As with his other works, [Mann] binds sound, music and pictures into one hypnotic triaxial cable and plugs it right into your brain. He makes this almost-three-hour experience practically glide by.
Une superbe saga, un film-fleuve qui réunit deux monstres sacrés : Al Pacino et Robert de Niro, rien de moins ! aucun des deux ne tire la couverture à soi, aucun n’est le faire-valoir de l’autre : ce mano à mano entre deux pointures est un régal.
Val Kilmer se retrouve évidemment en porte-à-faux même s’il est moins mauvais que d’habitude, tiré à son insu vers le haut. Par contre, la débutante (à l’époque) Ashley Judd tire son épingle du jeu avec un brio inattendu.
La mise en scène de Michael Mann ne se laisse jamais dépasser par l’importance de l’enjeu : elle reste épique dans l’action et intimiste quand il le faut : la romance est en effet une part importante du film sans jamais devenir chiante.
Un grand polar avec un final soigné et saisissant. Le meilleur de Michael Mann qui n’a depuis lors jamais pu atteindre un tel degré de perfection et ce n’est pas cette chiure de ‘Public Enemies’ (par exemple) qui aurait pu inverser la tendance, hélas. Bref, d’ores et déjà un grand classique qui n’a pas pris une ride.
A film that was already a classic, with its magnificent cast and meticulous action scenes that were very well done. Michael Mann has his own style of creating an environment that brings us pleasure in following the scenery and camera movement. The soundtrack perfectly accompanies the tense atmosphere in the film, emphasizing the unfolding of the plot.
A love-hate poem to L.A., and when Mann takes in the streets, the freeways and LAX, he doesn't give us shiny "Lethal Weapon"-style travelogues. He shows us an L.A. that's grim, bare, a bit smoggy and ruled by street smarts. [15 Dec 1995]
A true masterpiece very well detailed, the scenario is really basic but everything seems realistic, the plot is followed by an astonishing performance from De Niro and Al Pacino.
Always a blast to see DeNiro and Pacino together again in what was a pretty decent crime movie. Sadly, What could have been a classic is ruined by cringe-worthy dialogue and a poorly done final act that fails to match what the film had been up until that point.
I find Michael Mann to be inconsistent in many of his films.
The first 10 minutes of this movie are great. The robbery scene is one of the best ever but then the film begins to be self indulgent and full of clichés. The characters are written to be spectacular rather than real (especially the character of Al Pacino) and many scenes seem to be shot only for the mood but are not functional at all. However the cinematography is great.
The plot could've been much better,anyhow Al Pacino's acting destroyed the twisted parts of it,'cause the character has much more depth than what we see on the screen by Pacino.
The idea of the plot was to make you somehow relate the two characters of De Niro and Pacino to each other;But Al Pacino's acting has ruined it all...
The one and only positive point about this movie is Robert De Niro's acting,though even that doesn't make this movie a "Good One"!
One of the most overrated movies I have ever watched. Maybe when it was released the star power of Pacino and De Niro made people believe it was actually a good movie.