Blu-ray Review: Heat

Much was made of the mythic pairing of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat. To the point where you wondered if people paid as much attention to the film itself as to fulfilling some fanboy wish for the ultimate action movie cast. But it's almost that too; it's both a good film and an acting tour de force. And it's also a key catalog release that is now finally available in high definition.

The Movie

Heat is the story of two career businessmen. One just happens to be a cop, while the other is an expert criminal. But they are both in a similar emotional state. Both are married to their jobs, both have difficulty sacrificing that to build meaningful relationships, and despite the fact that they would both like to change those aspects of their lives, they feel incapable of doing so. And the cast of characters around them are in much the same state - an exaggerated version of the human condition - to varying degrees. It's about what you're willing to let go of in order to save yourself.

Homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Pacino) is good at what he does. Too good, as the quick dissolve of his third marriage can attest. His wife feels abandoned, her daughter without a stable parental presence, and although he recognizes these problems seems unable to detach from his work long enough to mend them. Hiding behind other people's tragedies gives an excuse for his own. Meanwhile, expert thief Neil McCauley (De Niro) has no relationship - until he meets Eady - to speak of, but realizes that to remedy that will involve getting out of the game. Which he thinks he can do... after first wrapping up one last job.

And the film is much more about these characters and their self-made plights in life than it is filler for action. In fact, the action - while brutal and authentically executed - is relatively brief in relation to the film's nearly three-hour length. All of the characters of the film become more flawed and tragic instead of less, until each situation comes to an emotional head. And while Pacino and De Niro's characters lead the two main sides of the story, the supporting players are just as crucial, their paths lending depth to the drama. Heat becomes much more than just a genre film, and its this attention to the overall development of story arc and thematic depth that have given it the longevity and replay strength it has built over the years.

Video/Audio

To rate the video quality of Heat, it's important to keep in mind the type of film that it is. This is a rather bleak film with troubled characters, and as such bright colors and rich settings rarely play into it. In fact, the film is almost dusty from the commotion and strain. With that in mind, the picture is actually a very solid transfer of the original. There are moments of grainy interiors, as well as some washed-out lighting choices, but they actually fit in with the film instead of distracting. Whether they were all intentional or not is a discussion for people more obsessive than I am, but the look of the film matches the mood and style, and in turn the transfer here is faithful to that look. It's not perfect, but it's very appropriate (and in fact "perfect" might not be such a great thing).

Article Author: David R Perry

Lost somewhere in the rolling hills of Tennessee, David R Perry can occasionally be found doing dark, unspeakable things to words. Printed words, spoken words, electronically mangled words... really any kind but twittered words.

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