All-time Top 5

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2002)

With a ton of action, drama, REALISM, and no; repeat, NO orange fire-balls erupting from cars getting shot (three shots maximum, as per the norm in a silly blockbuster), Heat has to be considered one of THE BEST cops-n-robbers movies ever. This is not even taking into consideration that this film marks the first time Pacino and De Niro share the screen together (they both starred in The Godfather II, but obviously we would never see them on screen together). Michael Mann takes you into the lives of two crews; De Niro and his crew pulling scores with surgical precision and stunning realism, and Pacino with his squad of detectives pursuing them with the same sort of accuracy and grit that spawned several hit TV police dramas. This is not a typical good guys/ bad guys plot. The bad guys aren't pure evil and the good guys are not saints.
The film takes you into the lives of the crews, and while this is a change of pace, it lends development to the characters- their chosen professions and how it affects their lives. It is not until almost two-thirds into the film that two of film's greatest actors FINALLY bring their well-honed craft to the screen (with 5 Oscars between them to boot). The supporting cast is SOLID (Ashely Judd's breakthrough role) with Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Wes Studi, Danny Trejo (a real ex-con), and Jon Voight. The big sell in this film is at the climactic shootout in downtown LA. Turn up the surround sound for this one, as Michael Mann hired some true professionals to coordinate what has to be the most accurate, intense shootouts ever filmed. Again, NO cars erupt into orange balls of chemical flames when shot; they simply do what cars do when shot (they display the bullet holes in them and that's IT!). Brilliance.
So, if you're wanting to see something with flashy Hollywood blockbuster-cheap effects, whitty one liners, and a typical good guys versus bad guys plot, then go rent a Lethal Weapon movie. Michael Mann's epic has flash, style (a very cool look), accuracy, and an All Star cast to make this, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest police drama/ action films ever.