I haven't seen Public Enemies yet, so maybe this will make the list (or at least your list). But what would you rate as his best movies? I'm eliminating The Kingdom and The Aviator as he was "only" the Producer on those films. 1) The Last of the Mohicans 2) Heat 3) Thief 4) Collateral 5) Manhunter
Huge Michael Mann fan. Miami Vice I thought was a very good movie also. 1) Heat 2) Last of the Mohicans 3) Collateral I haven't seen Manhunter or The Insider, which I need to.
1) Thief. One of James Caan's better roles. Plus, a nifty little cameo by Willie Nelson. 2) The Keep. A very close second, although some people would probably put it first and put Thief second, but they have no idea what they are talking about.
Thief The Insider Heat Manhunter Thief is one of the tightest movies I've ever seen. I also believe it has very nice depth. Add that to a score by Tangerine Dream and you've got a classic. The Insider is great but a marketing nightmare. Even as I sat in the theater at the end of that very good movie, I couldn't come up with a good way to market a movie about tobacco company lying with an ironic twist about who the "insider" turns out to be. I give Manhunter high marks because I can't think of another mainstream movie that gives a serial killer any hint of humanity. The portrayals of that killer and Lector are very good. I haven't seen The Keep. I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Heat's main flaw, to me, is the love affair between DeNiro and the bookstore girl. Their scenes become more and more difficult to watch every time that movie runs on cable. Amy Brenneman bores the crap out of me.
Heat is one of my all-time favs. Miami Vice was good as well. Publie Enemy was a very good movie, I was pleasantly surprised.
Hey what is up with the lack of respect for Last of the Mohicans. That is one of the most bad *** movies I have ever seen. Daniel Day Lewis was freakin' awesome in that movie. Also, i think Mann will be happy if the Kingdom is not credited to his name. I saw it in the theatre and thought it was entertaining. I saw it again recently on TV and realized I must have been drinking when I originally saw it because it is rediculously hammed up and as cliched a movie as I have ever seen.
The thing about Michael Mann movies, you can expect a great soundtrack. Last of the Mohicans (Trevor Jones & Randy Edelman): Opening Credits Promontory Thief (Tangerine Dream) : Beach scene - after big heist Manhunter (Michael Rubini) Graham Collateral: Club Scene End Credits Heat : Heat The Insider: Rites by Jan Garbarek Safe from harm by Massive Attack
Mann was interested in adapting the Gates of Fire novel about the Battle of Thermopylae. I always wondered what it would have been like and how it would have differed from 300.
