It is fitting that one of the most definitive heist/crime dramas arrives on Blu-Ray is a newly restored version that bears the moniker Heat: Director’s Definitive Edition.
Michael Mann’s iconic classic is a four-time Oscar nominee and stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as two men on opposite sides of the law.
Neil McCauley (De Niro) is a master at his criminal craft who, while trying to keep one of his crew from going rogue, is attempting to pull of one last major heist before he heads off into the Los Angeles sunset. Of course it is the most complex and risky of his lifetime of heists.
The only thing is Lieutenant Hanna (Pacino) is hot on his trail. Hanna is determined to bring down his white whale before he strikes again and largely sees his crime fighting career as a failure unless he does so. His personal life does not make that task easy as he is dealing with his cheating wife (Diane Venora) and his mentally unstable stepdaughter (Natalie Portman).
Over the course of the film, these two titans find common ground and learn to respect each other, even if each wishes utter and complete failure on the other… after all, it’s how each is wired. “I do what I do best: I take scores. You do what you do best: Try to stop guys like me.”
Heat landed in 1995 and featured two of Hollywood’s biggest and most respected stars appearing across one another for the first time. Pacino and De Niro may have only shared a few, yet incredibly electric, moments on screen together – but it was enough to catapult those scenes as some of the most celebrated in movie history. Then, there’s the rest of the astounding film which is mesmerizing at its least and explosively thrilling at its best.
Stylistically Heat features Mann at his best… and this is saying something. After all, the guy’s resume is filled with stylized classics such as the pop culture phenom Miami Vice. Not only is he a wizard of the eye candy and suspense building, but Mann is a master with his actors. Many in this film turn in some of their career’s best performances, including Ashley Judd, Val Kilmer, Jon Voigt, Tom Sizemore and of course the two leads only add to their laundry list of awesomeness.
If the drama and thrills seem unusually palpable in Heat, it is because the film is the culmination of years of research by Mann. It is based on the late Chicago detective Charlie Adamson, who took down the real Neil McCauley in a 1963 shootout. Mann painstakingly created this world, based on real characters… and then brought them into modern times with a flair that is pure Mann.
The bonus features include several features that were already released on the 2009 home video product, such as the stunning audio commentary by Mann. It is a study in filmmaking brilliance and even though the audio track has been heard before, it never gets old and is a must-listen while witnessing the Heat on subsequent viewings. Hearing his stylistic choices and how he orchestrated the various relationships between the various characters is a lesson from a directing dynamo.
A new feature is a true treat, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented a conversation between Mann, De Niro, Pacino with director Christopher Nolan serving as a magnificent moderator. We learn about the origins of Heat, all while Nolan gets the inside scoop, filmmaker to filmmaker, on how a master craftsman works his cinematic magic. It is a stunning, just over an hour, featurette that for fans of the iconic film cannot be seen too many times!
There is also a fascinating and slightly different Q&A from the Toronto Film Festival included featuring Mann discussing some of the choreography utilized for some of the most iconic scenes in his masterpiece. The thirty minute featurette adds a different flavor than the Academy Q&A and is equally as informative and enthralling.
As for the archived featurettes, they are all pure gold. Our favorite is still Into the Fire, which finds Pacino and De Niro talking with each other, off set, about what it meant to the pair to finally square off as thespians, and as longtime appreciators off each other’s work. It is a stunning look at two of the finest actors ever, sharing insight into their craft.
Fans of Heat will also appreciate the Return to the Scene of the Crime archival featurette, where location manager Janice Polley and associate producer Gusmano Cesaretti showcase how they chose some of the locales for many of the film’s most legendary moments.
There are also a slew of extended and deleted scenes that are must-views for cinefiles who treasure this picture and its place in history. It is interesting to see how a master craftsman like Mann works in the editing room as to what stayed in the picture and what landed on the cutting room floor.
Film Grade: A+
Bonus Features: A