The gangster epic “Heat” has lost none of its power almost 30 years later – thanks to the magnificent action and the thrilling duel between screen icons Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Now the film is being removed from the Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were both part of the cast of the mafia epic “The Godfather 2” in 1974, but due to the narrative structure, they did not have a single scene together. It would then be another two full decades before the Oscar winners, who had now matured into even bigger Hollywood stars, actually stood in front of the camera together for the first time.
In 1995 the time had finally come – in Michael Mann‘s cop vs. gangster masterpiece “Heat”, which can currently be streamed with an Amazon Prime Video subscription at no additional cost, but only for a few days: “Heat” is included in your Prime subscription until November 22, 2024. After that, the film can still be accessed on Amazon as VoD, but Prime customers will also have to dip into their wallets to do so. Alternatively, the exceptional work is also available to stream on Disney+*.
“Heat” on Amazon Prime Video*
“Heat” lives from the duel between the acting greats Pacino and De Niro, but also has a lot more to offer…
170 minutes and none too long
With the remake of his own TV film “Showdown in L.A.“Insider” and “Collateral” director delivered Michael Mann equally virtuoso on several levels: “Heat” is a character drama, gangster thriller and action film all in one – without losing out on any of these areas. Rather, they mesh perfectly and complement each other to create a gripping overall result.
None of the 170 minutes is wasted. Finally, many exciting sideshows are opened in which other top characters, including Val Kilmer, Jon Voight and Natalie Portman, come into the spotlight and give the overall event even more weight.
In the middle of the story about the clever robber Neil McCauley (De Niro), who wants to pull off one last big thing, and the police officer Vincent Hanna (Pacino) who is hunting him, there are two very central scenes that make the strong thriller an absolute one Make a highlight…
Meeting of the giants
In “Heat,” Michael Mann really plays with the long-awaited clash between Pacino and De Niro. Because basically they didn’t get much more screen time together here than in “The Godfather 2”.
For a long time, the storylines of the two protagonists are told side by side with complete equality, so that you soon realize that although the two men are on different sides of the law, they are actually not that different. Simple black and white painting does not take place here. It is therefore difficult to decide which of the two you should actually keep your fingers crossed for.
Home theater upgrade: One of the best action thrillers of all time is now more brilliant and powerful than ever!
Mann ultimately makes a virtue out of the actor’s “need.” It is precisely the careful structure of the duel between the characters that pays off when they finally meet directly for the first time in the middle of the film – and this is another brilliant move not in an action scene, but in a simple conversation in a diner.
Pacino and De Niro deliberately did not rehearse the conversation before filming in order to achieve an even greater effect – with complete success: the electrifying tension that is bubbling under the surface creates an atmosphere for editing and makes the confrontation between the two Hollywood legends create the desired film moment for eternity.
One of the most impressive shootouts
But the action is not neglected in “Heat”. It is true that people only use them in very careful doses. But when it comes to that, it attacks the characters all the more brutally. This is perhaps most evident in the breathtaking shootout on the streets of LA after a botched bank robbery.
What Mann fires here in the truest sense of the word is an absolute force and is unparalleled in terms of intensity. The filmmaker creates a sweaty feeling of being in the middle of things, on the one hand through the dynamic expansion of the scene, but above all with the help of the extraordinary sound design.
Instead of actually designing the ambient and gun sounds first, Mann recorded the unadulterated background noise directly on set. The ever-reverberating shots that are ominously reflected back from the surroundings make the danger omnipresent in the scene. To make it short: “Heat” is and remains one of the best films of all time.
By the way: Did you actually know that Michael Mann himself has now published a belated literary sequel to “Heat”*? No joke, “Heat 2” actually exists. And that’s not all: the book will soon be made into a film:
Sequel to the action masterpiece is really coming after 30 years – despite great fan concern after the recent cinema disappointment
This is a republication of an article that previously appeared on FILMSTARTS.
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