Heat is a movie that’s passably entertaining if only for Burt Reynolds’s charisma but otherwise the plot plods along and like the 2015 re-adaptation Wild Card, it’s nothing special and an altogether forgettable crime-thriller.
Heat
(1986)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Drama, Crime
Kino Lorber| R – 101 min. – $29.95 | April 25, 2023
Date Published: 04/24/2023 | Author: The Movieman
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Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2½/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Ex-mercenary Nick Escalante (BURT REYNOLDS) isn’t a violent man by nature. He’s just good at it. And when things get very, very bad, he’s naturally at his best. When a gangster’s son (NEILL BARRY) brutally beats an old flame (KAREN YOUNG), it pits Nick against the mob.
Quick Hit Review: Heat is the 1986 crime-thriller that, like much of the movies Burt Reynolds did in the late 80s into the 90s that has been long forgotten. Even though Reynolds himself has his charms, the movie itself feels thin in character development, and the plot feels like it plods along with nothing terribly interesting happening, save perhaps when Nick takes out a couple bodyguards with credit cards. Presumably this is more an issue with the novel this was based upon as it was adapted again in 2015 with Jason Statham in Wild Card. Heat was hampered by a chaotic production that saw a director being replaced and all involved having a bad experience; it’s another movie that probably the behind-the-scenes drama was more interesting than the movie itself… |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover. Features include an Audio Commentary by Action Film Historians Brandon Bentley and Mike Leeder; an Alternate Ending and the Theatrical Trailer. |
VIDEO – 4¼/5 |
| Kino Lorber releases Heat onto Blu-ray where it’s presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Since there was no mention on the back cover, I assume this was provided to KL as-is by Lionsgate (similar to Backtrack). And as it stands, the transfer does look good, detail is pretty good and colors appear well balanced while black levels were stark without seeming crushed. |
AUDIO – 3¾/5 |
| The disc includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which does have some good depth for the few action scenes while dialogue comes across with fine clarity. |
OVERALL – 2½/5 |
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Overall, Heat is a movie that’s passably entertaining if only for Burt Reynolds’s charisma but otherwise the plot plods along and like the 2015 re-adaptation Wild Card, it’s nothing special and an altogether forgettable crime-thriller. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.