Michael Mann's masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2007)

For me, this is Michael Mann's masterpiece. That's saying a lot, considering I find all of Mann's films to be excellent. It's a very interesting character piece that contrasts the roles played by Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.
Two scenes define this film for me and make it memorable. The first deals with the characterization, the second does not. The coffee shop scene is one of the best in cinematic history. Here you have DeNiro and Pacino, arguably two of the greatest actors of all time, sitting across from each other at a table, each discussing how they think things are going to play out for the other. The scene is as perfect as it can be, and is worth the price of admission in and of itself.
The second scene that will always be memorable for me is the gunfight in the street after the bank robbery. The first time I saw this, my reaction was, "Wow". I had never seen anything like that in a film before. The Wow factor has not deteriorated with subsequent viewings. The whole fight is staged perfectly, and one gets the sense of actually being there on the street in the midst of it.
As crime dramas go, they don't get any better than this.