Review of Heat

Introduction

Heat was Michael Mann’s first true foray into mainstream cinema, and many were fascinated to see how he would treat this big-screen heist epic after his successes with Miami Vice in the 80’s. Once it was clear that the cast would include Pacino and De Niro on-screen at the same time, it was obvious that something special was in the making. Not only that, but a very talented all-star cast backed up these heavyweights to create a fascinating tale which delved much further into it’s characters than many similar films. Although Mann is often accused of creating movies which are over long, this often translates into character development which means that the audience become far more involved with what is happening in the story.

Video

Not a perfect picture, but not that far from it. There are a lot of dark scenes, and the blacks are faithfully reproduced in the vast majority in a way that demonstrates the superiority of the DVD format. This is by far the best way to view this film. Some of the colours can be a bit washed out, but I think some of this is intentional on the part of the cinematographer.

Audio

A superb soundtrack, which really draws in the viewer. Most reviews select the shootout following the bank raid as the prime demonstration of this disc`s capability, but I would also cite the initial takedown of a security truck, and the final tense scenes in the hotel and outside as prime examples of the aural pleasure that this disc can dish out. In the quieter scenes, the audio is extremely competent without being obvious about it. Indeed, the disc has great demo potential to show a home cinema system to its best potential.

Features

Ouch. Not a disc for those seeking extra material - there is practically none. There is a full bevy of subtitles in English, French, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian and Bulgarian, but I don`t feel inclined to call a single trailer `extra material`.

Conclusion

Despite the lack of extras, it`s difficult to mark this film down. Much like the Integral Version of Leon, this disc trades on the film it contains and I doubt fans will choose not to buy it just because it looks a little anorexic on the extras. While a collection of behind-the-scenes features might have given more insight, Michael Mann has done such a good job of fleshing out each of the characters so well, it`s not entirely necessary. Besides, with a film as long as this, if there`s a choice between maintaining the highest picture or audio quality or adding a few features, then I would vote for quality every time. Perhaps the new rash of two-disc specials like ID4 and T2 we’ll get the best of both worlds ?!