Humanity conveyed to film.

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2001)

The significance of Heat is not that it boasts, perhaps, the greatest shoot-out scene of all time, or that it was a big budget film with top quality effects, or that it had big name actors. The significance of this film is in the original script written by Micheal Mann. The characters are REAL people, not some exaggerated freaks or stereotypical one dimensional types. The characters have good qualities, bad qualities, they do good things, bad things, and have flaws that we, as people in the REAL world, can relate to. They do not suddenly change, but at the same time are dynamic in subtle ways. They have distinctive characteristics which define who they are. The nature of each is responsible for the best in each of them and is the source of their flaws. These are flaws, which at the end of the day, cause them misery and are responsible for their self-destruction.
If you are tired of artsy, critic acclaimed movies in which you could absolutely never relate to the characters, then its time for HEAT. HEAT will give you characters that are REAL people, in a REAL environment and setting, with REAL problems, that result in REAL outcomes and circumstances. Michael Mann finally shows us a depiction of humanity that we can relate to and that is the UNREAL power of this film.