Heat

Sitting down to watch this film, I was quite unprepared for what was about to occur. I thought it was just a jazzed up remake of his earlier LA Takedown film (which was damn good). Oh how wrong. With this film, Mann has created a true milestone in film history without a doubt. This is the best film of the 90's. Exceptional people - Dante Spinotti for his unbelievable Cinematography, Robert De Niro for his best career performance, and the Editing, Sound and Visual Effects crews were particularly ingenious and creative. Kilmer, Pacino and Sizemore were good. Seriously, 3 hours was not enough for me here, I could've sat through 3 days of this. It was beautiful and engaging from the opening scene and it was a joy to be utterly absorbed in the movement of events - all punctuated by well selected music. Plot is cops and robbers, heists and tip offs, right and wrong. Everything was wonderful. Jaw-dropping action scenes, ultra-cool performances, rigid suspense. The film is made magical however (as with the Deer Hunter), by the incredible performance of Robert De Niro. Unique and awesome. The single thing that stopped me from having the Heat Movie Poster tattooed on my bottom was the ending. Although well shot and emotionally moving, it was highly unrealistic and just plain weak to bottle out in that way. I forgive Mann for this error. Just about. Nevertheless, one of my all time favourite films.