HEAT (1995, Blu-ray released November 10, 2009 – MSRP $28.99)
It’s hard to believe that you can refer to any film made in the 90s as a classic. But I think the term holds a lot of water in a handful of cases. Fifteen years on, Michael Mann‘s Heat has earned its place in the pantheon of masterfully made action-films. And this new Blu-ray edition is one of the finest ways to celebrate its excellence.
It took two shots for writer/director Mann to get Heat right. Just the way he wanted it. Filmed first in 1989 as a television movie called L.A. Takedown, Mann would remain unsatisfied with the realization of his vision until he was able to assemble this monumental production, starring performance juggernauts and former Godfathers Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino five years later. Heat is amazing. Well worth a second take. This story of a detective trying to hold his life together while desperately pursuing a master-thief and his crew has inspired filmmakers and actors alike for the fifteen years since it hit the silver screen. In fact, Christopher Nolan has cited it as the primary inspiration for his Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight!
This new Blu-ray edition of Heat looks absolutely faithful to the film. Those hoping to find the sparkling, modern-digital appearance of Star Trek or Iron Man are bound to be disappointed by the grain and the occasional soft moments throughout but trust me, detail, colour fidelity and deep blacks are all fantastic. This is the best Heat has ever looked on home video. And with a first rate, immersive Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track, you won’t go wrong by upgrading from the DVD to the Blu-ray.
Speaking of the DVD, all of the special features you’ll find on the Blu-ray have been ported over from that previously available edition and are all in standard def. Nothing new here, folks. But it’s all worth checking out. From the voluminous number of deleted scenes to the excellent, 3-part “Making of Heat” documentary, you won’t go wrong giving a little bit of time to the extras here.
One curious element of this new Blu-ray edition of Heat is the note on the back of the package alerting the consumer that the disc contains “New content changes supervised by director Michael Mann“. I’ll be damned if I could find any alterations but if the various run-times of the different editions of the film are any indication (the original running time of the film was 171 minutes, the DVD release was listed at 172 minutes and the Blu-ray seems to clock in at 170) some changes were made somewhere. I can say this for certain – Mann’s excellent commentary from the DVD has made the transition to Blu intact, despite the change in the films running time.
It would have been great to have some new HD extras or a digi-book to celebrate the coming of Heat on Blu but with this fine presentation and at this low price (currently only $14.99 on Amazon!) I’m satisfied with what I’ve got here in my hands. Recommended!
Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Michael Mann Recuts Heat for Blu-ray Release, Full Disc details
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