re: 1995 movie Heat, De Niro, Pacino, etc

SWEET!

I don’t think anyone really thinks highly of that line or scene. It’s mostly played or referenced as a joke because of how over the top it is

I just watched it for the first time.
The shoot out scene was incredible. The rest of it was just ok.
It felt a bit like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino should have played each other’s roles.
I wanted Val Kilmer’s character to get killed in the shootout.

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I know I'm in the super duper minority about this, but the whole "great arse" line I thought was really unfitting and forced, and frankly took me out of the immersion of the movie. It just didn't fit with the scene or honestly make a whole lot of sense. I felt it was awkward and was more of a "oh this is an Al Pacino adlib where he takes over a scene by vastly over acting and sticking out like a sore thumb, we got to keep this in."

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Pacino himself has said that he was flying super high on cocaine during that scene

That would've helped me a TON while watching pacinos performance.

Why would Mann be taking notes about the scene when he wrote and directed said scene?

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it was the first movie that DeNiro and Pacino shared a scene.

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For me this is true. I specifically watched it to see this, but really did like the movie when it came out. Haven't seen it in years so may give it a rewatch.

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What? He goes back for revenge on ex team member when he was already on the way to the airport. Relationship really had nothing to do with that. He wasn't disciplined at all, it was a facade he gave off.

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Never seen someone whiff this hard on a point.

That was the challenge to see if he was as committed to his ideals as he bragged the entire movie

It’s the lynchpin of the entire fricking plot man

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The robberies/shootouts are great but most of the rest of the movie sucks. The scenes of Pacino with Diane Venora have made me stop the movie and watch something else. The De Niro scenes with Amy Brenneman aren't as over the top, but her interest in him has always seemed silly to me. The only relationship that I find interesting in Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd. It's the only one that makes sense too. She's hooker and he's a thief.

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I saw it once in the theater in 1995 and then again last night for the first time since. This is kind of where I'm at. I don't think the movie has aged well at all.

For starters, it just seems utterly palpable now how much the OFFscreen excitement about Pacino and DeNiro finally sharing scenes was expected to carry the movie. But if you strip that bit of superstardom away, I just found the stakes to be WAY too low to generate any compelling emotions. I mean, it's LA cops chasing bank robbers. Important work, sure. But not exactly god's work.

It also seemed like they wrote the maxim about walking away in 30 seconds and then tried to shoehorn a movie to it. It was very ham-handed, IMO. Others have mentioned it, but the DeNiro/Brennaman love interest was NOT in any way believable or compelling in terms of setting up the supposed choice DeNiro had to ultimately make.

The direction seemed almost intentionally anti-Mamet-esque, in that many things were shown onscreen that did not move the plot or the characters forward. e.g. After Haysbert breaks bad again, they spend time showing his mom/GF/whatever in the bar reacting to seeing it on TV. This was truly neither here nor there for the characters nor the story. Ditto the ridiculous kicking the broken TV out of the car scene. (Also, why did they show Waingro coming out of the can and asking for a refill of coffee?)

I was highly entertained at some of the casting - Tone Loc? Henry Rollins? lol

The fire alarm scene at the hotel towards the end - that just seemed absurd also. One person pulling an alarm evidently results in the COMPLETE evacuation of (seemingly) the most populous hotel in the entire city? Might have made more sense if he had generated some actual smoke/fire, but the way they played it was just not believable.

Fichtner sub-plot seemed superfluous as well.


I understand why the movie was made and got so much hype, but it ultimately collapses under its own considerable weight. Yeah yeah, the shootout scene. It's fine, I guess, although it also is there ONLY for its own mastubatory, set piece benefit. It doesn't actually move anything forward.

ETA: I still give the movie 2.5 out of 4 stars. It's good, just not a masterpiece. It was VERY full of itself for having the 2 icons (and, as many people have mentioned, Pacino was just absurd).

This movie is my fathers favorite. He watches it every time he notices it's on.