“Heat” made my list for being an impactful ‘90s film by Michael Mann and, famously, the first movie to feature a scene with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro together. Truthfully, I just wanted to watch it and this project served as a great excuse! For those unfamiliar with the flick, “Heat” couples a heist movie with a classic cat-and-mouse detective film. It was a pretty fresh take on a classic story and a lot of fun.
The movie pits two teams (De Niro’s heist crew and Pacino’s LAPD squad) against one another and is anchored around three brilliantly directed heist moments—a thrilling armored vehicle attack, a foiled bank robbery, and a sloppy, prolonged, revenge-fueled getaway. It was heart-pounding fun and there’s a lot that I loved about this film. Writer/Director Michael Mann absolutely paints with tension and the characters felt gritty and layered, as did the universe they inhabited. Of course, it was a real delight to see Pacino and De Niro bounce off of one another and the supporting Cast kept my interest at all times.
In fact, I’d probably consider the film perfect if not for a few superfluous story elements and hard to believe moments. Though great world building, the million small character arcs were occasionally hard to follow or unsatisfying. And for however great it was to see Pacino and De Niro on screen together, the way the meeting was arranged felt crazy-unbelievable. Throw in a hostage-situation head shot and a prolonged airport chase scene and my disbelief was reengaged, at times. Finally, the bank scene’s parallels with the North Hollywood shootout was so uncanny that it almost didn’t feel great (a dialogue tied to this film ever since it happened).
Still, between the excellent performances, thrilling sequences, and gritty LA-vistas, “Heat” has become one of my favorite films in the genre. Its influence on films to follow is undeniable, including one of my favorite film opening scenes of all time, the bank heist in “The Dark Knight”. Nolan’s opening bank robbery scene felt right out of this film, from the ratcheting tension to bank manager William Fichtner. Anything that can influence cinema that good and still hold its own against it is worth a watch and worth its praise.