The Gun films of Michael Mann

Gun nuts, we need to have a talk. After some truly deep thinking and a review of much of his work, I’ve realized something: Heat isn’t that good.

For those that don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m of course referring to the films of Michael Mann, one of very few Hollywood directors that takes his gunhandling seriously. He’s directed 5 movies that are generally held in high regard by gun nuts for their technical expertise in gunhandling. I’m including Last of the Mohicans in that five because black powder fans need lovin’ too. Here are the five films in order from most recent to oldest:

• Public Enemies
• Miami Vice
• Collateral
• Heat
• The Last of the Mohicans

You might be able to argue for the inclusion of 1986′s Manhunter on the list, but we’ll leave it off for now. I had a moment of clarity last night while watching Collateral and Public Enemies back to back – those are good movies. And they’re a lot better than Heat.

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Let’s break down Heat for just a second – the story is convoluted and doesn’t make a lot of sense, there are plot holes and character inconsistencies you could drive a fire truck through, and Al Pacino spends the entire movie chewing the scenery and shouting. It’s basically a loosely constructed vehicle to get Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino into various scenes together. It’s not a bad movie by any stretch, but it’s also not that good.

So why does Heat get held in such high regard by gun nuts? Because it was special at the time. Heat came out in 1995 (noodle on that for a moment, that movie is old enough to vote). Here’s a short list of other action/thrillers that came out that year: Bad Boys, Assassins, Congo (I saw that in the theatre), Goldeneye, Desperado, Judge Dredd, and Die Hard 3. While some of those movies are really awesome movies, you can’t really characterize the action sequences in any of them as “gritty” or “realistic.” Heat gave us a film with gritty, realistic, and technically excellent gun handling in an era of chopping gorillas in half with a diamond powered laser and Pierce Brosnan driving a tank around Russia wrecking stuff.

So Heat gets a pass from us because it was different from all the other action going on at the time. Which is great, but I don’t think Heat holds up as well. Here’s The Gun Nuts List of Best to Worst in Michael Man’s Gun Nut Movies:

1. Collateral: This movie has spawned more IDPA stages than any other film, ever. Great performances by Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise carry this movie, and the taught action with a little bit of levity makes it the best of the lot. “Yo homey, is that my briefcase?”
2. Public Enemies: While the movie takes a considerable amount of historical license with the events surrounding John Dillinger’s life and eventual death, it never stalls out. You feel like you’re along for the ride with Dillinger and crew as they’re pursued by Batman Agent Purvis as played by Christian Bale. It’s a tight story with incredible action sequences.
3. The Last of the Mohicans: I admit, I didn’t like this movie at first, because it was nothing like the book. Once I got over that though, this is a really excellent movie. Mohicans probably gets rated higher than it deserves on my list because of the amazing, driving soundtrack during the final action sequence.
4. Heat: Heat’s biggest weakness is the story. There’s too much going on, and too many sideplots. It stalls out in places as a result of this, and you feel like you’re waiting around for the stuff that’s interesting to happen again. Heat would be the number 1 movie on the list if you deleted the side plot with Amy Brenneman’s character entirely and the side plot with Al Pacino’s step-daughter entirely.
5. Miami Vice: This is not a good movie. Yes, the action sequences are vintage Michael Mann, and the final boatyard shootout is awesome, but this movie is just not very good. It’s basically Romeo and Juliet with machine guns and go-fast boats. Seriously, think about it – Crockett is Romeo, and chick is Juliet. They’re from rival houses, and everyone dies.