One of my all-time favorites

Rating: 10/10 (5 June 2005)

This is one of those movies that has it all...outstanding acting, o/s directing, tight writing / dialogue, EVERYTHING! From the incredible performances of De Niro & Pacino - both Oscar-worthy, to the same level of acting / depth provided by Kilmer / Voight / Judd / Sizemore / Studi / Trejo / Haysbert....all of them. Michael Mann's direction, use of light and sound, tight shots and ability to present 'the whole story' with such an efficiency of words and the use of body language / other details is simply how it should be done. His script just crackles with tension, bravado, angst, emotion, it's so easy to get caught up in this film. This film is mandatory viewing for anyone man, PERIOD. It includes (perhaps) the BEST cop / bad-guy, shoot-'em-up dramatic action scene ever (clearly the best of the '90s) and just does such a good job of giving the viewer a glimpse into both sides of the law, without playing into such trite and tried cliché roles of cops-and-robbers clone films. Heat should have won Oscars!!!