Heat (1995)

VHS COVER/SIDE

Length of film: 171 Minutes

Rating: R

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Director: Michael Mann

Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Natalie Portman, Danny Trejo

IMDB Rank: 8.2/10

Part 1 Time: 95 Minutes    

Part 2 Time: 76 Minutes

Where does the first part end? Lt. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and Neil McCgauley (Robert De Niro) sit at an all night coffee shop and discuss the impacts their careers have on their lives. McCgauley forms no meaningful connections in order to limit his possible exposure to the law and Hanna being unable to have a successful marriage due to him being a workaholic chasing down criminals like McCgauley. It is an interesting dynamic where two characters who stand on opposite sides of virtue do have some commonalities.

Final line of dialogue on the first part:  Hannah to McCgauley “Or who knows, maybe we wont see each other again.”

First line of dialogue on the second part: Hannah walks into police station yelling to his crew “They dumped us!”

How jarring is it when the first part ends? Moderate- it is an interesting concept to see the hero (Hannah) and the anti-hero (McCgauley) speaking diplomatically with one another. But this face-to-face feels like a tease, making the audience crave the fatal showdown between these two characters.

Which part is better? Part two by a landslide, first this half of the film ties up many subplots present within the film including the outcome of various characters such as Roger Van Zant, Chris Shiherlis, and Waingro. Next, the suspenseful final confrontation between Hanna and McCgauley. Lastly, who can forget the Bank heist gone wrong, with one of the greatest automatic weapon shootout scenes in Hollywood history.

Academy Awards: None