Heat (DVD)

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There´s a DD 5.1 French dub. Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as optional English closed captions support the audio.

Extras:
I have to say that this two-disc special edition of "Heat" is very disappointing. Warner Bros. bothered to re-release the movie without giving viewers stuff worth watching more than once. I mean, we could´ve been given "L.A. Takedown", the TV movie that Mann directed several years before he re-made it as "Heat". (Mann has said that "L.A. Takedown" was a rehearsal for "Heat".) For the most part, what we do get is informational but dry and brief.

--Disc 1--
I´ve never found Michael Mann to be an engaging talker when he´s by himself, and the audio commentary by him on Disc 1 is no different from other Mann snoozefests. Mann says a lot of things that are found in the extras on Disc 2, and a good deal of his other comments are of the "in this scene, this happens" variety. I actually found myself more engaged by the DVD´s three theatrical trailers than by the audio commentary.

--Disc 2--
"The Making of ´Heat´" is a three-part overview of the background information that Michael Mann collected to form his screenplay. There are some interviews with members of the cast and crew, and we see some footage of the actors practicing using weapons in some deserted area before shooting the street battle in downtown Los Angeles.

"Pacino and DeNiro: The Conversation" is a superficial breakdown of the historic meeting of Pacino and DeNiro in a movie. Mann and others talk about using a lot of different cameras to capture Pacino and DeNiro simultaneously so that their shot/reverse-shot reactions would be from the same takes. However, we don´t see any of that footage but instead see footage from the final cut of the movie (which we can see just by watching the movie itself!). Still, at least we get confirmation that the actors were indeed on the set at the same time talking to each other (as opposed to being shot separately as some have theorized).

"Return to the Scene of the Crime" is a featurette that follows location scouts returning to places where they decided would represent Mann´s conception of an industrial L.A.

Finally, there are deleted/alternate/extended scenes that are mildly interesting but not eye-opening. Considering that the movie was about four-hours long during the editing stage, I´m sure that there are good deleted scenes that could´ve been included in this set.

--Miscellaneous--
A cardboard slipcase replicating the DVD cover art slides over the slim double-keepcase, though you don´t get any inserts or booklets with this package.

Eddie Says...:
Michael Mann´s "Heat" (1995) is the movie that Martin Scorsese has wanted to make all his life. Unlike similar Scorsese movies such as "Goodfellas" and "Gangs of New York", "Heat" is sprawling but not messy, detailed but not short-sighted, aggressive but not loutish, and impassioned but not bombastic. Mann is a modernist and a visual stylist, but his art-for-art´s-sake choices never strike me as over-the-top or annoying as Scorsese´s do. For comparison, watch the confusing, headache-inducing, and ultimately uninvolving opening and closing street battles in "Gangs of New York" and put them next to the thrilling, well-orchestrated street battles in "Heat".

"Heat" made its reputation with its grandness--sweeping camera moves, dynamic music selections, an impressive assemblage of talented actors, and, of course, stunning gun fights that rank amongst the best-ever action sequences. Yet, what really makes the movie worth watching repeatedly are the small, intimate moments between only two or three characters. Mann isn´t given enough credit for the movie´s rich, literate dialogue. Lines like

"I gotta hold on to my angst. I preserve it because I need it. It keeps me sharp, on the edge, where I need to be."

and

"You search for signs of passing...the scent of your prey, and then you hunt them down. That´s the only thing you´re committed to--the rest is the mess you leave as you pass through."

are powerful descriptions of our contemporary alienation. Since Pacino and DeNiro--the two titans in the cast--don´t even talk to each other much, the heavy lifting resides on many shoulders. Pacino and Diane Venora are a memorable couple, as are Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd. Pacino´s playful interactions with his police colleagues are also memorable, especially when you know the cost in lives that hunting DeNiro and Co. takes.

"Heat" is Michael Mann´s masterpiece. It is one of the few movies that inspire me because its greatness makes me believe that something close to perfection is possible.

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