Heat
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 15, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Stunningly made and incisively acted by a large and terrific cast, Michael Mann's ambitious study of the relativity of good and evil stands apart from other films of its type by virtue of its extraordinarily rich characterizations and its thoughtful, deeply melancholy take on modern life. Read full review
100
Austin ChronicleSimon Cote
One of the most intelligent crime-thrillers to come along in years. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A sleek, accomplished piece of work, meticulously controlled and completely involving. The dark end of the street doesn't get much more inviting than this. Read full review
100
USA TodayMike Clark
Heat is in the cop-movie pantheon with Akira Kurosawa's "High and Low," and that's as "right" as the genre gets. Read full review
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
A stunning crime drama that shares its protagonists' rabid attention to detail and love of adrenalin. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
As with his other works, [Mann] binds sound, music and pictures into one hypnotic triaxial cable and plugs it right into your brain. He makes this almost-three-hour experience practically glide by. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Under a director with less vision and ambition, Heat could have been just another routine crime drama, but Mann brings such an edge to the proceedings that the threadbare story takes on a new urgency. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Above all, the dialogue is complex enough to allow the characters to say what they're thinking: They are eloquent, insightful, fanciful, poetic when necessary. They're not trapped with cliches. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A love-hate poem to L.A., and when Mann takes in the streets, the freeways and LAX, he doesn't give us shiny "Lethal Weapon"-style travelogues. He shows us an L.A. that's grim, bare, a bit smoggy and ruled by street smarts. [15 Dec 1995]
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
No, the film may not be quite as luminous as the cast, but it's good - very good, in fact. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
It didn't sound like fun to us, either, but we were wrong; Heat scores on many fronts...The plot, though it seems to ramble, builds suspense with deft precision, and the action set pieces are triumphs. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
There's nothing really new...but it has craft, pacing, and an overall sense of proportion, three pretty rare classic virtues nowadays. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Schickel
A lot of very good actors...do honest, probing work in a context where, typically, less will do.
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
It's a monster of a movie, and it gets unwieldy. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger Moore
It is both intimate and sweeping, a John Woo/Howard Hawks “men with a code” epic, with William Friedkin grit, and maybe a pinch of Peckinpah for those who like their gun violence realistic. Read full review
70
Film.comAndy Speltzer
Someone should confiscate Mann's synthesizer. Just when a scene starts rolling along, this synth beat fades in and destroys the mood.
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
We're not watching McCauley and Hanna anymore; we're watching De Niro and Pacino trying to out-insinuate each other. For a few moments, Heat truly has some. Read full review
60
Film.comSean Means
A cool and rather detached movie...Heat generates lots of energy but gives off little light.
60
Washington PostHal Hinson
Ultimately, though, the movie never transcends the limitations of its Hemingwayesque, men-with-men attitudes. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The performances are persuasive but the plot rattles on much too long. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Its sensational looks pale beside storytelling weaknesses that expose the more soulless aspects of this cat-and-mouse crime tale. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
There isn't much to recommend this movie until Pacino and De Niro finally share the first of their two scenes together. Read full review
30
SalonAndrew Ross
A 3 hour fusillade of cliches. Read full review
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