I must say, this original 'Heat' where the remake was more universal with bigger name actors and went into more of the character's lives, whatever, still didn't disappoint. It actually went higher than my expectations, and this being a Michael Mann film too, I should of known better, leading me to wonder that this lower profile 'Heat' pic surely didn't deserve the obscurity it must of had, sitting on the video shelves for years. The two leads are excellent, which again, had me underestimating it, especially McCarthur's performance of our A1 solid professional thief/robber, who he plays straight serious right down the line. I enjoyed him much more than seeing De Niro doing it to be frank. When seeing Pacino do hot shot dick, Hanna, in the remake, Plank, an actor who sadly isn't with us anymore, where I had seen him in some other stuff is far different, from Pacino, his interpretation here I found, mystifyingly exciting, where he brought something with it too. He's definitely someone you don't toy with, as by example in a few scenes, one I thought was hilariously cool like it's leads. I'd rather opt to watch these two than the actor duo in the 96 remake. From the word go, it's typical Michael Mannish, his signature all over this pic, those cool music scores, I never get sick of. That infamous café scene with the antagonist and protagonist, engaged me so much, especially McCarthur again, that same dialogue exchange between the two was beautiful interaction. But what was more engaging, was the pre moment to this scene where outside the coffee house, both parties, who happen to cross paths, are about to draw their guns. Plank smooths the waters, by offering to buy him coffee. The bank shootout/botched job scene was loudly intense, those deafening AK's bringing back the glimpse of a horrid memory, also from 96. Okay, if you've seen Heat like me first, you might be thinking, "Yeah so"? where there's a lot, I mean a lot of identic stuff in this, but remember, this is the original, that inspired the mega hit. Still, this comes off as a success, an underestimated surprise, with a few small differences, what have you, which is remake law, except for 'Funny Games'. Don't let this one slip by, folks, for the two cool leads, and that wonderful Mann direction, which in some ways is unsurpassable, always involving us, where we're part of film too, thanks to this master.
Review of L.A. Takedown
