Heat (1995)

Rolling Stone
"...This spellbinder vibrates with style, substance and humor, plus voluptuous camera work..." 12/28/1995 p.138

Sight and Sound
"...[HEAT] serves to bolster the case for Michael Mann as the key American auteur of the last ten years..." 02/01/1996 p.43-4

USA Today
"...A film that deserves Oscars for photography, editing, sound and arguably scoring....Heat is packed with unforgettable subcharacters..." -- 4 out of 4 stars 12/15/1995 p.1D

Entertainment Weekly
"...[Mann's] .357 Magnum opus....Macho-intellectual chutzpah..." 06/21/1996 pp.72-3

Variety
"...Stunningly made and incisively acted by a large and terrific cast....[HEAT] stands apart from other films of its type by virtue of its extraordinary rich characterizations..." 12/11/1995

Los Angeles Times
"...A sleek, accomplished piece of work, meticulously controlled and completely involving. The dark end of the street doesn't get much more inviting than this..." 12/15/1995 p.F1

Chicago Sun-Times
"...There is absolute precision of effect here, the feeling of roles assumed instinctively..." 12/15/1995 p.37

Total Film
"[With] stunning cinematography, capturing an off-kilter LA, all metallic grey and widescreen sheen." 04/01/2004 p.137

Time Magazine 0 of 10
Dispassion vs. passion, intellect vs. instinct, the implosive vs. the explosive style--as writer-director Michael Mann develops the duel between the cop and robber in Heat, his film becomes a compassionate contemplation of the two most basic ways of being male and workaholic in modern America. It also becomes a critique of pure reason... All [the inner turmoil in his characters] adds good weight and tension to the movie and provides a lot of very good actors with the opportunity to do honest, probing work in a context where, typically, less will do. But Mann's aspirations don't stop there. Having revived the historical saga in The Last of the Mohicans, he obviously wants to do the same thing for what has become a much more familiar (and tiresome) genre, the urban action picture. This Mann achieves with truly epic sweep, maniacal conviction and awesome technical proficiency. He announces his intentions in an opening sequence that may be the best armored-car robbery ever placed on film. He proceeds to a crazily orchestrated bank heist that goes awry and finishes in a wild firefight on a crowded downtown street that is a masterpiece of sustained invention. He ends with a chase that takes Pacino and De Niro into wholly original realms of hellishness, the back end of an airport, where their passions are nearly drowned out by the thunderous comings and goings of heedless flight... - Richard Schickel
 
Austin Chronicle 0 of 10
...Director Mann (Thief, Manhunter, The Last of the Mohicans) remakes his 1989 TV movie L.A. Takedown by bringing two acting titans together in one of the most intelligent crime-thrillers to come along in years. Pacino plays LAPD Detective Vincent Hanna on the trail of career criminal Neil McCauly (De Niro) and his crew of high-stakes thieves. Once Hanna and his team of detectives sniff out McCauly's trail after a botched armed robbery hit, Heat becomes a mesmerizing and relentless cat-and-mouse game where the bad guys are always one step ahead. What's so effective is the intriguing character examination we find at the heart of the film... Although the two share little screen time together, Pacino and De Niro's scenes are poignant and gripping. Some might have expected the two to collide like forces of nature, but in a high noon scene that should go down in cinematic history, the two merely talk life and realize they are essentially the same... Hanna and McCauly eventually meet again in one of the greatest bank robbery/shoot-out scenes ever that is beautifully chaotic and masterfully edited (last January's Bank of America shoot-out in L.A. was an eerie reenactment). With a stellar cast including Val Kilmer and Jon Voight, Heat has it all including a great soundtrack full of tone-setting, ambient, and symphonic arrangements. - Simon Cole