Heat: An Experience Like No Other

Jul 8

Karan Sampath recounts his experiences at the recent Heat reunion and restoration premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.

It’s rare to have out-of-body experiences, and it’s even rarer to have an out-of-body experience in anticipation of the actual out-of-body experience. I had several such experiences in anticipation of the 4K UHD Restoration Premiere of action epic Heat at the Tribeca Film Festival. The anticipation was a product of both seeing a movie that came so highly recommended and also getting to see in person revered screen legends Al Pacino and Robert De Niro talk about their craft and career. And it did not disappoint. Watching them I was not only transported at once to many of my favorite films but was able to understand the deep and painstaking filmmaking process that gave us so many timeless classics.

The event began with the reunion itself, with New York magazine film critic Bilge Ebiri interviewing actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino and producer Art Linson from the movie. The conversation was at once easy and free-flowing, with Pacino, in particular, riffing off the crowd and basking in the adulation of hundreds of die-hard fans shouting his most famous lines at him. De Niro served as an effective complement to this by primarily using facial expressions to convey his point and rarely going out of his way to answer questions. Their verbal jousting often led to some entertaining recollections: many of Pacino’s iconic lines like “She’s got a great ass!” were just improvisations that often drew actual shock from their co-stars. Their age and veteran status also frequently came up, whether it was through them humorously pretending to not understand the question or reflecting on careers spanning generations. Regarding the movie itself, it was extremely insightful to hear how they decided who played which of the primary two characters in the film by thinking about the similarities to their own personalities. Art Linson also chipped in with a producer’s knowledge of the mechanics behind the shootouts in the film and emphasized nailing the right connotation behind them. The shootouts were never glorified or overly personable, and were always the last places you would ever want to find yourself in. Overwhelmingly, the fondness for the movie and each other was palpable among those on stage. It was a wonderful way of both taking the audience back to their fondest memories and segueing into the premiere of a restored modern classic.

There’s not much more to say about a classic like Heat other than it truly is great - not only in terms of superlative directing, acting, and editing efforts but also in terms of keeping the audience constantly engaged through a 3-hour long saga. Inspired by a true story, it is essentially a cat-and-mouse game of incredible depth, with Robert De Niro playing Neil McCauley (the mouse) and Al Pacino playing Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (the cat). But that reduction does not do justice to the true levels at play here: it is also at once a story of struggling families, the stress inflicted by different personalities, and of loyalty and redemption.

Director Michael Mann knew the potential of his film when he signed his main two leads, and they did not disappoint. Al Pacino plays Vincent Hanna with both absolute authority and an eccentric bent, surprising both audiences and the characters in the film. He so effectively changes character that you can’t help but break out of the plot and marvel at the performance itself. Some points remind you of The Godfather, other Scarface, but his work stands on its own. De Niro backs this up with a sturdy performance, rising to his role as a lead and displaying both the guile and tenacity to make the role believable. I would have hoped for some additional emotion from certain stolid dialogues, but they complemented Pacino’s over-the-top work so well that my qualm is but a footnote. While the movie is wholly about their stories, the two meet only twice, and their meeting in the middle in a coffee shop is among the greatest minutes of screen acting I have ever seen. They build off each other and constantly hold you waiting for their next dialogue, a feeling enhanced by Michael Mann’s expert writing and direction. The scene stands alone and unparalleled, and if you haven’t seen it already I can’t recommend it enough (even if you don’t see the rest of the movie).

Of course, with titans like Pacino and De Niro in the lead roles, the movie was bound to have undeniably great acting. But bear with me as I comment on the work of the supporting cast, in particular Natalie Portman (as the young daughter Lauren Gustafson) and Diane Venora (as Vincent Hanna’s wife Justine). Portman’s precocious talent is on full display as she outshines Pacino in several scenes, displaying raw emotion that most established actors would struggle to replicate. Venora serves as the heart of the film, often being its most sympathetic character and singularly staying in the audience’s mind long after her scenes. Her performance is not only a powerful foil for Pacino but is a compelling meditation on the debilitating effect such stressful work can have on family relationships.

Heat is a great action film because its actors play a supporting role to outstanding technical craftsmanship. Michael Mann and the editing team expertly edit and pace each scene so that both stories simultaneously feel like they are parallel but also interacting with each other. Cinematographer Dante Spinotti effortlessly switches between close-up and wide shots to add personality and depth to the characters. The most stand-out technical aspect, though, is the sound: both the mixing and editing. I’ve never heard such visceral bullet sounds, to the point at which I initially thought I may have heard a real bullet, scaring the life out of me. Michael Mann used special sound recordings to engineer the final bullet sounds, and the result of that was a sound experience like no other, enhanced by watching it for the first time in a theater with an advanced Dolby surround sound system.

As you might have surmised, there are many good reasons to watch the movie. But perhaps the best reason is simply its cultural status, having served as an inspiration and precursor for several modern iconic movies. Heat’s influence can be seen in several genres, and it continues to hold a unique position among the great action movies of all time. Watch it on the biggest screen you can find, and be prepared for a cinematic experience of a lifetime.

Heat is currently available to rent on most platforms. The 4K Ultra- HD Restored Blu Ray version is set to release on August 9, 2022.