"Heat" (1995) Directed by Michael Mann

“Have no attachments. Allow nothing to be in your life that you cannot walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner”.

With typical Michael Mann understated and minimal opening credits, it’s interesting to immediately note that both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are noted jointly as top billing, and rightly so. However, it’s De Niro who enters the screen first after another typical Mann style opening, gentle, stylised and glossy as a train passes the camera and into the station. “Neil McCauley” (Robert De Niro) is introduced via a slow motion panning camera shot, however this is quickly replaced as we follow his frenetic edited walk through a hospital to his ultimate goal, to steal an ambulance. We’re briefly introduced to “Lieutenant Vincent Hanna” (Al Pacino) however this is brief and we’re back to McCauley’s “tight crew” of robbers.

Val Kilmer is excellent, if a little underused, as “Chris Shiherlis”, Tom Sizemore similarly as “Michael Cheritto” and cameos from Danny Trejo as “Trejo” and Kevin Gage as “Waingro” make up McCauley’s team. Donning hockey masks we follow their pursuit of their first target, a bank securities vehicle carrying valuable bearer bonds. A brutal and bloody heist later, and the first of many, welcomes you to Michael Mann’s Heat.

With a tight screenplay again penned by Mann himself and his regular partnership with Director of Photography Dante Spinotti intact, this all time classic is a brilliantly layered piece of cinematic history. Far more than a genre shoot out/heist film, familial breakdowns, intrigue, suspense and friendship are all on show, and showcased by acting talents at the very peak of their careers. My favourite Michael Mann film which all these years since it’s initial release has not aged a day and is a true master class in film making.

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The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "Heat" penned and published over a decade ago, transferred to my Medium blog site on 21st January 2023 and which can now be read in full and for free via my Substack blog site and my original and updated article linked immediately below:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/heat-1995-fa6c57bc1558

This spoiler free review is also integral to volume 3 of my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection". Currently only available via e-book, each volume of exhaustive and numerous film reviews are priced at £4.99 however should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package you can read each and every volume for free:

Volume 3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4JTLRY1

All 7 Volume Series

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4HZSTTH?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

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