You finished Heat and now every other movie feels like decaf. Here are eight with the same pros-under-pressure energy, counted down.
Number one says something about Heat its fans will never forgive.
- 8
Fun heist movie, but Heat fans will find it too cute.
Same crew-of-pros, one-last-job setup, just with earbuds. It pulled $226.9M worldwide on a reported $34M budget, but the Guru's Take is 7.1 because style keeps beating stakes.
- 7
A western with Heat's best trick: you respect both sides.
Russell Crowe's outlaw and Christian Bale's rancher size each other up the whole ride. 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, though the B CinemaScore says crowds wanted more shooting.
- 6
Critics undersold it. 1.37 million IMDb voters didn't.
A lonely professional who lives by strict rules, very Heat. 8.5 on IMDb versus 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. Gary Oldman eats every piece of scenery in the building.
- 5
The best street-level cop movie nobody rewatches enough.
Heat's cop side, minus the poetry. Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña in a patrol car on a reported $7M to $15M budget. The found-footage gimmick wobbles, the friendship doesn't.
- 4
Audiences hated it. Audiences were wrong.
A quiet family man whose past shows up armed. C+ CinemaScore, 82 on Metacritic, Guru's Take 8.4. Crowds wanted action. Cronenberg gave them dread, which is better.
- 3
Best cop-versus-runner chase of the '90s. Not close.
Heat's obsessed-lawman energy, and Tommy Lee Jones gets every good line. A+ CinemaScore, 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, $368.9M worldwide. The knock: the conspiracy plot is paper thin.
- 2
The closest thing to Heat's tension made this century.
Pros who never raise their voice and a traffic jam you'll feel in your molars. Guru's Take 8.7, yet only $85M worldwide. Nobody in it is fully clean, Heat-style.
- 1
Collateral is the better Michael Mann movie. Fight me.
Same director, same night-city cool, a hitman in the back of a cab. movie.guru score 7.3, Guru's Take 8.3, because Jamie Foxx matches Cruise beat for beat.
Change my mind. Rank these 8 from most to least Heat. Wrong answers only.
$1,213 says you finish Collateral and immediately start arguing about it with someone who hasn't seen it.
Share it: X | Facebook | Copy link
Current mood: ready to fight about it