a breathing taking tour de force

Rating: Null/10 (27 November 2003)

warning- plot spoliers included in here when i first saw heat, i thought and still do, ranks as one of the best crime films made in the past decade. yes its long, but theres other films which are longer than that, but i think nesscary to the story, which has a main plot and subplots. the cast is very well assembled, from superstars to house hold names to the up and coming. the action is brillently done, hence that "shootout" is the most convicing, especially as they had andy mcnab(bravo two zero fame) as the weapons advisor. de'niro's performance is slick and cool and pacino's is loud and sometimes over the top, which was good. the coffe scene is amazing as is the last bit with them in. de'niro's saying "do not attache yourself to anything you cant walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat round the corner" is sometimes true to life and it gets tested brillently near the end, where cruly he has to run and leave the lady. perhaps his own fault as he wants to see the bloke who sniched on him dead. pacino's life is thrown to the cop world and catching crooks and loves it. the film is beautifully shot with real locations in LA giving it a real feel. what ever you think about the film, you cant deny that, two of the best actors on top form, a director on top form filming the film from different angle with all the sub plots and some great acton scenes. i will always like this film, but the two question which i will always wonder about, on the dvd theres no extras, where is 1. extra footage from the shoot out 2. alternative endings and whole array of other extras which could be included! ben