of the nicest things about this transfer for me was the overall tightly resolved grain field. I almost get a little trepidatious when approaching shot on All of the supplements found on Warner's previous Blu-ray edition of Heat are included on this release. (See below for the Definitive Edition exclusives.) of the 1080 release from several years ago. Commendably, Disney / Buena Vista and 20th Century Productions have included both of the 1080 discs

This UHD derives from the same remaster used for the 2018 Blu-ray, though the benefits of higher definition and HDR enhance the transfer’s already considerable attributes. Dante Spinotti’s gray-hued daytime cinematography now pops with an added gun-metal sheen, and the film’s darker scenes find a fairly significant boost in sharpness and clarity. Day-for-night exteriors pop with more pronounced grades of royal and navy blues, while interiors reveal additional contrast between yellow lighting and shadows at the margins of the frame. No new audio mix has been prepared for this release, but the 5.1 mix used on the previous Blu-ray is still reference-quality, whether elegantly mixing in the moody score amid softly spoken dialogue exchanges or erupting across all channels during the centerpiece firefight. ExtrasIt has been nearly eight years since Warners first released Heat on Blu-ray which, at the time, featured a newly-restored transfer supervised by Michael Mann that for the most part was a very faithful and respectable presentation. The director has apparently returned to the studio to supervise this new "remastered in 4K" transfer for 20th Century Fox, and while it doesn't offer a night and day type of difference, there is still some general improvement over the original release to make this a true "definitive" edition. film may know that Heat received a prior release on 1080 Blu-ray by Warner Brothers before the 20th Century Fox release I reviewed, and Still though, 4k and HDR10 has added a good amount of detail to the shadow areas which wouldn’t have been possible without 10-bit depth and four times the resolution. Take for example the shot of Lieutenant Hanna (Pacino) and Lieutenant Casals (Wes Studi) in the surveillance van. The sharpness of details in this dark shot were not possible in previous discs, and especially broadcast version of the film. Most of the closeups are exceptional in the 4k image.

Mann's home releases always attract controversy. If he's not inexplicably tweaking the film itself (the Theatrical Cut of Heat has never been released in HD) then he's fiddling with the colour timing ( Thief went blue, and Heat followed suit), with the last version even enjoying a smattering of resizing and cropping for good measure. Sure, those who aren't sitting there directly comparing it to the previous version, and who haven't seen the film in a few years, might not really notice and/or be bothered that much, but it's still an... odd practice. And it doesn't stop with this 4K release either, which sits comfortably alongside its predecessors as another "well, if you haven't seen it for a few years and aren't doing a direct comparison, you'll probably get along just fine with this as a nice little 4K release". One of the most interesting aspects of Heat is that the film makes no moral judgements about its characters, regardless of the physical and emotional consequences of their actions. Instead, it depicts them all as fully dimensional human beings, criminals and police detectives alike, and reveals them to be operating according to a strict, if flawed, moral code. Though certainly guarded by the very nature of their work, the characters are refreshingly honest, offering fascinating insights into what motivates them. The cast is led by Pacino and De Niro, each in their prime and at the top of their game, but they’re supported by a dream ensemble that includes terrific performances by Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Amy Brenneman, Ted Levine, Hank Azaria, Ashley Judd, Wes Studi, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Diane Venora, Danny Trejo, Tone Loc, Jeremy Piven, and Natalie Portman. Michael Mann’s screenplay is intelligent and well-researched, prioritizing procedural verisimilitude while forsaking the usual crime genre clichés. Heat never glamorizes its violence—character, not action, is the point here—but it also doesn’t shy away from the sheer brutality of it. To the extent there is a kind of romanticism, it’s in the allure of possibility—of the chase, of what could be, or what might have been. This effect is enhanced by the sparse yet glittering Elliot Goldenthal score, Dante Spinotti’s methodical and efficient cinematography, and the industrial Los Angeles settings, which together evoke an ever-present sense of loneliness while making the city a living, breathing character throughout the film. Of course, the main shootout at the bank robbery is one of the most memorable in history, and the reason why it’s easy to watch the entirety of the film leading up to it. The loud gunshots reverberate in a home theater setting where you may feel as if immersed in the streets of LA. Bonus Features

And I’ve got a little bit of breaking news for you today: I’ve confirmed with multiple sources now that Criterion is preparing a physical 4K Ultra HD release of David Lynch’s Lost Highway. Look for that to be announced in the weeks ahead. As many of you know ( and has been reported on The Playlist), Janus Films is debuting the film’s new 4K restoration at Film at the Lincoln Center in New York City on 6/24, and a nationwide theatrical re-release will follow in the weeks after. Watch for the physical 4K UHD release to arrive probably in September. Kino Lorber Studio Classics has announced additional catalog titles for Blu-ray release in August, including Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World (1961) on 8/16, and Mata Hari (1985), Summer Heat (1987) and The Tenth Man (1988 TV movie) on 8/30.

These men are devoted to their work above all else, and they’re okay with that. It’s a sentiment that’s very much in the tradition of American individualism (it’s no fluke that Mann previously adapted James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans). It feels good to be good at something. There’s something comforting about applying knowledge to the point where it becomes instinct, and if these guys weren’t cops or robbers we could admire them the way we do the mechanic who fixes our broken car. A person is attractive when they do what they like and do it well. That doesn’t mean they’re easy to live with, as Hanna and McCauley prove time and again, unless you happen to be working with them and speaking their language. The use of surrounds is quite minimal compared to modern movies, and this isn't really the focus of the movie. With that said the movie has a great score, with beautiful music. The audio was not upgraded from the previous Blu-ray release of the Director’s Definitive Edition of Heat released in 2017 which offers DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. But, we can still comment on some of the memorable moments in surround sound. lustrous blue tones in nighttime scenes, as well as some of the yellow and orange tinged moments having very vibrantly impressive presentations, Heat comes home with an impressive - if probably controversial to some - 2160p, HDR10 2.40:1 transfer. Folks upset with the more steely blue and gray color timing Mann tinkered with for the Director’s Definitive Edition will likely find little solace here. There are subtle improvements that give some skin tones a warmer healthier feel and some welcome improvements to contrast so we don’t have those overly bright hot whites, but this is still very much that cooler steely blue tone and not like what we saw with the overall brighter 2009 Warner Bros. disc. It's been so long since I looked at this film on Blu-ray or Laserdisc that I can't comment. And to be honest, I’m perfectly okay with this coloring. I felt Mann made some judicious changes to the timing to invoke a specific look in keeping with the film’s themes and ideas as he explains in an interview with EW. It's certainly revisionist and irksome for some people out there, but I don't count myself in that crowd.film features coming out on 4K UHD, since the increased resolution can sometimes make grain look dirty or swarm like. While there are moments What works is Heat’s ability to normalize the domestic life of men who take pride in their gruesome methods and those who police the city. Without their guns, without their plans, each side struggles to maintain balance at home. It all appears so routine, yet the truth around them bubbles toward tragedy. And, in spite of the wholly ordinary good versus evil plotline, Heat finds empathy for villain and hero alike. A riveting story about an intense rivalry between expert thief Neil McCauley and volatile cop Vincent Hanna. McCauley will stop at nothing to do what he does best and neither will Hanna, even though it means destroying everything around them, including the people they love.