A True Gem of Movie-making

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2010)

I have just had the good fortune of seeing this movie 15 years after its making. Of all the the ubiquitous Pacino-De Niro -paired films, this one is easily the most outstanding. The direction is as tight as a Led Zeppelin concert, the cinematography is simply breathtaking, the major players are larger-than-life yet believable, the action sequences are exquisitely choreographed and finished to near-perfection. The moral questions the movie raises are an interesting side-issue as well. Not to mention the way the plot examines the flawed, but redeemable, relationships of post-modernity. In the end, one has become so involved as to try to stop the subtle plot from fulfillment. The suspense at the end builds to an almost unbearable climax, and the denouement is as brilliant, and human, and deeply moving, as they come... I would specially commend the music here.. it is just superb. They do not make movies like this any more. Michael Mann, you the man, where you went?