Heat Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

Heat Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 12, 2023

Dick Richards' "Heat" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critics Brandon Bentley and Mike Leeder; alternate ending; and vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Walk away, Nick!

Former military man Nick Escalante (Burt Reynolds) has a beautiful dream. In it, he has all the money he needs to relocate to Venice -- that would be the ancient city in Italy, not the one in Florida -- and live the good life. But right now, he is stuck in Las Vegas, trying to make ends meet as a bodyguard but hardly ever working, struggling with a gambling addiction that has just about managed to transform him into an alcoholic.

When close friend Holly (Karen Young) who works as an escort girl is raped by a vicious young gangster (Neill Barry), Nick agrees to help her get her revenge. However, after he roughs up the gangster in front of his bodyguards and walks away with $20,000 for Holly, Nick becomes a target for the mafia. Instead of quietly leaving Las Vegas for a safer city where no one knows him, Nick decides to stick around and when summoned explain why he had to confront the young gangster and force him to compensate Holly. While waiting for the clouds to clear, Nick befriends Cyris (Peter MacNicol), a young and very insecure multi-millionaire, who hires him to transform him into a tough guy.

Robert Altman was set to direct Heat but abandoned the project after his Canadian cameraman could not enter the United States because of visa problems. The current version of Heat credits director Dick Richards for completing it, but there is plenty of legit information revealing that he was one of several men that worked on it.

While it is difficult to tell precisely what type of film Altman would have delivered, it is easy to declare that it would not have looked and behaved like the current version of Heat. For example, Altman would have changed plenty to ensure that Reynolds and his character have a clear understanding of how to get the audience to side with them. In the current version of Heat, it is easy to appreciate what Reynolds does but there are long stretches in which his character is forced to do things that make it awfully difficult to earn the sympathy of the audience. Also, Altman would have ensured that the cynicism and humor of the story complement each other, rather than competing for dominance and hurting its integrity.

The presence of Las Vegas would have been altered as well. Altman would have given the city a special personality -- while not identical to the one Mike Figgis revealed nearly a decade later in Leaving Las Vegas, it would have been just as authentic and essential for the film’s identity -- and freed it to interact with the mind of Reynolds’ character. This crucial relationship would have very quickly become a key theme in Heat as well. As is currently depicted, Las Vegas is just a glitzy ornament with an instantly forgettable personality.

The most consequential improvements would have been in the screenplay -- and only if one assumes that what is in the current version of Heat accurately reflects what was in the screenplay William Goldman delivered. (Goldman adapted his own novel). More than likely, the current version of Heat is a rather big mish-mash of compromises that produced a complete story and film, not the great story and film Goldman had in mind.

Diehard fans of Reynolds and his work will undoubtedly enjoy Heat because despite its many flaws it still provides the iconic actor with plenty of decent opportunities to impress. To be clear, Reynolds is not great, but he moves through Heat with authority and single-handedly prevents the film from evolving into an undisputable disaster.

*This Blu-ray release retains the alternate ending that was included as a bonus feature on the North American DVD release of Heat.

Heat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Heat arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The master that was used to produce this release is very disappointing. To be honest, there are plenty of areas where the quality of the visuals is on par with what you would expect to see from an upscaled DVD -- density, delineation, depth, and clarity are very weak. Grain is often overwhelmed by rampant noise too, so on a larger screen a lot of visuals look very underwhelming. This master has two other serious weaknesses. First, it does not have a proper color scheme, and it is not because situation levels are off. There are several primaries that are on the verge of being dialed out. Blue is the most obvious one because it is constantly compromised by a light cyan/greenish hue, but green and brown look very problematic, too. Second, the master cannot produce and maintain a proper dynamic range, so two-thirds of it look like they have improper gamma levels. As a result, daylight areas with different ranges of highlights and especially darker areas with diverse shadow nuances look very problematic. Image stability is good. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Heat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The dialog is clear and easy to follow. However, there are several areas where it feels like the audio should be notably fuller and better rounded. On the other hand, dynamic activity is very nice, so there is plenty to like during the action footage. I did not encounter any audio dropouts or distortions to report in our review.

Heat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Alternate Ending - in this alternate ending, Peter MacNicol's character lives and Burt Reynolds pays him a visit in the hospital where he recovers. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for Heat, with the Cannon logo. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Brandon Bentley and Mike Leeder. The commentators discuss in great detail the troubled production history of Heat, the exact period in which the film emerged, the state of Burt Reynolds' career, as well as the many areas of the film that work well and do not work at all. For what it's worth, the comments about the fake encounter in the bar in the beginning of the film are spot on.

Heat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is not difficult to speculate that Robert Altman would have delivered a better film because the current version of Heat runs almost exclusively on Burt Reynolds' charisma. This version of Heat is not a bad film, but it is most definitely not the great '80s genre film that I think it could have been. I wonder what Paul Schrader would have done with William Goldman's screenplay if he was approached with an offer to turn it into a film. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release of Heat is sourced from a very unconvincing master, so if you wish to add it to your library, I suggest that you consider a purchase only when it is heavily discounted.