostitute
who is always a stone's throw away from leaving him. Both actors are so strong
in their roles that they leave an indelible impression on the film. Jon Voight
makes much out of his small role as Nate, McCauley's contact and go-to man. He
only has a handful of scenes, but he owns each and every one of them. Also
memorable in their roles are Tom Sizemore and Danny Trejo as other members of
McCauley's gang, Dennis Haysbert as a paroled con finding the road to legitimacy
a hard one indeed, Amy Brennerman as McCauley's budding love interest, as well
as Natalie Portman, Hank Azaria, and William Fichtner. There is a ton of great
acting talent put on parade in this film.
The film suffers from a slightly bloated running time. The histrionics of
Hanna's domestic life drag the film somewhat; some judicious editing may have
made these elements more compelling. The subplot involving
Waingro's murder of a black call-girl almost seems superfluous. Yet, Heat succeeds in almost every other
facet. Mann's richly detailed script and cool directorial hand produced one
of the most engaging crime dramas ever filmed. And the bank heist sequence
is easily one of the most exciting and white-knuckle action scenes ever filmed,
bar none.
Then there's the entire "Al Pacino / Robert De Niro in the same movie"
angle. Those awaiting scene after scene of both actors squaring off against
each other will be sorely disappointed. Even though De Niro and Pacino share
only two scenes against each other, the mere presence of one carries over
to the performance of the other. When Hanna professes admiration to
McCauley's prowess, or when McCauley sits bewildered at what brought the heat on
his crew, there's a metatextual cinematic connection between the conflict of the
characters and the masterful performances of their respective actors.
The
DVD
Heat comes in a
deluxe two-disc special edition from Warner Brothers.
Video:
Heat is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and
has been anamorphically enhanced for your widescreen-viewing enjoyment. The film
mostly looks good, with the dark, stylized look of LA coming to vibrant life.
Colors are strong and richly delivered, while image sharpness is mostly
consistent throughout the picture. Some minor print wear pops up throughout the
transfer, as well as some edge-enhancement. Black levels are the only real
detracting element; they are not quite as deep and delineated as they should be.
Nighttime and dark scenes lack that requisite oomph needed for a highest-quality
transfer. The film looks very good, but not quite in the impressive to excellent
range.
Audio:
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. As the film is
mostly a dramatic piece, the soundstage is remarkably quiet throughout the
movie. The sound is localized to the front, with some dynamic expansion and
separation that crackles to life during the film's louder and more raucous
scenes. The bank heist, obviously, is dramatically expansive and aggressive,
making full use of the stage. Surrounds and LFE are used effectively in punching
up the mix when needed, but otherwise this is a straightforward, acceptable
soundtrack.
Extras:
Disc One contains an audio commentary from
writer/director Michael Mann. Mann is soft-spoken but effective throughout the
commentary. Listening to this track, one comes to the realization of how much
attention to detail Mann paid to the film, both in the history of the
characters, the situations, and important background elements to which the
camera barely pays any attention. The character backgrounds are especially
compelling; Mann's based most of the characters on real-life and/or composite
figures. He also provides a wealth of production and technical anecdotes.
There's some dead air here and there, but I put it to you that if you are in any
way a fan of the film, the commentary is must listening.
Rounding out Disc One
are three trailers for Heat.
Disc Two contains
the bulk of the supplemental material. The Making of Heat is an
hour-long documentary divided into three parts: True Crime (15
minutes), Crime Stories (20 minutes), and Into the Fire (24
minutes). Each section can be viewed independently or all at once via the "Play
All" feature. This documentary covers the gamut of the film's history and
development, from its real-life history to its pre-production, development,
casting, and production. Michael Mann takes the center stage throughout the
documentary, as the film is pretty much his baby. All of the film's primary
actors are featured, including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Ashley Judd, Val
Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, and Amy Brennerman. Also featured are many
of the film's crew and technical advisors, providing their thoughts and
reflections of the movie. This is a compelling and fascinating look at the
film's history and significance, and is well worth the time and effort. It's
almost as gripping as the motion picture
itself.
Next up is Pacino and De
Niro: The Conversation, a ten minute featurette that details the
climactic dinner scene that features both actors facing off against each other.
Interviews with various critics, crew and cast members, and interview footage of
Pacino and De Niro are interspersed with clips from the scene as its context is
analyzed and discussed. Especially interesting is how Michael Mann
discusses how much he, Pacino, and De Niro "couldn't wait" to film the
scene. Understandable, to be sure, but the scene's success is not in its
fireworks, but rather its understated intensity. This featurette is short but
provides some genuinely engaging
material.
The last featurette is
Return to the Scene of the Crime, a twelve minute look back at
the various locations used throughout the filming of Heat. Not quite as
compelling as the other material, this is still a reasonably informative
featurette, but not one to which one might return to often unless you had an
interest in location scouting. Rounding out the supplements are ten minutes of
deleted scenes (there are 11 of them in all).
Final Thoughts:
Easily one of the best big-budget studio
films of the 90s, Heat
has finally arrived on DVD in a two-disc set that will assuredly please even the
most skeptical of fans. The bonus features contained on this set are compelling
and thoroughly value-adding to the enjoyment of the film. The presentation is
the only slightly disappointing issue. Not that the film looks or sounds bad;
indeed on a purely objective standard, the film is presented in a fine fashion.
I suppose, given the movie's acclaim and fan-favorite reputation, nothing short
of excellence was expected. Still, don't let that disappoint you. The film is
still fantastic, and the presentation is certainly more than acceptable enough,
with a host of great extra features to boot. This is a two-disc set that easily
earns its Highly Recommended status. |
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