Heat (1995) ✦ Full-Length Watchalong Reaction
Added 2024-02-19 06:00:06 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Another heist movie is under my belt and this is based on a true story?! So fun, can't wait to read up on that. Looking forward to discussing this one! [Direct link here.]
PS. The edit for this isn't going to go on the channel until the week of Feb 26 because of how long the runtime is.
Cheers,
✦ KL
Comments
When you edit the movie, I think you could come away with a deeper understanding of some of the character dynamics at play, especially near the beginning, mostly with regard to Neil. Now, of course, you don't have to root for Neil and his crew, and of course, maybe you thought about all of this and just didn't say anything, which is fine, but it's interesting that your end review was largely focused on Vincent and his team. Neil may not be a good guy, but one thing the movie is trying to establish early on is the difference between Neil, who is a professional, and Waingro, who is a psychopath. Neil hates it when Waingro kills the guards in the opening heist, because it's unnecessary and messy (and it turns out to be the thing that gets Vincent onto his tail in the first place). I think that Neil sincerely loves Eady and would be there for her if they were able to escape, but they aren't, because Neil can't stand the thought of letting Waingro go. Similar things are happening with Charlene and Chris. When Neil barges into the room after catching Charlene with Alan, he appears physically threatening at first, and of course no other person has to like the idea of the deal he gives her to give Chris one last chance, but I think the important thing for the scene is that a) he means it and b) she recognizes that and respects it. Earlier, you see Neil and Chris talking, and Chris says that "the sun rises and sets with her, man," and Neil listens to that. He also learns that Chris has no idea about Alan, so in that moment he is thinking about his team and how he needs Chris to function in order for the group to function. Chris is a gambler and a hothead, but I think ultimately (even if it's not the most healthy relationship), they really do care about one another. Overall, I think this stuff serves to make the criminals nuanced in a similar way to the cops. Vincent and Neil have mirroring problems with connection and having a life away from what drives them, Vincent because it's horrible and as he says, he needs his angst to stay sharp, and Neil because he is not a trusting person and because he has that mantra about walking out on everything if it seems like he's going to get caught. (Also, FWIW, as I mentioned in my reply above, I think Vincent's relationship with Lauren is better than his relationship with Justine, because the person he is to Lauren is a father figure, and he's doing much better than her actual father by being there even 10% of the time.)
Tyler Foster
2024-02-22 07:24:53 +0000 UTCA movie like Heat may not immediately make you think "true story journalism drama," but my favorite film directed by Michael Mann is the 1999 film The Insider. I'm sure, like many people, you probably saw those Truth ads in the mid-2000s with the guy with the electrolarynx singing, "you don't always die from tobacco..." Much of what we publicly know about the addictive chemicals in cigarettes was because of a whistleblower named Jeffrey Wigand, who was fired from Brown and Williamson for refusing to put dangerous additives into cigarettes. The Insider is about the fight to get his story out. A great movie, which was nominated for seven Oscars. My journalism teacher in high school showed to it to her students every year, and it's a masterpiece.
Tyler Foster
2024-02-20 21:05:19 +0000 UTCAn absolutely spectacular film...Michael Mann doesn't get enough praise, and holy shit the cast on this one.
Steve Mercier
2024-02-19 22:18:44 +0000 UTCOh, nice. I'm so glad that you reacted to this one -- it's certainly a banger that's held up pretty well over the years. I'll be looking forward to watching this one with ya later. 👍🏼
William
2024-02-19 17:51:41 +0000 UTCThe shootout scene sounded GREAT so that's really good to know that's how they went about it, so fun! And to the suicide, you make a great point and now I'm frustrated at myself for being hung up on a "reason" when you're right, we don't need one. And sometimes there isn't a reason we can understand anyway. On Friday, I found out a friend of mine took his life earlier this month and on the outside you'd never know that had ever crossed his mind as something to do. I should have applied that same thought process to Lauren. I guess I was just expecting the movie to give a bit more info, that's all. Thank you for these comments!
kaiielle
2024-02-19 12:43:08 +0000 UTCI'm sure you'll come across this detail, but the shootout scene used the original audio from the environment rather than dubbing over everything with pre-recorded sound effects. They of course attempted both routes, but Michael Mann immediately recognized that the dubs didn't sound right -- there is just something about the echo between the Los Angeles skyscrapers that really heightens the realism of the scene. It's usually extremely difficult to use on-set audio, though, because you need an absolutely quiet set, and a lot more choreography is involved in avoiding noise pollution from the production crew. So, to my knowledge, this is one of the few movies in modern history to use the original on-set audio. Which means you'll never see another shootout like this one. My interpretation of the daughter's attempted suicide is that we aren't specifically meant to understand her motivation as much as appreciate that sometimes people have to deal with catastrophes that don't fit in their bandwidth. None of these people are perfect, and neither are their environments; everything is complicated. This movie delves into the relationships of the main characters because it's more about immersing ourselves in their lives than getting the stripped-down, beat-for-beat plot highlights. In Vincent's case, he was already overwhelmed, but his motivation to do the right thing meant doing what he could for the girl, and leaving when he could be more effective somewhere else.
Dan
2024-02-19 12:37:18 +0000 UTCAwesome movie. I will watch your reaction.
Clay F
2024-02-19 06:23:28 +0000 UTC
