Heat - Blu-Ray Disc Review

I remember when I bought the two tape VHS version of heat back in the late 90's ..... Now that I've dated myself let me continue. Heat was released in 1995 to critical acclaim. I rented it and was blown away!

Then DVD comes along and I swapped (gave the VHS copy to my dad) and upgraded to the DVD version of Heat which was a decent enough transfer.

In 2005 a tenth anniversary edition was released and after reading reviews online the picture and sound were apparently not tweaked, and despite a bonus disc with extra features, I wasn't going to drop the money being asked .... so patiently I waited.

In 2009 the Blu-Ray version was released and after watching it I was not disappointed.

The picture is clean, crisp, and clear pretty much throughout the entire film. One issue that was not cleaned up with the original DVD transfer was the presence of grain and noise that was common with virtually any VHS release (and was why I didn't want to buy the 2005 special edition) and those issues are almost nil on the Blu-Ray version. There are a lot of scenes at night and the black levels are fantastic which gives off excellent contrast in full 1080p.

Hi-def sound comes via a Dolby TrueHD track, and even though the film is dialogue driven for the most part, the gunfights are really present and there is enough ambient sound in different scenes ranging from the hustle and bustle of a hospital to the hotel evacuation at the end of the film and the intense climax at LAX with the sound of jet engines roaring through your rear channels .... whoa baby!

Heat is based on a True Crime novel involving Chicago cops and robbers which I am not to familiar with. Insight into the real life inspiration for the film and why it took so long to go ahead are a couple of the bonus features you get in this version as well.

The story line is great and although Pacino's relationship with Deniro's character is dynamic and interesting, Pacino's character goes through a marriage breakdown because of his obsession with catching the bad guy, his wife having an affair, and his step daughter trying to commit suicide, which can come across as a little much to take in during the course of the almost three hours you will be watching. Don't get me wrong though, overall the narrative is excellent, with stellar performances from the whole cast, and Michael Mann, who loves a wide shot, films LA in cinematic epicness.

So, all that being said, if you like a good cops and robbers genre movie wise, Heat is the ticket. Who knows what the next gen of hi-def will give us ..... In the meantime, I will give my DVD copy to my dad. It's alright, he only wants to be one step behind technology anyway.

Picture: 5 out of 5
Sound: 5 out of 5
Story: 4.5 out of 5