- Heat is both the summation of Michael Mann’s previous efforts, and an artist at his clear peak. After his biggest financial success in 1992’s The Last of the Mohicans, he had the juice to go back to his urban jungle—cops vs. thieves—and do it with the long-awaited meeting of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on screen (the two had been dancing around each other for decades after working together, but separately, in The Godfather: Part II). Mann here does not look to tell a cop versus thief story—he looks to tell THE cop versus thief story—on an epic canvas that no one had done before.
- Pacino plays Lt. Vincent Hanna and De Niro plays Neil McCauley. They are on opposite sides of the law but have very much in common. They are both so dedicated to their respective crafts that it rises to the level of art. There is a clear admiration and mutual respect between the two.

Mann here does not look to tell a cop versus thief story—he looks to tell THE cop versus thief story—on an epic canvas that no one had done before.

Kurosawa’s High and Low is mentioned by a few critics for taking the crime genre to the top of the cinematic art form…. if Kurosawa’s masterpiece spends roughly half the film in Mifune’s character’s grand apartment— I want a movie that takes place entirely here in McCauley’s place
- Mann staked his claim to the mantle of one of the art form’s greatest action auteurs with the real effect set piece work. The opening heist, the sound design, the semi-truck—clearly influenced the likes of Christopher Nolan. There is no The Dark Knight without Heat.

Both Hanna and McCauley have their crews (or posses if you want to call this an urban western) of professionals in sharp suits. This blocking of the characters faces is similar to a shot of Madeleine Stowe, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Russell Means near the very end of The Last of the Mohicans (Mann’s previous effort to Heat in 1992).
- After 10+ viewings you do wonder about some small plotting artifices like whether McCauley would have hired Waingro (played by a haunting Kevin Gage) to begin with? But, as Mann shows us by the time the 170-minute running time, McCauley does not always take his own advice about making the shrewd decision.

despite the running time and sprawling ensemble– Mann pauses to craft these sublime compositions throughout
- The 21-minute mark has one of the greatest one-minute segments in 1990s cinema. This is the blue day for night scene at McCauley’s home. First, there is the gun on the coffee table (above)- a phenomenal photograph, then De Niro’s McCauley holds for a sublime cinematic painting in front of a wall of windows in his home overlooking the sea. The cool sheen of the home tells you about his financial successes as a brilliant thief and meticulous nature—but the scene and image is also a way for Mann to portray McCauley’s melancholic isolation. Mann gives you another look at the emptiness he feels when he dines with his crew and they all have a loved one with them except for McCauley.

Don Siegel has a similar shot in Dirty Harry, but I also think you have the mention the cove sequences and sapphire color in Melville’s Army of Shadows as well.
- It is a Nashville or Short Cuts like ensemble drama in many ways with double-digit characters getting their story told. In no more than 3-4 one-minute scenes., Mann is able to brilliant portray the struggle of Dennis Haysbert’s character—and he is not even introduced into 40+ minutes into the film. Natalie Portman’s young Lauren her own backstory and arc as well- both an isolated mini-drama, and part of the grander tapestry.
- Mann makes a point of showing the domestic disputes of Val Kilmer’s character back-to-back with Pacino’s characters- both sides of the law again- the duality.

De Niro’s McCauley with Amy Brenneman’s Eady overlooking Los Angeles (and this is one of the great Los Angeles movies) and the night skyline. McCauley brings up Figi and the iridescent algae as Elliot Goldenthal’s guitar-laden score reverberates.
- If you are discussing the collision of acting artists in Pacino and De Niro you have to give the edge to De Niro here as Pacino blinks first. They are both excellent, but Pacino’s improvisations often distract, he is singing, “I’m Donald Duck” and “get killed walking your doggy” – it just needs to be just reined in a little (you’ll notice the theatrics are downplayed in the marvelous coffee shop scene with De Niro). I love a good larger than life, drug-induced (cocaine addict according to Pacino), swaggering character—but this just needs to be dialed back.
- Operatic at times—Pacino’s Hanna embraces the murder victim’s mother—the electric guitar carrying the drama of these colliding lives.

The diner scene meeting of the two acting gods is from the 90-95 minute mark. Mann mostly stays out of the way capturing it in shot, reverse-shot, close-ups to let them work. I’ll say it- I think there’s a little bit of a missed opportunity here even though it is a splendid scene, and the two actors couldn’t have asked for a better film to bring the two of them together.

The bank heist set-piece is at the 102-minute mark. The sound design is justifiably legendary. No shootout had sounded like this before. The music score (which magnificently drapes most of the film) drops out, there is glass shattering, the gunshots seem to rattle the screen… towards the end of the film with the final duel, the airport sound design will leave your jaw on the floor as well.
- The narrative is just a smooth crime drama machine in motion—writing that would make any great writer jealous like “for me, the action is the juice”.

Mann utilizes these gorgeous tight shallow focus close-ups during the final meeting of cop and thief.

The final frame at the 166-minute mark with Pacino’s Hanna embracing McCauley is held—an absolute stunner of a composition that fittingly ends this masterpiece.
- From Mike Clark – “”Heat” is in the cop-movie pantheon with Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” and that’s as “right” as the genre gets.” https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/lef144.htm
- One of the great films of the 1990s- a masterpiece.
I watched this movie for the first time when I was sick in bed and not at all ready for something so deserving of anyone’s full attention. I could tell I was really missing out, I just wasn’t able to fully absorb it in that state. The shootout scene also made my headache worse haha.
Lucky I was able to revisit it later, and then the operatic character drama really settled in. And how about the lighting in that final scene, coming up with each plane that lands, and then dimming? It just creates another urban obstacle for Macauley and Hanna to navigate in this sprawling concrete environment, and it brings another layer of rhythmic tension to that scene. There are so many standout scenes in this but that ending is just the perfect summation of everything that comes before.
– The opening heist is neck and neck with the opening of The Dark Knight for me
– The shot you have of De Niro and Val Kilmer drinking coffee looks like some of the shots
near the beginning of Manhunter when Jack Crawford is visiting Will in Florida
– Good call on Dennis Haysbert’s character, he’s fairly minor and yet Mann illustrates his
struggles in a way that he feel sympathy even if he is a criminal, and I love him shoving his
scumbag boss lol
– I love the way Mann mirrors the lives of law enforcement with the criminal they are hunting,
small details like showing the cops on a night out with their girlfriends/wives and then the
same with the thieves.
– My only real complaint and its a minor one is the whole Waingro moonlighting as a serial
killer, we already know Waingro is a monster in the way he murders the hapless security
guard that was presenting him no threat at all the serial killer subplot seems a bit much
but its a minor issue
– Lol on the Pacino lines you forgot the best one “she’s got a great as* and you got your
head all the way up it!”
– De Niro definitely wins this battle but Pacino out shines him in The Irishman (2019)
@James Trapp – With you on, no need for Waingro to be a serial killer. I also think that whole Natalie Portman subplot can be taken out. But I love this movie in all it’s sprawling and messy glory.))
@Mad Mike – The Natalie Portman character is just further demonstrating the Pacino character’s issues with balancing work with his personal life and its not needed but that and the Waingro as serial killer aside the narrative is extremely tight.
@James Trapp – Yeah, I understand that but I think we get enough of his work/life balance from whole subplot with Diane Venora character. I don’t think the Portman part of it is bad just uneccessary.
I was joking a bit about messiness but I do think that Heat is a vast movie with a huge cast (like John Voight is 3 or 4 scenes?). But I don’t mean that as a negative. I love that we see shitty civil life of Dennise Haysbert or amount or Pacino family life. It’s one of the reasons that makes it special. It’s truly a Crime Saga. As promised by the tagline.)
But I agree with you in the sense that it never forgets the core of the story.
Oh, man, I love this movie. I remember watching it for the first time. That moment of holding hands was exactly the right way to end the movie, and then “God moving over the face of the waters” really kicks in. That was a transcendent moment for me.
The shootout after the bank heist had my jaw on the floor. I could not stress how brilliant is the sound design of that scene is.
While I agree that DeNiro is stronger here, I don’t think that Pacino is that far. I’ve read about Hanna being the cocaine addict in the earlier versions of the script and Pacino playing him as such, and while, it makes certain sense. But I like to interpret his behavior as fake exterior, usually used to unbalance his suspects. And underneath it, he’s as cool as Neil.
@MadMike – yep we’re on the same page, even the small subplots are connected to the overall story/main plot line. Of the supporting characters I though Jon Voight was a standout, he’s probably a much more realistic criminal than say any of the characters from Reservoir Dogs lol, not that it’s a bad thing I love Reservoir Dogs but the characters in Heat feel so authentic which makes sense as Mann is the master of infusing style into realism.
[…] Heat – M. Mann […]
What are some of the greatest violations of the 180 degree rule? Certainly the one where Mann uses it in the diner scene to represent the tonal shift in the conversation between Neil and Eady springs immediately to my mind.
@Max- I found this resource- has some examples including Requiem for a Dream https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-the-180-degree-rule-film/
I have to admit I think the fatal flaw of Pacino’s performance is that he’s acting in a different movie from everyone else.
Heat, on the whole, is a relatively grounded movie, but when Pacino turns up it becomes a bit too ridiculous. It doesn’t help that some of the dialogue feels out of place.
I think if this was in a Guy Ritchie movie or a Paul Thomas Anderson movie it could work as a performance, which fits the exaggerated tone of the rest of the film… In a Michael Mann movie, it doesn’t fit. I sort of feel like someone else could have done a better job, even if the whole selling points is DeNiro V. Pacino. I’d prefer someone like Jeff Bridges or Robert Redford would have been more interesting.
RIP Tom Sizemore
@Harry- Indeed. Nine (9) archiveable films by my count. And he was a hell of a wingman supporting actor in his prime in the 1990s. “For me, the action is the juice”
1989- Born on the Fourth of July
1993- True Romance
1994- Natural Born Killers
1994- Wyatt Earp
1995- Devil In a Blue Dress
1995- Heat
1998- Saving Private Ryan
1999- Bringing out the Dead
2001- Black Hawk Down
@Harry – you beat me to it.
Funny enough I’ve watched several of films in the last couple of months. Love that line from Heat as well
You mention that both De Niro and Pacino are “excellent” here and I get your thoughts on the moments of over the top acting from Pacino that distract. But there are moments of incredible acting as well by him. So in my opinion it’s an overall good performance, not as good as De Niro but still better than many other performances both by Pacino and other actors.
@M*A*S*H- Yep, like he is superb in the coffee shop scene with De Niro
@Drake- did Heat and Carlito’s Way affect Pacino’s resume when you were making the list (apart from just increasing the number of archiveable films)? Because I see Carlito’s Way outside his top 10 performances apart from being a near MS. Also you don’t give him yearly best mention for Heat even though you call him excellent in the review.
@M*A*S*H- The biggest change was the addition of The Irishman. And yep – no mention for Pacino in 1995.