Stripped to its bones, Heat may sound trite. But Mann puts so much flesh on his characters that you never feel hungry.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Like Kubrick, Mann takes a genre premise that seems like no big deal, and expands it into a cosmos of its own. Heat might simply be the most spectacular B-movie ever made, but that’s impressive enough.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Dream match-ups on paper don't always succeed on the screen -- like twin fires fighting for oxygen, will they merely cancel each other out? Hardly. This is one titanic clash that actually lives up to the billing.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Above all, the dialogue is complex enough to allow the characters to say what they're thinking: They are eloquent, insightful, fanciful, poetic when necessary. They're not trapped with clichés.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 21, 2023

Heat is a giant of a film, a god among American crime thrillers… Masterpiece is an overused term. Here it barely comes close.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Mann has produced the best crime epic since Goodfellas and one of the best films of the year, an absolute must-see for anyone who likes good (heck, great) acting and modern cinema.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Dec 21, 2023

At its core it's actually about virtuosity... and, by extension, the virtuosity of Mann himself, of which there's no short supply. Too bad it's running on empty; if the film weren't so hollow it would be a masterpiece.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Time and again, Heat veers sharply out of the groove worn by a thousand other movies. As I said, it's not an ordinary movie -- indeed, it's an extraordinary one, with compelling performances, a fascinating mix of characters and a riveting story line.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

There's not a boring building in the film. Mann is the best director of architecture since Antonioni. In fact, few film-makers at work today can rival Mann's control of every detail of the film-making process.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

A film with so many possibilities that it ends up as split cake between Bob and Val. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Both stars have their share of dynamic moments, and, gosh knows, there's plenty of explosive action. But it's a long sit, and by the time the excruciatingly drawn-out climax comes to its end, you're more than ready to head for the exits.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Flaws notwithstanding, you've got to salute the size and richness and technical dazzle that sustain Mann's impressive vision.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

The Martin Scorsese film we've been looking forward to this year is by Michael Mann. Had it been about half an hour and three or four subplots shorter it might have been on the level of Goodfellas. As it is, it's as long as Casino but far more engrossing.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Heat is icier than it is fiery, though as this movie proves, ice too can burn. It’s a simple cops-and-robbers tale writ larger than life by its powerhouse cast and by writer-director Michael Mann, who refuses to play by the rules of the form.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 21, 2023

It is huge commercial grandstanding by all involved, and will satisfy no one hoping for a mano-a-mano acting clinic. But hey, it could have been Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 21, 2023

Heat may be something different for Mann, but in the larger context of Hollywood it’s mostly more of the same.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

It is this attention to detail and character development that enriches this film to a higher level and may also bore your typical action film fan to tears.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023

Pacino and De Niro don't need gunpowder to heat up a screen, just something more inspiring than Heat. Those guys should make a movie together sometime.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Dec 21, 2023

Mann understands what too many directors, impressed by their credentials, do not; when Pacino and De Niro talk, the audience listens. We don't need to be browbeaten. Mann extends that respect for all of Heat.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 21, 2023

Occasionally, Heat rises to the level of good slush TV, but when Mann succumbs to De Niro and Pacino worship and takes himself too seriously, the results are lukewarm.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2023