Great, great movie

Rating: 9/10 (15 January 2005)

WARNING: HUGE SPOILERS IN HERE! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, DO NOT READ!!!!
I admit that after watching Heat for the first time, I was kind of annoyed. I thought that it was overly long, and I had gone in expecting a complete action movie, nothing more. However, after thinking about it for a while, and after I figured out the story a bit more, I completely changed my viewpoint. Heat is a masterpiece. I commonly say that after about 1991 or 1992 action/crime movies lost their "spark," and I still think that. However, Heat is a movie that manages to fully resurrect that same spark that I love. Stupendous performances by Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, and even Ashley Judd are coupled by a great, intricate story line, a awesome setting, and, for an action buff like myself, one of the most gritty and realistic machine gun battles I've ever seen. The ending also blew me away (no pun intended-sorry). After Pacino shoots DeNiro, that final shot before credits role...classic. It gives me shivers every time I watch it. The only thing that I have to complain about in this movie is that I do think that in some cases is just dragged on too long for its own good, slightly overstaying its welcome. However, overall, this is a small flaw in a truly great movie. Bear in mind, though, that this is not a movie for anybody younger than 15, I'd say. Language is foul (up to 60 f words), and the violence is very realistic; as such, it is brutal and bloody, and there's plenty of it. No sex though; I was glad that Mann didn't throw in the usual obligatory sex scene. In short, if you're over 15, and you can handle and appreciate complex movies, this is the movie for you. In my opinion, one in maybe 5 movies that come close to approaching the caliber of movie making so prevalent in the 1980s and early 1990s, and perhaps the only one that actually succeeds. Highly recommended.