Reviews

this film is essentially a lark about by some guys from new Zealand and really that is all it is, I don't think when they made the movie the filmmakers were thinking that this was going to be a world wide blockbuster or an intellectual indie thought provoker they simply made a movie that they thought would be fun and hoped that others would as well. I watch movies that are better than this on paper every day- if you break films down to their component parts - but sometimes, just sometimes you enjoy a movie for the sheer fun it gave you. This movie doesn't have a 10 out of 10 script. this movie doesn't have a 10 out of 10 score. this movie doesn't have a 10 out of 10 cast. this movie doesn't have a 10 out of 10 director. this movie doesn't have a 10 out of 10 cinematographer. BUT.... This movie does give 10 out of 10 enjoyment!!

There are some great pieces of dialogue and some good set pieces, yes some of the acting is wooden and some of the action-fighting sequences are a bit crappy but they are still 10 out of 10 enjoyable.

Listening to some of the critics on this site and you would never watch anything.

DO YOUR SELF A FAVOUR SIT DOWN WATCH THIS WITH YOUR FAVOURITE POISON AND ENJOY!!

No it isn't Shakespeare or Polanski or Hitchcock or even Michael Mann it just fun.

this is a far better film than its rating suggests, in point of fact it is superior in many ways to the remake HEAT. The movie rests solely on the performances of the actors and the writer/director rather than on any star attractions or hype (pacino and De Nero have both made far better films and put in far better performances). There are a few good set pieces in here and a myriad of fine acting performances from both the leads and the supporting cast. The fact that the re-make was relatively faithful to the original is in itself a bit of a homage and where the two films really differ is in the action sequences that overtake the story in the remake, if you want to watch a more intelligent and somewhat darker crime thriller then I recommend this before HEAT every time this should be given the credit it deserves as it was pieces like this that have allowed Mann to make a lot of the mainstream pulp films he is famous for.