One of the top 10 most under-rated films ever.

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 1999)

How this movie was ignored by the Oscars is totally beyond me, but then again so is 2001's best picture loss. This is a great crime epic. The big scenes and small scenes are crafted with equal care. It is just about as good as the first 2 Godfather's and just as haunting. Michael Mann wrote a cold, brutal and very moving story about two men who are predators and are lost in life because of their natures. We have Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro --two of the greatest actors of my generation (I'm 41) giving two of the greatest performances of their careers. Their legendary scene over a cup of coffee may ridiculous in real cops and robbers life but but, man (pun intended), it makes for unforgettable cinema. The action is as good as it gets (the bank robbery "set piece" is one of the top 5 shootouts ever filmed) and never seems dramatically phony i.e. thrown in just for "action's" sake. Like just about all great movies the supporting is wonderful. Every role is memorable. This is one of the few scripts I've ever bothered to buy. It is a long movie that is richer for its length. Earlier Mann wrote and directed a wonderful (and equally underappreciated) movie called "Thief" with James Caan 15 years before this one and I can't help but to think that "Heat" is the novel length version of "Thief"'s short story.