Heat – The Action Re-Cut

I had avoided watching this edit for a while because I love Heat so much. Every time I watch it I’m enthralled. I don’t care about the runtime and I get sucked into the world. Why would I want to see an action movie that “contains about no drama” when I can just watch good ole Heat? I decided to give it a go and I was semi-surprised by the results. In no way is this fanedit superior to Heat (opinion) but the condensed version works pretty well. It’s kind of like watching a higher budget “LA Takedown” with a better script. But I found myself getting bored easily, I guess I just like drama.

I watched the “lives” ending... I really hate title cards that tie up all the loose ends. I watched “dies” on it’s own and highly recommend that ending.

The editing was fantastic, I couldn’t tell where anything was cut. It’s an older fanedit DVD so don’t expect HD quality.

If you don’t want to watch a 3 hour crime epic and you prefer a taut 2 hour crime thriller check this one out.

A/V Quality - 8
Editing - 10
Narrative - 8
Enjoyment - 7 (original is 9)

Recommended drink: Scotch and soda

joebshmoe feb 13 2009

ok… i’m gonna say something crazy here… the ending where he lives? ridiculous. i didn’t like this at all. it didn’t actually *feel* like 6 months later and i think something would need to be inserted here to give the idea of a lapse of time.

also… i just can’t live without the airport shootout. i think that is pretty essential.

back to the review: fantastic. i really enjoyed the removal of the family and drama. i don’t think the intensity suffers much (if at all) of this element being removed but only a viewer without that knowledge could really chime in here. as usual with HUGE edits (what? like a whole hour? 30%? of the movie?) there can be some disastrous plot holes and odd pacing, but this edit suffers none of those elements.

i enjoyed this fanedit and think it is a great example of “different but not better”. heat is, of course, a great movie and this edit while showing a COMPLETELY different movie (ACTION!) doesn’t actually make it better, just fantastically different.

and, although i didn’t care for the alternate ending, the ability to choose either version from the menu via branching is a great touch! this is one of those few moments where (for me) presentation impacts my rating. 4/5 -> 5/5

technical quality 5/5
fanediting 5/5
original 4.5/5
fanedit 4.5/5

5/5

I always found this movie to be boring because of all the dialog that went nowhere and frankly, at almost 3 hours (2 hours 50 minutes) it felt like a chore.
This edit contains all the action, and less side stories that went on for too long.
Also, much happier with this ending.

It's been over a decade since I was bored senseless by my own copy of Heat, so I was definitely looking forward to revisiting it in this pared-down version. While I certainly wasn't bored this time around, as all the major action sequences are intact, at an hour shaved off, it didn't necessarily feel like I was watching a complete film. I certainly didn't miss DeNiro and his gang experiencing endless criminal angst over their relationships (Thief already exists and is perfect, thanks, Michael Mann) but Al Pacino's involvement in this edit seems abrupt and many of his best scenes are missing, so he feels like a guest-star in a movie he's theoretically co-headlining. In all, a fun viewing experience but if I go back to Heat for a third time, I'll try out a different edit to see if I can get a bit more Al in the mix.