Hello Everyone,
For My final Be Reel I chose to review possibly one of the best crime dramas to date 1995's Heat which was both written and directed by Micheal Mann. Heat has one of the best casts that an action movie could ask for with Al Pacino as our titular protagonist Officer Vincent Hana. The movie also includes a-listers such as Robert De Niro as Neil, Val Kilmer as Chris, Jon Voight as Nate, Tom Sizemore as Micheal, and a Young Natalie Portman as Lauren. At Heats core it is a cat and mouse movie with some of the very best high-octane action to date as well as superb character development. One thing that Heat is probably best known for is its perfect blend of realism and style this can be shown through many of the directors choices.
Heat is set in Los Angeles and follows a group of professional bank robbers as they start to suspect that they are being hunted by the police after they accidentally leave a clue at their last heist. The group then learns that they have been setup by their employer after the police's discovery. The crew then come to terms with the reality of the police threat and plan a "retirement score". As the police inch closer and closer to apprehending the crew both sides have to prioritize their goals and maintain a balance in their personal lives. Most notably with Neil's personal life and hesitant personality regarding attraction, and Lt. Hana's infectious persistence to succeed and let nothing get in his way.
Heat was built to be a suspenseful cat and mouse game one of the first things that you notice is that Mann uses long lenses to create the effect and feel of a stake out. Another most notable part of Heat is the action, especially during the final robbery two choices that Mann made that propelled this scene was to suspend all other Audio during the duration of the scene which gave the gunshots an overpowering and chaotic feel. Another choice made by Mann and the sound manager was not to edit the original the original sounds of any of the gunshots in the film this in return makes the scenes more realistic. Lastly of the more choices that stand out is the character development of Heat, Mann creates some of the best characters by exposing the audience to the "human" side of them. This is done throughout Heat with the deceptions of the characters flaws which in return make the characters more real.
Heat has several themes and meanings, but one theme that resonates with our two main characters is criminals and cops alike struggle to keep a balance between work and relationships. We see this in the film with Lt. Hana's crippling relationship with his 3rd wife and his out of touch step daughter and with Neil's situation with Eady as we come to find out the the only reason that he has survived this long is because he has refused attraction. Heat also has an underlining meaning of the good guys always win but at the end of the film Mann creates a scenario where your left wondering "did the good guy really win". This is what Heat does so perfectly, it breaks away from traditional heist movie conventions by exposing the more human side to the criminals which would typically be looked at as the bad guys and makes them the good guys.
Another point worth noting is the Noir film choices that make up Heat, one choice made by Mann was during the night scenes all the lights in the background of a shot would be blurred creating the liquid feel to the films setting. Another choice that Mann made in regards to setting was both Neil and Lt. Hana's houses. We see Lt. Hana's house as a cluttered modern art structure, this can be seen as a metaphor for Hana's lifestyle messy but extravagant. And with Neil's house being mostly empty only including the essentials which clearly represents Neil's lifestyle. The choice that clearly sets this movie apart from others is the use of tension this can be shown through the many shootouts but where it stand out the most in the film is the diner scene. In the diner scene we see our two main characters opposite each other suddenly mention their meticulous intents for one another. Truly on of the best scenes in action movie history
Below is a list of movies like Heat that I recommend:
Hell or High Water
Point Break
Inside Man
The Italian Job
Ocean's Eleven
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