Student Film Reviews

Film reviews from theaters, couches, and film festivals

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1. Chris Poptsis 05.17.09 / 9pm

   In my opinion, the movie “Heat” was one of the greatest action thrillers of all time. To this day “Heat “ is one of my favorite movies to watch. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino come together to create an exceptional film. Its like watching two heavy weight boxers go head to head, which makes it that much more, interesting to watch. Robert De Niro plays the bank robber and Al Pacino acts as the police detective. This was the first film, which these two extraordinary actors come together on the same screen. The action scenes were very intense and were easily exaggerated by the use of extreme close-ups and fast takes. I liked how both characters were facing drama with real life outside of there work. This gave the movie a sense of chaos and made it unpredictable. Over the course of the movie I developed a relationship with both Pacino and De Niro. Its hard to pick sides which in this movie and it creates the feeling of mutual respect between the characters.
2. James Winston 06.22.09 / 6pm

   Michael Mann’s Heat is indeed worth the candle. The film incorporates tasteful violence with a star-studded cast, including a wonderful onscreen duo between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. In agreement with Mr. Helton, Heat should be at the top of anyone and everyone’s film library.
   The conflict between criminal and cop is immortalized in this film. However, viewers tend to forget the work of female actors. Characters portrayed by the likes of Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Amy Breeneman, and Diane Venora, help us explore fatherlessness, infidelity, and love.
   The setting of Heat, an open and architecturally driven downtown Los Angeles, helps to glorify some of the film’s famous scenes. I urge viewers to watch Heat, but to do so with an eye for detail.
3. Dan Repaci 04.30.21 / 11pm

   Michael Mann’s Heat was a very unique film, as it may appear an action-thriller on the surface, Michael Mann seemed very adamant about not making this film a theme film. The film displayed no CGI but used cinematography implementing Art Cinema dream like scenes, and almost the entire movie was shot on a long angle lens. Night airborne shots of Los Angeles, bright neon lights, blurred tail lights in car chase scenes brought a new style to the viewers. The film also seemed to redefine Noir style by meshing the detective and criminal instead of traditional opposite trends in that area, which is apparent in one of the most prominent coffee shop scene where McCauley and Detective Hanna were able to sit down face to face as civil adversaries realizing how shockingly similar they were.
4. Saul Anders 03.01.22 / 5pm

   Heat is a must watch Hollywood blockbuster film as it’s regarded as one of the best crime movies of all time. This film features a few of the best actors of our time including the likes of Al Pacino and Robert de Niro and they did not disappoint at all. Seeing these two great actors go head to head in an intense thriller was such a sight. This film does cop and robbers brilliantly with such a strong plot and jaw-dropping action scenes. The fact that the Marine corps used this film to demonstrate how to do a firefight shows how realistic and well put the airport scene is. Michael Mann really adds to the film with attention to detail as the realism in the film is top-notch. The fighting scenes are the perfect example of this as they used real life tactics used in a firefight and even the time it takes to reload their weapon. Michael Mann has undoubtedly created the film for the ages.

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