Heat

BFI Film Classics

by Nick James

For Nick James, the pleasures and virtues of this film are mixed and complex. Its precise compositions and minimalist style are entangled with a particular kind of extravagant bombast. The complexities add to the interest of this ambitious film.

Genres: Film, Media Tie In, Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2002

About the author

Editor and Illustrator

Reviews

[Tyler Kann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was originally published in 2002, a mere 7 years after Heat hit theaters and a massive 23 years before now. Therefore, a lot of this book’s commentary has been absorbed into the general cannon of Heat commentary, and not every thought is novel. It does still have some nice and lesser seen commentary, offering praise, criticism, analysis, and historical context. However, there is a lot of fat in terms of plot summary and already said commentary.

One thing I found very odd (if not frustrating) is that the author presents Heat as some movie that is very dismissible and generally disliked/discredited. It feels like he is writing this book to “save” the general opinion of the masses, but also seems to repeatedly point out these flaws in a way written by someone who doesn’t like the film. Most particularly, he dwells about Heat being a stretch of realism but also then goes on to detail how Michael Mann worked with cops, convicts, and more to make it very realistic. This could possibly be an artifact of 2002, but I don’t think the movie was ever “redeemed”; I believe it’s praises were always sung. Interestingly, in the 2025 addendum, he admits that a lot of his writing and skepticism of this movie felt rather snobbish (and time proved him wrong). But then he says that in 2002, all we would ask about a movie is “is it good,” but in 2025 more people are concerned with the politics of the movie and how a fill justifies its own existence, and therefore a movie like Heat could never be made in 2025. Besides the fact that this is just not true, it just feels weirdly off the pulse of cinema. 0 for 2, 23 years apart.

Despite all this, it reads really well and easily, and is definitely nice supplemental material for anyone wanting to appreciate all the work Michael Mann has made. Plus, it’s possibly the greatest movie in LA, and I read it in LA, so maybe I am slightly biased.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty damn good analysis of an under-appreciated masterpiece film. Michael Mann is one of the greatest of auteur film-makers--completely misunderstood. Heat is, for me, the greatest crime film. Absolutely brilliant. Watch it. Then read this. Nice pairing. (Thanks to Tim Walters for guiding me to this book.)

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most astute observation in this book is that it is Waingro who actually lives according to McCauley's often repeated code of not having any permanent attachments, and that he's the only character who looks like he's consistently enjoying himself!

[Jean Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic companion to one of my favourite movies. What makes “Heat” distinct, to me at least, is the film’s instance on a kind of class consciousness that’s specific to the American psyche. Michael Mann’s commitment to realism and to melodrama forges something truly of the time, something expressive. As James notes, “different forms of cinema realism are merely expressions of different national traditions of what constitutes the representation of the real” (28).

Wha constitutes the real, what allows discourse to create reality in response to the base of economic production? In America, in the America of “Heat” (distinctly 80s, yet set in the mid 90s ), the ‘real’ is defined by a striving for legitimate subjectivity - an understanding of the self uninformed by oppression - that is totally corrupted by the trappings of wealth, and managed from above by the state. “Heat’s” documentary like quality, its representation of social reality (the ‘real’) is necessarily unbelievable. A real crime story is alive to the immense contradictions in America, and will seem surreal - too insane, too unbelievable to be true. “Heat” is so believable as to be unbelievable. For that reason, it’s one of my favourite movies!

[Stefan Dimov · Rating 5 out of 5]

 "The final gunfight between these two dysfunctional men should take place at an airport not only to remind us of Klein's description of the crew as tourists, but it offers the contrasts of scale that are at the heart of Mann's film-making. The running figures are dwarfed by huge taxiing jets, full of regular-type people getting on with their lives, while these men seek some wide open ground in which to play out their dinosaur destiny. We still never see the two faces in the same frame. But in the sudden occasional glare of the landing lights they become giants."

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid entry in the BFI Classics collection if not quite as in-depth as some of the others. This is more a perfunctory examination of the film, focusing on the key scenes. We get little in the way of background information or context. It's still a very interesting read, because I love the subject matter but there are much better entries in this series.

[Tom Beaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as illuminating/in depth- as I'd hoped it would be

[Ramin]

فیلمی بسیار زیبا از مایکل مان ,همان قصه کلیشه ای دزد و پلیس اما اینبار در روایتی مدرن نه دزد شخصیتی کاملا سیاه دارد و نه پلیس شخصیتی کاملا سفید
رابرت دنیرو در نقش دزدی که می خواهد به یک زندگی متعادل برسد و دست از دزدی بردارد فوق العاده است نمود این موضوع را در دیالوگ وی با دختری که تازه با او آشنا شده می توان دید جایی که به دختر از زیبایی های فیجی می گوید وقتی که با سوال دختر مبنی بر اینکه تا حالا در فیجی بوده یا نه مواجه میشود به او می گوید که من تا حالا اونجا نبوده ام ولی یک روز به آنجا خواهم رفت.
ال پا چینو در نقش یک کاراگاه پلیس باهوش نیز با مشکل عدم تعادل بین زندگی و کار خود مواجه است اگر چه در کارش موفق بوده ولی در زندگی شخصی ناموفق است طوری که تا به حال سه ازدواج ناموفق داشته است در سکانسی از فیلم ما این موضوع را می بینیم زمانی که همسر آل پاچینو به وی میگود که تو با من زندگی نمیکنی تو با مجرمانی که تو خیابان در حال تعقیبشون هستی زندگی می کنی فقط نیمیدونم چرا با این وضع نمی تونم ازت دل بکنم
این آخری برای من یکی از سکانس های زیبایی است که تا به حال دیده ام
در پایان فیلم با صحنه ای بسیار تاثیر گذار به پایان میرسد جایی که رابرت دنیرو در حالی که دست در دست آل پاچینو دارد می میرد و روشناییهای فرودگاه و صدای موسیقی متن حال و هوای دراماتیکی به این صحنه می دهد.
در کل به نظر من فیلم هیت از آن نمونه فیلهایی است که قدیمی نمی شود و هر موقع که دوباره آن را نگاه می کنم برایم تازگی دارد تماشای آن را به همه دوستداران فیلم پیشنهاد می کنم.

[Alec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent analysis on my favourite crime action film of all time from the editor of Sight and Sound magazine. Loved how the author makes the insightful statement that the phenomenological/interpersonal elements of the movie can sometimes be hokey and awkward, but still integral to the epic, ultra-cool yet classic violence and masterful set pieces. I hope they expand the titles covered in this series.