Heat
"A Los Angeles Crime Saga"
Summary of the movie:
Neil McCauley is a thief... an expert thief... one of the best. His philosophy in life - become attached to nothing in life that you can't walk away from if the "Heat" is on. His crew of criminals is a high-tech outfit pulling off professional jobs that impress even the likes of Detective Vincent Hanna. But Hanna, a man driven through life only be his work, becomes obsessed, at the expense of his private life, with bringing McCauley down. As McCauley's crew prepare for the score of a lifetime, and Hanna's team tries to bring him in, the two find that they are challenged by the greatest minds on the opposite side of the law that either one has ever encountered.
Although granted very little screentime, Natalie Portman plays Vincent Hannah's dysfunctional stepdaughter with great conviction.
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My personal opinion of the movie:
"Heat" turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me. I never saw it in the theater, since it didn't really look all that interesting, and I was never a fan of either Pacino or De Niro. I borrowed the laserdisc from a friend later on, though, and liked it so much that I ended up buying it myself.This is not really a movie worth seeing for Natalie alone, especially considering that she's granted very little screentime, but it's worth seeing for the phenomenal cinematography, Elliot Goldenthal's melancolic, dream-like score, the great sound mix and, of course, the overall great acting from most of the cast.
Director:
Michael MannProducer:
Art Linson and Michael MannExecutive producers:
Pieter Jan Brugge and Arnon MilchanScreenplay:
Michael MannPrincipal cast:
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner and Natalie Portman.~
Related links:
Internet Movie Database entry
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Laserdisc information:
Warner Home Video,
Catalog #: 14192,
Letterbox, 171 minutes,
Dolby Digital, Color,
No extras.~
Teasers / trailers:
Theatrical trailer (5.4 Mb)