User Reviews

Reynolds did a few lame ducks in the 80's, but this is not one of them. The movie takes place in Las Vegas and is complex with several sub-plots and character undertones.

Burt plays an Ex-Special Forces Op turned gambling addict that hires out in solving various problems for his clients. Everything from bodyguard to that of playing the role of fall guy for a weakling trying to impress his girlfriend to that of helping a rape victim friend seek revenge against the son of a wealthy syndicated mobster. There are also profound scenes that depict his gambling addiction.

Great cast and acting, decently written and directed, and a music score that captures the appropriate atmosphere to this darker side of life on The Strip.

6.5/10

Other overlooked winners by Reynolds in the 80's include: Sharkey's Machine, Stick, Malone, Physical Evidence, and Breaking-In.

Burt Reynolds has know to be an action hero as well as a wisecracking actor. In "Heat", he never uses a gun. Reynolds plays Nick "Mex" Escalante, a former soldier of fortune who is also a habitual gambler in Las Vegas. He meets different people, protecting them as well. When teaching one man to be tough, a call girl named Holly(Karen Young) get viciously beaten by a new high roller(Neill Barry) who is back by a pair of giants. Holly demands revenge, but she needed Mex's help. He goes in disguise, takes out the two giant thugs and takes out DeMarco as well. While tied up, Holly comes in, with a pair of shears, and did the unthinkable. Baby(Joseph Mascolo) hears the news on what happened. But he wanted Mex's side of the story since he finds DeMarco accounts kind of questionable. The loophole was Mex doesn't use guns. Earlier, he met a man named Cyrus Kinnick(Peter MacNicol), who knows about his situation: He wants to go to Venice. After training him to be tough, he repays Mex with some money to go. Before they can go further, DeMarco and his goons ambushes them, only wounding Kinnick. He didn't look like much when Mex met him, but he appeared a lot tougher than he thought he was. A gun-less victory is possible when you're a super soldier. Just tell that to DeMarco and his crew. This movie has a lot of action. A little subtle to say the least. But what the hey! 2 out of 5 stars

I used to be a 21 dealer in Nevada and "Heat" is one of the best films about the gambling mentality. Very realistic. Karen Young's performance was great. Reynolds in one of his better roles and Peter MacNichol offers indications of things to come. I rate it a 7.

One of Burt Reynold's best performances. Having said that, the movie has some definite shortcomings. Mex's dreams of Venice seem awfully thin. The part where he interacts with MacNichols is much better than the Mafia stuff that the film degenerates into. All in all, however, a much better film than you'd think. (for all its obscurity)

I didn't realize that film was made in '86, a year for film that I loved. The cover makes the film looks more than it is, which it isn't. This is a 90+ minute film that doesn't use too many scenes (for some just drag) or story structure that basically goes out the window for the stretch, and we wonder what the hell. And we kind of wonder what Burt is doing in this too. I mean if you're interested in watching Burt (a private eye here) win, and blow ten grand, go ahead. It's kind of interesting, especially Burt losing so bad, it causes the dealer and good friend (Scarwid) to draw tears. The paper thin revenge tale (oh, yes this from a book) of course is set in Vegas, where a close lady friend of Burt's (Young) has been up pretty bad by these three guys, two real beefy, and we know how dangerous Burt can get when provoked, causing him to do some really serious damage, the other guy, a thin sissy, faggoty type with ties to the mafia. Him and Burt meet late together in the Mafia chambers, you could say, but prefore to this, and after he does some irreparable damage, he takes some nice bundles of cash, which he gives to his avenged lady friend, who watches the show Burt gives, then skips town, where a new client, (Ally McBeal's Peter MaCnichol) befriends Burt, looking to him as his teacher, trying to make him stronger, than the whining loser he is. I really did like the scenes between these two. Yes, this is a film that will disappoint a lot of viewers, with high expectations, where they brought down, bad, but give it some more views. Very well shot, some moments near the end are shot very dark, bringing to mind the shot torture scene in Sharky's Machine.

This Burt Reynolds starrer had a very troubled production, with punches thrown and inevitable walk outs, it's no surprise to find this is hardly a great film. However, it's not as some would have you believe, a chaotic turd either.

The password is later!

Plot has Reynolds as Nick Escalante, he's an ex-mercenary working out of Las Vegas as a bodyguard for hire - amongst other things. When a lady of the night who he has paternal regard for is brutally beaten and sexually dehumanised, it brings Nick into conflict with a young gangster pretender with organised crime connections. All this as Nick battles his gambling addiction whilst trying to achieve his goal of moving to Venice, Italy, for his five year plan.

You're a peach of a guy. You're "A" number one. You're a swell fella.

Adapted by William Goldman from his own novel of the same name, Heat often threatens to be a very good picture. The characterisations are rich and interesting, the setting ripe for dark deeds and dream shattering, and Reynolds is in fine form. Reynolds was still a star, even if the films he was starting to make in the 80s didn't come close to matching his status. He is badly let down by some very creaky and daft action sequences here, why the director (Dick Richards/Jerry Jameson) didn't just do real time man to man combat is as mysterious as the resultant offering is daft.

I made $7 million dollars on my 28th birthday. Don't call me kid.

Whilst the screenplay lacks action (do not enter this one expecting an action fest), the script does have some weighty merit where Nick's interactions with others is concerned, none more so than with Peter MacNicol's (superb) Cyrus Kinnick. He's afraid of being afraid, enlisting Nick to give him a crash course in bravery. They are an odd pairing, but crucial to each other, they give the film its deft slices of humour, and simultaneously holding the key as to why Heat is not a bad film at all.

Michael Gibbs layers some smart sultry jazz music over proceedings, befitting the Vegas setting, while James Contner's cinematography is also tonally compliant to the sort of desperation feeling permeating the plot. Howard Hesseman and Diana Scarwid aren't given enough time to impact greatly, but at least Karen Young as Holly (lady of the night) strikes the right chords. Unfortunately Neill Barry as chief villain Danny DeMarco is implausibly poor and irritating into the bargain.

Enjoyment of Heat possibly hangs on if you happen to be a Reynolds fan, to get entertainment from watching him hold court. Viewed as a strong character piece with Reynolds front and center it passes muster, but if looking for something more then you could end up - like many already have- disappointed. 7/10

I give credit to any medium that starts with me disliking a character, then gets me to change my mind a few scenes later. We also get some memorable moments, one which will not leave my head anytime soon.

After the fifty minute mark though the intensity started to die, and with it my interest.

This movie is two stories that /mostly/ come together in the third act.

Story one I quite liked. The killing intent Holly (Karen Young) exhibited grabbed my full attention. We also get a thoroughly despicable (if not terribly fleshed out) psychopath as a bonus.

Story two was where I started to drift. Rich white dudes who think not getting hurt period can be solved with winning a fist fight. Mex's (Reynolds') self-destructive tendencies which had me pitying him, but didn't really make me feel closer to him emotionally. (Shucks, I felt closer to the Black Jack dealer.) Our lead kept sabotaging his own dreams and his character wasn't strong enough that this type of story worked for me.

The ending had adequate tension, but not enough to save the movie.

The two reasons I would recommend this film are 1) Karen Young's performance 7/10 stars and/or 2) You are a Burt Reynolds fan.

This movie needs to be watched for only a handful of reasons.

One, it'll completely revolutionize the way you think about how Burt Reynolds can jump. Sure, it's a pretty lousy stunt double for most of the scenes, and Burt is as oily and haggard as he ever was in the 80s, but he has some ridiculous fight scenes where he inexplicable can jump 12 feet in the f**king air. It's incredible.

Also, the ending is so void of substance, that you'll question your own appreciation of time, and ask yourself, "why in the hell did I just watch this." You'll then become a better person and get more out of life.

Watch with caution, and every time Burt slugs someone or jumpkicks the hell outta them or throws medallions at their face, yell "HEAT!" at the t.v. It's the only way to go, and you'll feel much better.

I must get my hands on the UK DVD, because that tact on happy ending totally destroyed the impact of a certain sequence. But that's "Heat" for you, much unfocused in its interchangeable plot threads and fluctuating mood shifts from humour to seriousness. "Heat" might be considered as one of Burt Reynold's lesser achievements, when this once bankable star began the slide and the mid-80s showed it, but even though "Heat" does have its issues there are moments where a slumming Reyonlds does shine in what is an entertaining foray. Sure you might call it a loathsomely dry turn, but those looking for a toughie action piece like "Malone" would surely be disappointed in what is a glum (although there are charming slabs of humour) talky character piece dealing with our protagonist's lost ambitions and gambling addiction. Still this won't stop this character dreaming about escaping to Venice. That's what it becomes, despite the opportunities to fulfil it. Although it doesn't entirely scrap the violence, as it does pack a few, very brutal and nasty encounters where Reynold's ex-mercenary character goes on to show how lethal he is with credit cards?! It's a sight to behold. Actually the entire sequence was spectacularly done. Good use of slow motion too. Sometimes laughable, but downright creative especially when he takes out some goons in the film's intense climatic stages.

Loner ex-mercenary Nick Escalante hires himself out as a bodyguard / chaperone on the neon-lit streets of Las Vegas, but he actually dreams of a better life. But he's compulsion of working the casinos holds him back from that. But soon his life becomes a deadly gamble when he helps out his ex-girlfriend who turns up beaten, asking for help in getting revenge on her attacker - Danny DeMarco; son of a mobster. But in between that he finds himself chaperoning a meek businessman who simply wants to learn how to defend himself.

After a beginning which will have you scratching your head, "Heat" demonstrates plenty of these scenarios and wishy washy motivations. Eccentric characters come and go, with its tone somewhat jarring and it was hard to tell where it was heading. It can be a little more thoughtful, but the script can meander and there are slow parts. But saying that, I didn't find it boring and some are the dialogues are priceless. I found the interactions between Reynolds and MacNicol quite enjoyable too. The cast outside of Reynolds are quite capable with the likes of Peter MacNicol, Karen Yung, Howard Hessman, Diana Scarwid, Joseph Mascolo and Neill Barry perfectly pitching the despicably smarmy Danny.

Director Dick Richards' lean handling is workman-like without being particularly exciting and it breathes a sober, cheap made for TV quality. Some moments work, others feel awkward. Good use of the Las Vegas locations too and a real saucy vibe to the soundtrack works a treat.

Indistinguishable, but durable entertainment.

When Burt's run finaly ended it was with this movie. The tough guy part did not sell well. This movie had no script, believability, or good characters. In the end, Burt did not evolve with the 80's. The 70's where his decade. It was time for Sly and Arnold. One can see the same events unfold with Arnold's last movie Colaterial Damage. It was time for somthing new. 4/10

Even though it came out a few months earlier, this great Burt Reynold's obscurity, "Heat," could have easily been a sequel to his other great 80s obscurity, "Malone." Once you changed a couple of small plot points to make the films consistent, you'd still have exactly the same character at the center of each. Burt acts the same, looks the same, dresses the same, and his character in Heat has a very similar background and the exact same skills as the one on "Malone." In fact, the two films even share some of the same lines of dialog (almost). In "Malone" the young girl tells Burt's character that he must like violence. Burt replies that "No, I'm just good at it--there's a difference." In "Heat" Peter McNichol asks Burt if he's a naturally violent person. To which Burt replies "No, I'm just good at it." I mean, really--could that be a total coincidence?

Another similarity--"Malone" was basically a old fashioned Western in the "Shane" mode. "Heat" is basically a Spaghetti Western in the revenge mode.

I love both of these flicks and wish they'd get decent DVD releases.

I'm a big fan of Burt Reynolds. I watch his movies all of the time. "Heat" is not one of my go-to Burt movies but it's climbing the ranks. There is a lot of good stuff in this movie. The villain isn't so hot and the movie is a little sleezy at times (at least by Burt's usual standards). That said, the Las Vegas locations look great and the scenes between Reynolds and Peter MacNicol are pretty good. I've seen "Heat" quite a few times now. I enjoyed it today more than I usually do.

I found this movie in a drunken stupor in the cheap movie bin at Wal Mart, and being the Burt Reynolds fan that I am, I picked it up. What that DVD case contained was one of the most ridiculous ever. Burt Reynolds break's a dude's leg by kicking him, slashes another guy's face with a credit card...and that's just the start of all the fun! AT the end of the film, he pushes a wall over on a bad guy, inpales on with a medal rod onto a circuit board, electrocuting him...then the best one of the film...he throws gasoline all over some poor shmuck, then Burt proceeds to jump 30 feet in the air, kick out a light bulb, which sets the gas-soaked man ablaze. Oh yeah, he also uses his the Force to pick up a butter knife when startled by the guy from Ghostbusters 2. COnfused yet? Hope so. This movie will make ya that way, so be prepared, young ones. I give this movie my best rating possible---5 bong hits out of 5!!!

I was subjected to this hideous mess of a film when my sister accidentally grabbed it off the video shelf instead of the Michael Mann film of the same name. Pray you never make the same mistake. The direction is ham-handed, the script ridiculous, the characters and their motivations laughable, the acting disastrous, and two thirds of the way through the film, just when you think your suffering might be over, it seems to become a different movie! Burt Reynolds' tough guy is a cardboard cutout of the tired "dangerous man with a troubled past and a heart of gold" character we've all seen 100 times too many. Peter MacNicol as the nebbish who idolizes him is not just unsympathetic, but actually so irritating I laughed out loud when he was machine-gunned by the bad guys. Neill Barry is absurd as the childish gangster who seems to think shrieking and whining make him a more intimidating figure. Pretentious, self conscious, and filled with cartoonish intensity, this film is excruciating from start to finish. Good for Mystery Science Theater style mockery only.

Burt Reynolds had made bad films before this one, but he was always able to bounce back with films like Sharkey's Machine (1981) or City Heat (1984), but there was no recovering from this turkey. It took Burt all the way to 1997's Boogie Nights to make a decent film. This film has all of the usual elements, but just not put together correctly. Wayne had Ford and De Niro had Scorsese I guess Burt couldn't make a decent film without Hal Needham. If Hal would have done this he could have at least made the action scenes exciting and Burt could concentrate on being Burt. So if Burt makes a good movie every ten years we should see one pretty soon. Not a Dukes of Hazzard or The Longest Yard, but a real Burt Reynolds movie. One bad thing is the Burt I know would wear a toupee, but would never have undergone that wretched plastic surgery(Clint didn't need one). Come on Hal,if you're still kicking get together and bring back the good ol' Burt Reynolds.

The first ten minutes sets Burt up as a completely unlikable and creepy sexist jerk. However, as it turns out, that was just a trick he's pulling on someone. So you finally breathe a sigh of relief thinking "ok, Burt's not really a jerk." But then the rest of the film starts... and he's still kind of an unlikable jerk. Why am I watching this?

From here, the story is all over the place; and Burt's character is sometimes likable, but often not. Really assembled in the most ham-fisted way, and not terribly enjoyable.

I try really hard to finish every film I start, but I couldn't get past the halfway point with this one. I tried, really! I wanted to turn it off way earlier, too! I think Burt's an underrated actor and can pull out some really good films, but this isn't one of them.

Burt Reynolds played a tough guy with a soft spot for his friends. Karen Young played a prostitute who I fell in love with, and Peter MacNicol was so good that I looked forward to seeing him again in something else. The plot with its interesting twists and turns was fabulous. The acting was superb. One of my all time favorites.

Ex mercenary Nick Escalante hires himself out as a bodyguard in Las Vegas but he really wants a quiet life in Venice but lacks the funds.

However he hits a lucky streak in the casino while minding a rich but meek businessman who he teaches to defend himself, but his luck does not last both in the casino and out of it.

A mobster's son is out for revenge as Nick humiliated him for beating up a friend of his.

Burt Reynolds was a busted flush by the mid 80s having a run of mediocre movies and this is really the pits. The film goes nowhere with just a lot of talking, the action scenes look silly and you know it is Burt's stuntman doing all the work. Somewhere along all the jabber an actual plot arrives which is lousy. This is a dull lifeless film.

The beginning of this movie I thought it was a horror film, a shot following a bloody woman to the ER. This is a cheat as Roger Ebert puts it and misleads us. However that set-up with the beat up girl is incredibul...its very interesting how the director chooses to take revenge on the people who beat up the girl...HOWEVER I have seen over a million movies in my day believe me and this is by far the worst ending I have ever seen. EVER. After seeing the movie I was not mad I spent 2hrs watching it because the early action scenes were very good and showing the star with a gambling problem very unique. We all know what happens to people with gambling problems and you see in the movie. However this is a very small subplot and does not get expanded in the least...very weak. There are so many things this movie could have been. And about the HORRIBLE ending I would never give it away even thou I belive it to be the worst anti-climax ending ever it is sooooooooo uniqie I dont believe any movie ever made has done it and for good reason. A million more movies can come out in the next 20 years none will end like this come on...YOUR LEADING UP TO THE FINAL BATTLE WITH a guy who has been in vietnam and is considered to be one of the deadliest men in the world and they don't even fight...you have to see what happens...wow...I can't take it. This is the longest review I have ever written on this site and I just can't get over how good this movie could have been. A dam shame...6.8 out of 10 but a definite viewing for any gamblerholic or lover of offbeat cinema.

"Heat" would not easily be confused with some of Burt Reynolds better films such as "Malone". This is a movie that starts out with a very clever ruse, moves on to a sadistic beat down, introduces a warm fuzzy puppy-like admirer, switches to Burt's gambling addiction, and winds up with some very silly lethal fighting. None of this makes much sense, although Burt's charm does occasionally twinkle through the darkness of the very murky plot. The bad guys are especially weak and cartoon like. The women are just sort of there to give Burt a reason for vengeance or to lose at blackjack. There is zero romance, a few chuckles, the only nudity is in a strip bar, all of the mayhem is very unconvincing, and the ending as contrived as it gets. - MERK

As I watched "Heat", I kept thinking that it looks like a film with an unfinished script...or perhaps bits and pieces of scripts that aren't woven together well. A lot of this makes sense when I read through the IMDB trivia...and the film reportedly has a half dozen directors! This explains a lot, as the film just seems a bit directionless and meandering. It's really a shame...and it's a film that probably shouldn't have been made unless it had only one director and one script and one direction.

Burt Reynolds plays Mex, a guy who does favors for money....which mostly involves being a personal body guard. But he also does other things, such as beating the snot out of three guys who, for kicks, beat the up a poor woman. After this, he takes on a job from a strange guy whose motives and motivations seem to change throughout the film. Later, the same guy pays Mex to teach him to be more macho...which seems impossible since the guy is played by Peter MacNicol.

The film has good moments but isn't a coherent film. I like the hairpiece bit (though it certainly is ironic considering Reynolds himself wore a toupee for years in his films) and thought the gambling addiction portion could have been really interesting. But overall, it's a weak film that seems more like a direct to video film than a feature you'd have seen in the theaters.

I thought this was by FAR the best Burt Reynolds flick ever.Fine story of a degenerate gambling mob fringe dweller who might get a chance for redemption.Also note the brief appearance of retired Jets Sack exchange member Joe Klecko as a mob bodyguard. Not to be confused with Michael Mann's more famous "Heat"I thought this was a better film although their plots are different.These pictures are not linked at all.