“GIMME ALL YOU GOT! GIMME ALL YOU GOT!” Michael Mann’s 1995 crime opus Heat is an acknowledged masterpiece, a movie that manages to serve as a delivery system for every possible emotion: exhilaration, fear, amusement, sadness, romance, nostalgia, disgust, but most of all, JOY. It is a JOY to watch the cat-and-mouse games between LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and master thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). It is a JOY to watch the fiery, combustible relationship between Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd (both of whom, I am obliged to mention, is breathtakingly beautiful and decidedly damaged in their respective roles). It is a JOY to watch the way Mann and cinematographer Dante Spinotti use the unique environs of Los Angeles to accentuate the story (not to mention how they stage an action sequence — the bank heist that occurs midway through the movie remains an unparalleled feat of pure cinema). A new 4K restoration overseen by the meticulous Mann just debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, and will arrive on digital in August 2022. Watch it now, and watch it again in August. Every time you watch Heat, you’re reminder that it’s the rare film that, indeed, gives you all it’s got.
Photo: Everett Collection
