Every Michael Mann Movie Ranked

Michael man has been working in the industry for almost 50 years making both great movies and TV shows he's truly one of our greatest working filmmakers he's also one of my personal favorites I've loved his work ever since I watched the first episode of Miami Vice the iconic show which he helped create Michael's newest film Ferrari just recently released so today I'm going to rank all 14 Michael man films number 14 the keep I had heard about this movie before but I learned more about it after listening to Quinton Tarantino and Roger Avery talk about it on their podcast the video archives podcast the truth about this movie is that it's very hard to judge and very hard to rank this is man's third film and he had been riding high at this point having made two successful films before it but he was still a new filmmaker and the studio took advantage of that they came in and cut down man's film from 3 and 1/2 hours to just 90 minutes that's over half of the film at that point there's no way to even Salvage the film and it is tough to watch because of that the keep follows some Nazi soldiers who discover a supernal presence this is obviously an interesting concept and it's even a little bit ahead of his time because nowadays there's so much stories about Nazis and zombies and Supernatural pres and stuff like that but when you cut over half the film it's hard to make even this interesting concept good I don't blame man I blame the studio the only good thing that came out of this film is that after the disaster man decided to move into TV and help develop Miami Vice number 13 Public Enemies Public Enemies follows one of the most famous criminals of all time John Dillinger who was the first person ever called Public Enemy Number One by the FBI on the surface this plot seems raid up man's alley he loves telling stories about criminals and he also loves telling stories about people trying to achieve greatness but in execution it just doesn't work specifically in the script which I think does not fit man's style at all normally an All-Star cast like this can overcome a weak script but unfortunately they just don't since the early 2000s man has been one of the directors who championing digital photography I usually prefer film but man is very good at using digital photography and Catering to its strengths in his movies but this film is his worst use of it in Public Enemies they shot on 30 frames per second instead of the normal 24 which gives this movie A Very Best Buy showcase TV feel it's very ugly to look at number 12 black hat black hat is man's only film released in the 2010s and it makes sense that now that we are in the new tech age man decides to make a movie about cyber crime and hackers a perfect way to introduce man's style to a new generation but by the time the movie released it was a disaster black hat ended up being one of the biggest box office flops of all time making only $19 million on a $70 million budget This Disaster started in the marketing deadline reported that the total awareness for black hat was only in the 40 to 50% range whereas American Sniper which released during the same time was at 80 to 90% January is already a tough month to release a movie and when your movie is being outshined by the second most profitable movie of the year you don't have a good shot and the quality of the movie doesn't help it at all in black hat we follow Chris Hemsworth who in my opinion gives a very lazy performance trying to find a cyber criminal who recently hacked a nuclear plant the pacing of this movie is terrible at some moments you are really into it and at other moments it's just very boring overall I think this film was just not handled well by everyone involved number 11 The Last of the Mohicans this might be my hottest take on the list I'm not a fan of the last of the micans to start off I never really like story set in the 18th century it's just not my preferred time period but I never like to go into movies knowing I won't like it so I tried to ignore that and give the movie a fair shot but for me the movie is just boring the main reason I think that is because I just don't really like any of the characters none of them really do much for me besides filling their role in the plot all the acting is fine but the characters just don't pull me in like I would hope I do think the story is fine enough but for me the most important thing in any movie is the characters and even the best plot can't be good if it has weak characters I do think the score and cinematography are both amazing but this is just one of those situations where the movie doesn't personally work for me number 10 the Jericho mile this is Man's first film a TV movie released in 1979 now I know most people say that Thief is his debut feature but we can't just discount the Jericho mile just because it's a TV movie let's not throw out all the work put into this movie by several individuals just because it's a bit cheaper and didn't play in theaters it even won some Emmys so all in all that's why I am including it on this list the Jericho mile is a nice story about how different inmates do their time some deal drugs some just do their work and others use their time to achieve something that's the case for our protagonist Larry who spend his day is running attempting to win a chance at making the Olympics even in Man's first film you can see some of his trademarks most obviously a man trying to achieve greatness this is a nice short story with a character who is easy to root for obviously though being that this is a TV movie there are problems with the pacing and within the budget but I think this is a strong debut given the constraints man had to face number nine Ali Ali follows in the footsteps of many bics before and after it's just a recounting of some of the biggest events in its subject's life without having anything of substance to say that is very heavily the case in Ali one review that I think perfectly describes his feeling is Roger Ebert's review he said it's shot more in the tone of a eulogy rather than that of a celebration that is the major problem with this film it just doesn't have much to say but on the positive side one thing most people can agree on is that the fight scenes look amazing Will Smith spent a year learning about Ali's life including boxing training for 7 hours a day and man definitely knows how to direct boxing scenes they definitely go for a more realism approach so don't go into them expecting Rocky one last thing that I did like about this movie is that I actually learned some new things I did not know about ali specifically about his relationship with the religion and it's always a good thing when you come out of a biopic Having learned something new number eight La takedown this is man's second TV movie now this came out in 1989 right near the end of Miami Vice when man was still on TV La takedown was originally filmed as a TV pilot but after it wasn't picked up man decided to make it into a standalone TV movie this is also man's most overlooked film the reason for that is that La takedown is the first iteration of heat Yes Man knew that this script had so much more potential so 6 years later he remade the to film but we are not talking about heat yet we are talking about La takedown because La takedown and heat are the same script most people just skipped over watching it and yes there is not much difference in the story La takedown is still worth to watch though of course 99% of people who watch this will go in already having seen heat so they know what will happen but it's still fun to see how man was still able to tell this amazing story with all the constraints of a TV movie La takedown will always be outshined by heat but it's still worth a watch in my opinion number seven Manhunter Manhunter is Michael man's most Miami Vice like film and that makes sense because this was made during the Airing of Miami Vice and since I love Miami Vice so much that really helped pull me into this movie Manhunter is an adaptation of the book red Dragon the first book ever to feature Hannibal Lecter thus this is the first movie appearance of Hannibal before Anthony Hopkins and Silence of the Lambs before mad melson in Hannibal and before Gasper ulie in Hannibal Rising we had Brian Cox and Manhunter I've never read the book and I have yet to see the 2002 red dragon film adaptation so I cannot speak to how well this works as an adaptation but overall the movie is very good at building tension especially in the scenes where hanbul talk to detective Will Graham played by William Peterson who I think is a very underrated actor both Peterson and Cox play their characters very well and the interactions between the two are very compelling the ending is one of the best endings in man's filmography paying off everything that you were hoping for one of the downsides to this film however is that in the scenes where they are not building tension the movie tends to drag on a bit but overall Manhunter is a strong Thriller number six Miami Vice I've mentioned many times in this video My Love for the original five seasons of Miami Vice it's one of my favorite TV shows of all time the first time I watched this movie I was in the middle of my first watch of Miami Vice I figured that Michael man probably wouldn't diverge too far from the original tone and style of the series but that ended up being exactly what happened in the Miami Vice movie Man completely changed the idea of crocken tubs and their world in the original series the characters could be going through some of the most traumatic events you could think of and there would still be a light-hearted tone that's not the case in the movie I will acknowledge that the movie has grown on me in repeat viewings and I find when I divide the movie from the original series it works better this movie has grown quite a cult following and I would bet that most of those people either have never seen the original series or watched the film before watching the series don't get me wrong Miami Vice is a good movie the soundtrack and cinematography are both amazing it's just that my love for the original series brought me some disappointment in this movie number five The Insider The Insider takes man out of his comfort zone telling a more straightforward drama story even at sometimes a courtroom drama story man takes what could be easily a very boring movie in any other director's hands and makes it into an intense Thrill Ride the insire follows Jeffrey wegan a whistleblower in the tobacco industry covering his and 60 Minutes producer LEL bergham struggles as they protect him and his testimony against big tobacco one thing that is very impressive about this movie is that it makes you actively scared of smoking you don't even want to look at a cigarette after watching this movie this is thanks to a lot of things but one of them is Russell Crow he gives in my opinion a career best performance which conveys so much emotions he is going through during the important event man took a big swing in this film and he hit it out of the park number four Thief first time I watch watch Thief I wasn't really into it it was just one of those times where I just wasn't in the right head space for that specific movie but I rewatched it for this video and man is this one great movie it's so impressive that Michael man was able to make such a great movie on only his second try this is definitely one of man's visually best films he makes Chicago look so beautiful in the night the score by Tangerine Dream is perfect and James KH gives an amazing performance but the the best part about this film is the amazing script one of man's best scripts it is so easy to root for Frank even when he commits crime you want him to leave this world behind and start a family and the final confrontation between Frank and Leo is very badass overall this is a very impressive second outing for man number three Ferrari it's been a few weeks since I've seen this movie and it's never left my mind since I was a tiny bit worried going in Man's last two recent films black hat and Public Enemies did not land with me as I've said on top of that it wasn't getting the best reviews but as soon as I sat down my worries were gone it was so nice to see a new man film in the theater even though this movie is called Ferrari don't get it wrong it's not a biopic about Enzo Ferrari it's it's a classic Man story about a man trying to achieve greatness but also thrown in is an emotional plot about Enzo's secret second family and both him and his wife coming to terms with that this movie only takes place over a few weeks and it works great like that I'm glad man learned a lesson from Ali and not just making your movie highlights of someone's life one of the best parts about this movie is the actual racing scenes everything looks so real and amazing it feels like you were actually there in the car now let's talk about the car crash scene it's pure shock it pays off everything in the movie and yes the CGI does look a little bit undercooked but nonetheless it's still amazing everyone in my theater gasped at once and similar to The Insider with cigarettes this movie makes you scared of cars this is one of man's best and an instant classic in my book number two collateral collateral feels like a culmination of everything man does well great music great cinematography great story great sound design and most importantly a man trying to achieve greatness but what's special about this movie is that that man trying to achieve greatness is just a normal guy Max is not some professional criminal he's not a world class hacker or some huge businessman he's just a normal guy who wants to make his life better by starting his own business but this dream has been in limbo for over 10 years until one night a Hitman named Vincent enters Max's cab Vincent enlists Max to drive him to all of his hits but as the stack of bodies gets bigger Max must stand up for himself for the first time in his life it's a very inspiring story of how putting your dreams on hold is not the way to do it and he tells the story in an unconventional way about a hitman going through his list this is also Man's first film where he primarily shot on digital and it works perfect the movie wouldn't work any other way number one heat obviously heat was going to be number one as soon as you say the name Michael man heat is the first thing you think of it's one of the greatest films of all time period the script is so tight not a shot is wasted and like I said in La takedown man knew this story about how the line between cop and criminal can become so blurred was an amazing story and the decision by man to cast that cop and criminal as alucino and Robert dairo respectively two actors who at this point had never been on screen together was one of the best casting decisions of all time and having them meet in that iconic coffee shop scene was perfect and you can't talk about heat without talking about those shootouts shootouts that are so well made that they actually show them to Marine recruits that just speaks to how well-crafted this movie is everything about heat is perfect honestly I can't even think of a single thing wrong with this movie Heat Is Man's magnumopus a masterpiece movie that will be remember for Generations

Channel: E.S Film Talk

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Length: 18min 40sec (1120 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 23 2024