Blu-Ray Review:
Heat
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score 89% Fresh: 42 Rotten: 5
"Never have anything in your life you can't walk out on in thirty seconds..." is the motto of expert thief Neil McCauley (De Niro). After his next break-in, McCauley plans to retire from his outlaw life and move to New Zealand. However, Vincent Hanna (Pacino), a Los Angeles police detective, obsessively tracks McCauley's gang of thieves, who have left three security guards dead in an armored truck robbery. As the detective gets closer to tracking them down, the crooks plan another big heist, this time at a bank. Hanna soon gets a lead that helps him determine the identity of the criminal mastermind who engineered the thefts, and discovers McCauley is a man as driven and relentless as the detective himself. Although he doesn't have enough evidence against the thief to make an arrest, Hanna convinces McCauley to join him for coffee, at which point the two engage in casual conversation and discover that their lives are remarkably similar. However, each man makes it clear he'll kill the other if necessary. Though they know the police are closing in on them, McCauley and his men risk going through with the bank job. A violent shoot-out and car chase result, but the criminals escape. Hanna continues to pursue them unceasingly, at the expense of his already-crumbling marriage. Eventually Hanna and McCauley face each other for the last time in a thrilling showdown at the Los Angeles airport.
Heat came out in 1995 and it's been a long time since I had seen it. For me Heat is a gripping crime drama that is amazing to watch. It has some of the most cool shootout scenes in any movie. This is a movie you have to invest your time in. It definitely does not move at the pace of today's films. It’s more slow and methodical. It's also 2 hours and 51 minutes in length. There is a lot of character development in this film. By the end of the film you are more invested in the lives of the lead detective and the main thief. This is something that I think is missing from some of today's films. If you haven't seen this film it's definitely one to check out.
8 out of 10
Video
For most of Heat it's quite a dark film with a very muted colour pallet. Colors are mostly grays and blacks and dark blues. This is what Michael Mann and his cinematography were hoping to achieve, a gritty urban image. The transfer succeeds in reproducing this faithfully. Detail is really good as well, and it's easy to make out lines in the characters faces or scuff marks on the hockey masks they use. Black levels are solid throughout, which is good, because if they weren't it would ruin most of the transfer. There are some shots that are a little bit blurry but this is the source material and not a problem with the transfer. There is a thin layer of film grain throughout which is nice and I didn't notice any DNR being applied to the image so that's good. I don't think you will be using this as a demo disc to wow your friends but that doesn't mean Warner has not done a good job with the transfer.
8 out of 10
Audio
We are treated to a bold Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Dialogue is crisp and nicely centered. There are instances where it is drowned out by all the action but this is done on purpose. One thing I noticed is the LFE channel. It is present quite a bit. It lends weight to gunshots and car chases. The mid-LA shootout is an amazing experience. You really feel like you’re in the middle of all the action. Gunshots are whizzing from surround channel to surround channel. Explosions rock your sub! Now not all is good here, I did find myself reaching for the remote once to often, but it's a small price to pay as the track overall is quite good. This is a huge upgrade over previous DVD releases so fans should be pleased.
8 out of 10
Extras
Here is what is included in the way of extras:
Audio Commentary with Michael Mann
The Making of Heat
Pacino and De Niro: The Conversation
Return to the Scene of the Crime
Additional Footage
Theatrical Trailers
The first issue I have with the extras is that they are in Standard Definition. This is one of Warner's high profile releases and it is a letdown that these are not in HD. With that said the extras do give you a lot of insight into Michael Mann's filming and thought process. My favorite extra would be "The Making of Heat". Clocking in at almost one hour in length, this is a well done documentary that gives you insight into his thoughts about making this movie. There are interviews with main cast members and he it goes into the production from it's earliest stage all the way until it was released. It's well done and really worth your time. I also really enjoyed "Return to the Scene of the Crime". For this feature the location managers takes us back to locations used in the film. They discuss the photography and locales that Mann used in the film and gush over Mann but they discuss things that are not mentioned anywhere else.
7 out of 10
Overall
Fans of the movie will no doubt be happy with this release. They are getting a significant upgrade to the original DVD and they are getting great picture and sound as well. The extras are well done even if there not in HD. So there is a lot here to recommend.
8 out of 10