L.A. Heat (1989)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Sadly Over-hyped

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Oof! Check out the norks on this crapfest! This early PM film suffers from some of the worst editing I've ever laid my eyes on…which of course just adds to the enjoyment.Some cop guy who dreams he's a cowboy is after a drug dealer who just loves killing cops. This dealer guy then gets kidnapped by another guy while the mafia are trying to waste everyone involved in the drug deal as dead cops are bad news. Meanwhile, back at the cop shop, big Jim Brown is on the cop's case due to the aforementioned dead cops (mostly this guy's partners), and there's some business about the guy's wife and maybe kids. I can't remember even though I just watched it last night. What will really grab your attention is how half-arsed this film is. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of second takes. The story kind of lurches along, and the cowboy thing is just another layer in the crap-cake this film is. The best bit is either that terrible editing (people starting lines in one shot only to start them again in another), or the constant shouts of 'cut' and stage direction from the man in charge. I'm no editor by trade by I have edited short films together – it's not hard to cut out that stuff or even add on a new audio channel. Weird man. This is one of those truly bad films that litter the late eighties and early nineties, and there's loads of them about! Fearless Tiger! Shotgun! Anything Godfrey Ho made!

This film either gets one star based on objective merit, or ten stars on how well it infringes on the rarefied thin air of Ed Woodish pretensions to greatness. I mean, I think it tried to be good. Everybody seemed pretty earnest. But what a POS.I saw this movie a while back, but just saw it again on Action Channel. Missed the classic beginning chase. Comments follow on what I did catch this time around...This movie is like a lesson on how not to make a movie. Major points of incompetence...EDITING: Typical scene starts off with a coffee pot on a kitchen counter. Girlfriend walks into scene, gets a mug and glass from the cupboard, pours a coffee, then opens fridge to fill glass with orange juice, then walks out of frame. Empty kitchen. Continuous shot, static camera. What's the point? Why did we have to see this? For real, I was actually starting to fall asleep.Over and over we see an empty room, characters walk in, barely ever a cutaway during conversation (and usually to a person not speaking???), then characters leave, and we see an empty room again. Why? About eight consolidated minutes of empty room shots. What the hell.CINEMATOGRAPHY: There's this scene where Jacobs sneaks up on his girlfriend on the couch. Lazy ass director/DP never moves the camera. So the whole time the girl is talking to Jacobs, you only see the side/back of her head via this wacky low-angle shot that is dominated by a couch...the bottom part of the couch. In another scene where this mobster is talking to his girlfriend (just before he kills her!), there are weird stick-like shadows all over his face. Didn't anyone notice this during filming? AUDIO: Frankly, I never clearly heard the director comments others have noted because he was drowned out by other ambient noise. Noises like feet shuffling, traffic, airplanes flying overhead. Makes you really appreciate the sound design on auto dealership commercials, etc., where you hear the talent and only the talent.ACTION SEQUENCES: Hard to believe this film is a contemporary of Hard Boiled. In one ambush scene, three killers with M-16's and Uzis fire a total of five shots, sequentially, of course. One of the bloodpacks doesn't blow, so you just see this wad of white fabric explode out of one victim's shirt. Just before they're shot, all the actors look like you do when you're going to pop a balloon, stiff and all, cus you know the bang is coming. One of the urban gangster killers then actually slings his M-16 before hopping off the backyard deck. Surreal.WRITING: There are too many inexplicable nonsense scenes, like when the urban gangster punks bust into the cop's house and play darts with the lights off. Huh? Was ist das? It's like, wow, maybe i did fall asleep because this stuff is so complex. I don't understand!Actual dialogue sample from another scene: "I'm gonna cut you, man!" Eh, all the rest is on a similar level. The actors seemed into it, as if they cared, but the performances were bad. I guess you gotta lay that on the director. So there: horrible, lazy DIRECTION. As actors, only Jacobs seemed to mail it in, but I think he was trying to play his character just a bit too cool, so it just seemed like he was sleepwalking. His name is in the end credits like six times, so he must've made an effort.After watching this, you will want to buy a handycam just to prove anybody off the street could do better. And, yes, you would.

Wow! Where to start with this baby! I can honestly say that this is the lowest quality film I have EVER seen. It's so hideously cheap and blatantly filmed the day before it's due in. Time after time we hear the director saying 'cut' or even making the odd disparaging remark! Of course, the acting in a film of this type is truly atrocious. There's more acting talent on display in the intestines of a camel than in this 'movie'. Yet despite all this, I love LA Heat. It's incredibly funny to spot the constant goofs and revel in the dire performances. The basic plot, if there is one, concerns a cop who loses his partner (new story eh!) and then goes on the rampage (sort of) to get the killer. Along the way we meet various pathetic losers, none of whom have any screen presence. What I love most about this film is that when people get shot, they stand there waiting for ages to receive their date with death. It's ridiculous. In one scene a man is shot, but the guy next to him just keeps on playing pinball, compliantly waiting to be killed as well! The music is also sub-par and oozes cheese. Fans of Shotgun may well like this one. It's even lower quality and isn't as funny, but it's still worth a go. I got my copy for 75 pence! Go get yours and let the laughter commence.

There are so many classic cinematic moments in LA Heat, too many to choose from (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!). For instance the titanic chase scene; a scene, it seems, that was too big even for Hollywood (that could explain why they run round the same block three times, passing the clearly signposted shops as they go, lets just say a certain restaurant got a LOT of free publicity THAT day!). Another great thing about this movie is how it was shot in a way which negated the need for a director's commentary afterwards, genius! The director's voice is clearly audible during a lot of the actual film, giving direction to the cast, or simply passing judgement on their sterling work on set. Who needs DVDs now?! And of course, hats off to the editor for the movie, who felt it necessary to leave in all the said director's requests of the cast as well as sometimes, just having the characters repeat the same line twice in "voice over" format, just to give a scene that certain edge. The "home video" scenes too were stunning. By this i mean the scenes where, to give the film a gritty, real LA feel, they haven't just gone on location, oh no, they've gone on location on an open street, full of onlookers who take every opportunity they get to wave at the cameras. This 'fly-on-the wall' style of film making was something relatively new at the time of shooting, making LA Heat a real rule breaker and trend setter in cinema history.In conclusion, I would recommend this film to anyone lucky enough to get the opportunity to see it. Viewing it has had a deep impact on my life, changing my whole outlook on the world. Thank you to everyone involved in its production. If i'm one day lucky enough to be blessed with children and I have a boy and a girl, I'll name them Jon and Chance.