A modern masterpiece, Michael Mann's finest hour

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2006)

In terms of style and visual flair, Heat surpasses any movie made in the last 20 years. A true masterpiece, at turns brutal and subtle in content and delivery, this film shows the art of movie-making at it's finest. Pacino and De Niro deliver performances so nuanced and intelligent, one feels they were all to aware of the greatness the film would go on to achieve. Unlike other movies made by Michael Mann before or since (and in no small part due to the excellent casting), the characters are incredibly well defined and portrayed, the key being that even the support performances are excellent. This film hinges on the fact that even though people choose different sides of life (i.e Pacino 'cop', De Niro 'criminal'), there are similarities which are common in us all.