As well done a crime saga as I have seen

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 1999)

Heat proves that a great screenplay + great directing + legendary actors >an incredible movie.
Heat is more real than most movies in this genre in that it shows the "bad guys" as real people. They have marriage problems, go to dinner at nice restaurants, play with their kids, and use their skills to earn a living.
Michael Mann does an incredible job of comparing the police to the criminals. Both go to dinner with their "coworkers" both have family problems, both are very dedicated to their work.
Mann also shows that as a person, Pacino is no better than De Niro. Pacino is a cop who is a terrible husband, and lets his job control his life. He tells his wife "being a cop is the only thing I'm good at." De Niro leads a life of solitude, and knows deep down that he would not be good for any one. He dedicates himself to his work and tries not to bring anyone down with him.
The scene between De Niro and Pacino typifies the similarites between the cops and the robbers. After speaking, both men truely like each other. And in the tradition of the greek tragedy, both men secretly realize they cannot change their fate, and one day they won't come home from "work". Their jobs are a part of them that cannot be changed. De Niro says matter of factly to Pacino "I take down scores, thats what I do."
Heat is a film with well-developed characters that is unusual in this genre. The similarities between the life of the cops and that of the robbers, are highlighted very well by Mann. By the end of the movie, you look at De Niro's crew not as mindless thugs, but as people, whose job happens to be on the wrong side of the law.