the greatest movie ever made

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2001)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** One of the greatest films ever made has been unfortunately one of the most unnoticed and unseen as well. A film that redefines the `cops and robbers' story, contains 18 heavily developed characters, numerous social and philosophical issues, a 25 minute shootout sequence, and of course Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as the main cast. With great photography and storytelling, Michael Mann (famous for producing Miami Vice) has directed a masterpiece known as Heat, a crime drama far superior than any other.
With fantastic performances by Pacino and De Niro, as well as Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Tom Sizemore, and Natalie Portman, we are taken into the two lives struggling to survive in the streets of L.A. Vincent Hanna (Pacino) is a robbery homicide detective obsessed with tracking down a team of professional thieves. He's willing to bribe other criminals, break rules, and alienate his family in order to catch his prey. In a scene between his wife, he tells her he won't tell her about the job; `You want me to tell you about some crack head who micro waved his baby because it was crying to load, .no, I have to hold onto my angst, I preserve it to stay on the edge.' Neil McCauley (De Niro) is a highly skilled and cunning thief bent on succeeding his final score, and moving on to a better life, but willing to leave everything behind; `Don't let anything come into your life you can't walk out on in thirty seconds or less.'
Among a battle of wits and skill, Hanna and McCauley strike each other equally with moves of advance and diversion, creating a great game of cat and mouse. In this situation, the cat and mouse truly respect each other, admiring each other's skillful moves, like two opponents at a game of chess. During one scene, Hanna chases down McCauley, but with no evidence against him, Hanna simply offers a cup of coffee to McCauley, resulting in a fantastic conversation between Pacino and De Niro, the cat and mouse revealing their respect for each other, but letting each other know they will do what they have to, to get what they want. Both characters are deeply influenced by their life experiences. Both are from the streets and used to dysfunctional families. McCauley doesn't know his father or brother, and has been in prison, resulting in his career choice and willingness to leave everything behind for it. Hanna was in the Marines, has worked the streets as a detective for years, and has three ex-wives (not including his present wife), underlining his love for the job over everything else.
Every character has their own deep story, Kilmer and Judd's marriage and son, Sizemore's wife, Portman's suicidal tendencies; many side-stories that help the viewer follow the story more passionately. The characters are so well written we can't decide whether to root for Hanna or McCauley, more so since their Pacino and De Niro. There's no way you want either one of them to lose. The end scene, the most passionate scene, is when Hanna catches up with McCauley in an airport runway field. The runway lights blink, and McCauley attempts to use them to illuminate Hanna when he runs around a building, but the lights work both ways, and give off McCauley's shadow. Hanna shoots him, but as McCauley is dying, Hanna holds his hand in comfort. They respected each other, even liked each other, but their jobs and passions chose a different route for their lives. The film is one the greatest, a wonderful musical score, tremendous acting, numerous stars, great photography, deep story, and suspenseful action sequences. A definite 5 out of 5 stars.