1. 'Heat' - Heist Gone Wrong This is not a surprise pick for the No. 1 spot, and there's a good reason for that. It's the most finely crafted shootout in cinema history. It's perfectly paced, perfectly shot, and perfectly edited. The sound is a symphony of ultra-realistic assault rifles, ricochets, and breaking glass. Director Michael Mann doesn't put too much gloss over it and he doesn't over-dramatize it. What he is does is lay out an intricately structured heist-gone-wrong imagined as a war spilled into the civilian streets of Los Angeles, and every shot feels like a visceral punch to your senses. When it's all over, you'll literally feel your heart loosen and the air flow from your lungs. A gunfight has never felt more real than it does here. Michael Mann at his finest. Best Moment: The first shot. The heist appears to have gone off without a hitch, but as soon as a smiling Val Kilmer sees the cops across the streets, he lets loose with a volley from his assault rifle without a second's hesitation. It seamlessly kicks the whole scene into high gear. |