I agree with the masterpiece sentiments. I think that people will look back upon this film in decades to come and acknowledge it as a cinema great -.-

When Heat's casting director credit came on, I felt like standing up and applauding. This movie is LOADED with great actors, even in the smaller parts. Marketed as Al Pacino and Rovbert DeNiro FINALLY acting opposite each other, it also stars Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, John Voight, Ashley Judd, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, William Fichtner, Dennis Haysbert, Hank Azaria, Danny Trejo, Tone Loc, and kiddie Natalie Portman! I mean geez! Even though it's a three-hour heist-cop picture, director Michael Mann never lets it get boring, and even relishes in showing us his characters' personal lives. A typical film might use one of these as a subplot, but personal lives are used as additional "heat" placed on the main characters. And Pacino-DeNiro going head to head? It seems there was a choice to have them play to type, but even if their characters behave very much like other characters they've played (extrovert and introvert), it's the chess game between the best cop and the best thief that makes Heat exciting. Deserves to be mentioned more when discussing awesome crime dramas.

freaking awesome movie, just WOW

the scene where pacino and de niro in the restaurant, never thought two people dining together might be more awesome and goosebump inducing than many of the action scenes in other movies