Review Detail
9.7 11 10
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
10.0
A crisp and straight-ahead version of Mann's Heat.
A/V and Video quality are essentially perfect.
In the audio department, there's a moment at 28:30 where the vocals have been shifted out of alignment, and there was a cut further down the line where the music didn't carry across so the editing was obvious. But otherwise, the quality was quite good. The score was still nice and reserved. Felt a tiny bit quieter than my memory in places, but I'm getting old.
The revised ending was very well done, and actually more satisfying than I expected, though it felt more fever dream than grounded resolution. Ultimately, this is a story about tragedy (or at least it was), so this ending is hard for me to parse. I like it because I like Neil's character, but it also feels to-good-to-be-true. He wakes up, right?
In terms of narrative, my only concern is Donald's character. With so much story removed from the other people in Neil's orbit, it's conspicuous how much screen time Donald gets here. His story is very much self-contained within the larger picture, and is intended (I think) as foreshadowing to Neil's tragic end (after succumbing to his impulse to "go back"). Of course in this version, that's absent, which makes Donald's story feel like a superfluous curiosity in an otherwise straight-ahead Cop vs. Robber story.
I'm tempted to rate narrative a little lower, but with all that scenery chewing from Val Kilmer removed, you've done me a huge favor. Not to mention the removal of the absolutely terrible lines from Justine and Charlene ("What am I doing in this rat-bastard situation?!?", "You sift through the detritus...", etc.). Man, you should get a medal just for pulling that noise out. :)
A/V and Video quality are essentially perfect.
In the audio department, there's a moment at 28:30 where the vocals have been shifted out of alignment, and there was a cut further down the line where the music didn't carry across so the editing was obvious. But otherwise, the quality was quite good. The score was still nice and reserved. Felt a tiny bit quieter than my memory in places, but I'm getting old.
The revised ending was very well done, and actually more satisfying than I expected, though it felt more fever dream than grounded resolution. Ultimately, this is a story about tragedy (or at least it was), so this ending is hard for me to parse. I like it because I like Neil's character, but it also feels to-good-to-be-true. He wakes up, right?
In terms of narrative, my only concern is Donald's character. With so much story removed from the other people in Neil's orbit, it's conspicuous how much screen time Donald gets here. His story is very much self-contained within the larger picture, and is intended (I think) as foreshadowing to Neil's tragic end (after succumbing to his impulse to "go back"). Of course in this version, that's absent, which makes Donald's story feel like a superfluous curiosity in an otherwise straight-ahead Cop vs. Robber story.
I'm tempted to rate narrative a little lower, but with all that scenery chewing from Val Kilmer removed, you've done me a huge favor. Not to mention the removal of the absolutely terrible lines from Justine and Charlene ("What am I doing in this rat-bastard situation?!?", "You sift through the detritus...", etc.). Man, you should get a medal just for pulling that noise out. :)
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
F