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H E A T (1995)
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"sprawling and stylish" - Sean Means, Film.com Heat teases us with the big Al-and-Bobby showdown, while Hanna and McCauley spend the opening rounds sizing each other up like two cagey boxers. But there are some fascinating early flurries, with some violent set pieces -- an armored-car heist, and a daylight bank robbery that becomes a firefight in downtown Los Angeles -- that are among the most power-packed and viscerally engaging crime sequences ever filmed. "a meticulously concieved bank robbery" - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, Inc. De Niro and Pacino, veterans of so many great films in the crime genre, have by now spent more time playing cops and thieves than most cops and thieves have. There is always talk about how actors study people to base their characters on. At this point in their careers, if Pacino and De Niro go out to study a cop or a robber, it's likely their subject will have modeled himself on their performances in old movies. There is absolute precision of effect here, the feeling of roles assumed instinctively. "awesome technical proficiency" - Richard Schickel - Time, Inc. This Mann achieves with truly epic sweep, maniacal conviction and awesome technical proficiency. He announces his intentions in an opening sequence that may be the best armored-car robbery ever placed on film. He proceeds to a crazily orchestrated bank heist that goes awry and finishes in a wild firefight on a crowded downtown street that is a masterpiece of sustained invention. He ends with a chase that takes Pacino and De Niro into wholly original realms of hellishness, the back end of an airport, where their passions are nearly drowned out by the thunderous comings and goings of heedless flight.
© Film.com, © 1995 Time, Inc., © Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.   
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