Director #2: Michael Mann

[Cena's Little Helper]

Michael Mann​

Showcase Description
Michael Mann is probably the greatest director of crime-dramas ever. More important, however, is his ability to respect the traditions of American cinema while still maintaining the status of auteur (i.e., a director whose stylistic signatures make his/her films easily recognizable). Simply put, as an epic storyteller with a distinctive flair, Michael Mann is the American director's director.

Selected Filmography
Thief (1981)
The Keep (1983)
Manhunter (1986)
The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)
Heat (1995)
The Insider (1999)
Ali (2001)
Collateral (2004)
Miami Vice (2006)
Public Enemies (2009)


Showcase Outline
I. I'm Telling You, This Is The Start Of Something Special: Thief
II. The Masterpiece That Almost Was: The Keep
III. The Magnum Opus: Heat
IV. A Good, Not Great, Effort: Collateral
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[TroubleInParadise]

He has three good movies at best.Heat, Collateral , and Public Enemies. Miami was just horrible.It ruined eveyrthing the show was meant to be.It was just awful. I couldn't even sit through the whole thing.I kept going to the bathroom because of how bad it was.


Not knowing who you choose as number one. Are you taking him ahead of kubrick?


Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange,Full Metal Jacket. All movies far better then anything michael mann ever did.

 

[Mr. TM]

The man has some good movies. The Last of the Mohicans was a movie that I loved as a kid. In fact, it might have spurred my love for the period that it is set in.

Collateral also was a fine film which really showed Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise's best work under Mann's guidance.

Public Enemies had horrendous reviews for the most part, so I have not seen it yet. The same with Miami Vice, but I'll try them out.

 

[SK]

I like most Michael Mann films, especially Collateral, Heat and The Insider. I thinkhe does crime-drama very well and draws you in, making you care about the characters.

However, I didn't actually like Public Enemies too much. It was done very well don't get me wrong, but I just found it to slow building and I really did not enjoy the camera work. I also didn't really like the story, but that's not Mann's fault.

I usually always look out for Mann films when looking at films and I think he's a very good director.

 

[JenovasWitness]

I'm a huge fan of Mann's attention to detail in gun battle scenes. Tactics like the Mozambique Drill, the manic feeling of adrenaline on screen and the authentic sound effects he uses are all fantastic. Heat has one of the best gun battles on film and the gun battle in the woods in Public Enemies stands up very well also.

As a director, though, I find him to be rather hit and miss. For every Heat, there is a Miami Vice, for every Collateral, there is an Ali. Mann needs to find more consistency in his film making before I would consider him amongst the greats.

 

[mrblonde22]

mann's technical awarness when coming to his films are top notch, wish he'd go back to using film though as i cant stand the look his recent films have had. Heat was a masterpiece the pacing, the performances, the story and the best damn gun battle your pretty much gonna see, the sound effects are so brilliant its the kind of sound if you heard in real life it would haunt you forever, anyways great filmaker cant wait to see public enemies

 

[Loveless]

I was going to slag him off, then I realised it's Michael Bay I was thinking off.
Yeah Michael Mann, very stylistic, you know what you're getting right away. The stories are hit and miss though, Public Enemies failed because it didn't have enough of a story to fill the film out. As for Miami Vice...
I always felt his films would be better if he left the story to someone else and simply took over the cinematography.