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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
directed by Michael Mann
USA 1995
Incredibly cool characters pull off violent yet debonair crimes in the heart of a supermodern American city: yes, it's a Michael Mann film. The moving spirit behind "Miami Vice" has turned his attention to Los Angeles, where an anguished cop (Al Pacino) goes head-to-head with a troubled villain (Robert De Niro). The movie looks happiest at night, but the feline grace of the camera's moves is betrayed by the portentous script; Diane Venora, as the detective's wife, has some particularly gruesome lines to deliver. The film, which runs on and on for nearly three hours, yearns to be much more than a thriller-it wants to diagnose the sickness of men's souls and convey the nobility of their pain. The irony is that as a thriller it works just fine; the set pieces, including an unstoppable gun battle outside a bank, are adrenaline dreams. The taciturn De Niro and the braying Pacino share a flawless scene over a cup of coffee, but the real honors go to Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd as a warring, loving couple. Kilmer can blow you away, with or without a gun. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: December 15th, 1995 - USA
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Comparison:
Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner (SE - 2 Disc) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. 20th Century Fox (Remastered - Director's Definitive Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT
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Box Covers |
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Non-Steelbook Blu-ray: | ||||
Distribution |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner Region FREE - Blu-ray |
20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 2:50:20 | 2:50:15 | 2:50:27.383 | 2:50:18.249 |
Video |
2.30:1 Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
2.33:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced |
1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,611,824,973 bytesFeature: 37,431,152,640 bytesVideo Bitrate: 22.38 MbpsCodec: VC-1 Video |
1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,597,689,964 bytes Feature: 48,701,171,712 bytesVideo Bitrate: 25.40 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Warner (original)
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Bitrate:
Warner (SE)
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Bitrate:
Blu-ray
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Bitrate:
Blu-ray
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Audio | English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) |
English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) |
Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1440 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1440
kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps) DUbs: Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Dolby Digital Audio German 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround |
DTS-HD Master Audio English 4222 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4222
kbps / 24-bit Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps |
Subtitles | English, French, and none | English, English (hearing impaired), French, Spanish, and none | English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish , Swedish, none | English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, Bulgarian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Thai, none |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Warner
Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
Chapters 52
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Release Information:
Edition Details:
• Director Michael Mann does a
screen-specific audio commentary |
Release Information: 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,611,824,973 bytesFeature: 37,431,152,640 bytesVideo Bitrate: 22.38 MbpsCodec: VC-1 Video
Edition Details: • Director Michael Mann audio commentary • The Making of Heat: Into the Fire (24:01 in SD) • The Making of Heat: Crime Stories (20:26 in SD) • The Making of Heat: True Crime (14:45 in SD) • Return to the Scene of the Crime (12:02) • Pacino and De Niro: The Conversation (9:54 in SD) • 11 Additional Scenes Scenes
• Trailer (2:16 in
SD) |
Release Information: 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,597,689,964 bytes Feature: 48,701,171,712 bytesVideo Bitrate: 25.40 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: • Director Michael Mann audio commentary • Filmmaker Panel - 2016 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1:03:22) moderated by Christopher Nolan - Mann, Pacino, De Niro • 2015 Toronto Film Festival (30:27) - Michael Mann • The Making of Heat: Crime Stories, True Crime, (total - 59:01) • Pacino and De Niro: The Conversation (9:27) • Return to the Scene of the Crime (11:49) • 11 Additional Scenes Scenes (9:39)
• Trailers (6:39) |
Comments: |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: 20th Century Fox (Remastered - Director's Definitive Edition) - Region FREE - Double Blu-ray. This was a surprise release with, initially, very little information available on it. And, for a while - it was hard to get. I requested it to review and, another surprise, I got sent the French Steelbook edition, but it appears that they are all the same in different countries - perhaps with different labels - but the two Blu-ray discs, included in the package, are duplicates. This 'French' Blu-ray even starts with English menus. There was speculation that it was going to be a different version of the film. It is 9 seconds shorter than the 2009 Blu-ray but I couldn't find any significant differences. This time disparity could simply represent initial logos (Regency/Warner /20th Century Fox) - I don't know but I did check and the 'detritus' line by Diane Venora (Justine) at 1-hour 3-minutes is still not there. I believe that it's called the "Director's Definitive Edition" solely because of the 4K remastered transfer. The package is indeed cited as a "New 4K Re-Master of the film, supervised by director Michael Mann" and is different from the original Blu-ray - it's AVC not VC-1, skin tones cool and some have an orange hue, there is less information in the frame but the technical stats are superior - both are 1080P. It has the film housed on one Blu-ray disc with only the commentary as an extra and the disc is dual-layered with a slightly higher bitrate. So, I'm can only give my opinion and it indeed does look better - notably in-motion, IMO. Flesh tones look better on my system. One of the supplements on the second Blu-ray discusses the film's look with cinematographer Dante Spinotti - available on YouTube HERE.The new DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround is also a significant improvement with a 4222 kbps (24-bit) sounding much deeper. I noticed this in the helicopter scenes as well as the gunfire and robberies. The score by Elliot Goldenthal (Interview With the Vampire, Pet Sematary, A Time To Kill, Public Enemies) sounds brilliant in lossless. It augments the film substantially, imo. There are plenty of DUBs and subtitle options (listed above) and it is a region FREE disc capable of playing on Blu-ray machines worldwide.
As far as the extras go - the commentary, on the main
disc, and all the video extras, all on a second Blu-ray,
remain from the
2009
Blu-ray
but there are two significant additions. The new
supplements comprise two 'Filmmaker Panels' an
1-hour long 2016 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences discussion moderated by Christopher Nolan -
with Mann, Pacino, De Niro, Val Kilmer, Amy Brenneman,
Diane Venora and Mykelti Williamson, writer/director
Michael Mann, cinematographer Dante Spinotti, executive
producer Pieter Jan Brugge, editor William Goldenberg,
producer Art Linson, and re-recording mixer Andy Nelson.
The second is a 2015 Toronto Film Festival piece with
Michael Mann running a 1/2 hour. It was celebrating the
20th Anniversary of Heat.
Pricing on this, with steelbook options, has been all
over the board but I notice that the Canadian
'Remastered - Director's Definitive Edition' Blu-ray
HERE coming out in May and has a pre-order
price of $12.59 CAD meaning $9.42
US Dollars! Unless that is a mistake - it's a
steal at that price. Must own for fans of the film - and
that's YOU if you've read this far.
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ADDITION: Warner - Region FREE
Blu-ray - October09:
NOTE: (sent in email
by Jake): "I believe the 'New Content' changes
supervised by Michael Mann for the blu-ray of Heat may
actually refer to a change within the film. At
approximately the 1hr 3min mark, during the after dinner
party scene between Al Pacino and Dian Verona, her
poetic line regarding the 'detritus' has been cut."
(Thanks Jake!)
The lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 at 1440 kbps also shows an
intense leap beyond the older DVDs. It could probably go
a bit further though with some heavier depth and bass
response but I won't look a gift-horse in the mouth -
effect sounds are crisp piercing out of the rear
speakers occasionally leaving center-channel dialogue
hushed or drowned-out. The action sequences can
shell-shock with guns sounding like canons and it's all brought right into your lap
with punchy bullets, explosive car/truck crashes and
subtle crowd noises at the airport. There are some
foreign language DUBs, subtitle options and my
Momitsu
tells us that it is a region FREE disc capable of
playing on
Blu-ray
machines worldwide.
I'm still trying to figure out why it says on the box,
about the supplements - "New content changes
supervised by director Michael Mann". It seems like
the same commentary with plenty of gaps but possibly
other parts filled with another gentleman talking about
the original story/characters, like 'Eady' - I can't
recall if this is the 'new'. The featurettes,
deleted/alternate scenes and trailers all seem the same
- and are still all in SD.
I love this film - it runs like a Greek tragedy of work
vs. happiness and it's definitely one of the best
action-crime dramas of the 90's. Sure, De Niro and
Pacino could carry this - but it's not necessary with
excellent supportive performances from Kilmer, Sizemore,
Judd, Voight and some of director Mann's best work ever.
For the genre - Heat is a masterpiece and it
looks and sounds brand new compared to the DVDs.
Strongly recommended!
***
ON THE DVDs:
These two images are virtually identical.
They have the exact same black border around the edge of the image and
same chapter stops. Don't listen to other reviewers talking about how
incredibly softer the original release is. The bitrate spikes and
valleys indicate a similarity with negligible differences. The only
difference that is important is that there appears to be a slight
difference in aspect ratios (2.33 as opposed to 2.30). The characters on the new SE
look thinner
than they are in the old release. I have no way of knowing which is more
accurate, but to my eye the original figures look more realistic (not
elongated). Once the film is running though you will not notice it
or care. the slight difference in total bit-rate (5.44 to 5.55) is
probably due to the addition of the Mann commentary (our bitrate chart
reads audio) on the new SE.
The only real reason to get the new SE would be for the extras - a
screen specific commentary track by director Mann, deleted scenes, and
some featurettes including one about the coffee conversation between
Pacino and De Niro's respective characters. Obviously it is only worth
the upgrade if you want the extras - which are excellent, otherwise your
initial release does a fine job.
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DVD Menus
(Warner
(original)
- Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
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Disc 2 of SE Edition
Disc 1 of the 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray
Disc 2 of the 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample
1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
NOTE: Not exact frame match!
Screen Captures
1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP 2) Warner (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC - SECOND3) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - THIRD 4) 20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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Report Card:
Box Covers |
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Non-Steelbook Blu-ray: |
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Distribution |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner Region FREE - Blu-ray |
20th Century Fox (Director's Definitive Edition) Region FREE - Blu-ray |
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