Wednesday, August 4, 2010

"Yes!" Moment #2

Check out "Yes!" Moment #1 to find out what this is all about.

As a very Happy 15th-Anniversary to Heat (1995), here is my "Yes!" Moment #2:


This is it! They’re coming out of the bank. Neil McCauley and Chris Shiherlis. They’ve done it! We’ve gotten to know them, and even though they’re bad guys, we kind of want them to get away. So much is at stake for them, and they think they’ve done it, even though we know the police have arrived. We are tense in expectation of a titanic firefight. Any moment in the bank-robbery/shout-out sequence is a “Yes!” Moment. The whole movie – one of the most dramatic, most gripping films of the past twenty-five years - is a “Yes!” moment.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Awesome image. Love this film and after THE INSIDER, I consider it Mann's best film. Wow, 15 years... It's time for me to write-up some retospective piece! Thanks for the remind...

Richard Bellamy said...

Thanks J.D. - and part of the thrill are the great performances of De Niro and Kilmer. Their last great performances perhaps?

I remember feeling gripped and engaged throughout the whole film by the acting, the character development, the action - and I wondered why there can't be more movies like that. We need another one this year.

Unknown said...

Yeah, definitely the last truly great performance out of Kilmer but De Niro had a few great ones afterwards, like COPLAND, JACKIE BROWN and RONIN. I don't think that they quite reach the heights of HEAT, mind you, but they're damn good.

I know how you feel about HEAT. I have fond memories of seeing it on the big screen when it first came out and being riveted for the entire running time. Just a great film from beginning to end.

Richard Bellamy said...

J.D. - I knew there were a few films after Heat in which De Niro came through - but just not Heat quality. Actually, he was quite touching as Magwitch in Great Expectations (1997).