Public Enemies

[SA210]

Directed by: Michael Mann "Heat"

Q8xOgO7_eT8&feature=related


Opens Today!

Wow, I passed 5,000 posts.

:hat

[EricB]

Damn, I've been geeked for this movie since last year when they announced it was shooting.

Might be able to get out on the 13th to go see it.

Unfortunately, won't get out till then :(

[sonic21]

i have tickets for the French premiere tomorrow. Mann will be there.

[brettn]

Saw the midnight showing last night. I'm a huge Michael Mann fan, particularly from Heat and Last of the Mohicans. I'd been waiting for months for the movie, so expectations were naturally high. That being said, the movie was good, but not great imo. The sets looked good and it definitely reflected the time period. Depp and Bale were both great. The action scenes were top notch and some of them came close to that of heat's epic shootout. But the story just didn't move me the way I thought it would. I think Mann tried to fit too much story into too little time. The film suffers from having too many supporting characters that aren't developed enough to really care about. Even Marion Cotillard who's a primary character is a bit underdeveloped.

Like I said, good movie, but not great. Maybe I suffered from having too high of expectations. Definitely worth seeing though and much better than some of the trash that has been coming out this summer. 7/10.

[SA210]

Saw the midnight showing last night. I'm a huge Michael Mann fan, particularly from Heat and Last of the Mohicans. I'd been waiting for months for the movie, so expectations were naturally high. That being said, the movie was good, but not great imo. The sets looked good and it definitely reflected the time period. Depp and Bale were both great. The action scenes were top notch and some of them came close to that of heat's epic shootout. But the story just didn't move me the way I thought it would. I think Mann tried to fit too much story into too little time. The film suffers from having too many supporting characters that aren't developed enough to really care about. Even Marion Cotillard who's a primary character is a bit underdeveloped.

Like I said, good movie, but not great. Maybe I suffered from having too high of expectations. Definitely worth seeing though and much better than some of the trash that has been coming out this summer. 7/10.

Wow, I could have written this exactly. Caught it at midnight last night too. I too hoped for another "Heat". I did enjoy it very much, but some characters needed more development as you said.

Good movie.

[PM5K]

That really seems to sum up what most people think of the movie, but generally speaking people like it or love it, there isn't a lot of hate for it.

[Spurtacus]

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009526-public_enemies/

[Udokafan05]

Saw it today. Good movie, but not great. Depp and Bale were great. Shootout seems were top notch. It did seem a little drawn out.

[Dre_7]

Looks good. Alot of the Flim was shot here in Wisconsin too. :)

[CuckingFunt]

I thought it was a little long, but I've come to expect that from Mann. The performances are incredibly strong, though.

Ultimately, the only thing I really had problems with was the fact he opted to shoot on digital. The fact that it was handheld and shot in close didn't really bother me, but the crispness and flatness of digital felt extremely out of place for me. Not only is it not as rich or deep as film, but there were moments it was grainy and flat out ugly. The background in a couple of shots even looked pixelated.

[SA210]

I thought it was a little long, but I've come to expect that from Mann.

Wow, I actually was disappointed it wasn't longer. I do expect that from Mann. I felt there should have been more character development. I love the the 3 hour films The Insider, Heat, etc. That's just me though.

I think I read somewhere that it was longer, but they cut alot out. I'm one that wished I could have seen the extra footage.

[Sportcamper]

I liked the sound track…I had no trouble understanding the dialogue…I can’t stand it when the music & effects track over rides the dialogue…

[CuckingFunt]

Wow, I actually was disappointed it wasn't longer. I do expect that from Mann. I felt there should have been more character development. I love the the 3 hour films The Insider, Heat, etc. That's just me though.

I think I read somewhere that it was longer, but they cut alot out. I'm one that wished I could have seen the extra footage.

I think it was a little long and slow for what they delivered, but would have welcomed a bit more of Dillinger's back story or development of some of the smaller characters.

[monosylab1k]

The fact that it was handheld and shot in close didn't really bother me, but the crispness and flatness of digital felt extremely out of place for me. Not only is it not as rich or deep as film, but there were moments it was grainy and flat out ugly. The background in a couple of shots even looked pixelated.

Yeah once Michael Mann got his hands on a digital camera for Collateral he fell in love with it. It's great when you want a dark, gritty feel to your movie but just from the previews it doesn't seem as appropriate for this movie, tho I have yet to see it.

[SA210]

I think it was a little long and slow for what they delivered, but would have welcomed a bit more of Dillinger's back story or development of some of the smaller characters.

Yes, I agree with you. That's why I wanted it longer, for their back stories. Like in Heat, you had that little dialogue with Val Kilmer and DeNiro talking about walkng out in 30 seconds flat. You had the guy who got out of prison being praised by his girlfriend who wanted him to stay straight.

I think that's what I missed from Public Enemies. I kind of felt there wasn't a beginning and middle in some way. I do still like it very much. I look forward to the dvd release and hopefully there is a directors cut.

[Udokafan05]

The camera was very shaky in some scenes.

[SA210]

^^^ Yea, Mann does that alot, handheld style.

[Trainwreck2100]

Is the movie better than Mann's Nike commercial?

[CuckingFunt]

Yeah once Michael Mann got his hands on a digital camera for Collateral he fell in love with it. It's great when you want a dark, gritty feel to your movie but just from the previews it doesn't seem as appropriate for this movie, tho I have yet to see it.

There's just something about the 30s for me, all streamlined and art deco, that demands the richness of film, which is part of the reason it bothered me. Even more than feeling out of place with the tone of the film, it felt out of place with the era.

Having caught a couple of the commercials tonight, however, I will say that the crispness of digital will probably look fantastic when it hits Blu-Ray. On a big screen, though, I just don't like it. I appreciate the technology and understand why it's appealing to directors, but I just don't like being distracted by someone's blackheads several feet high in a closeup.

[leemajors]

Wow, I actually was disappointed it wasn't longer. I do expect that from Mann. I felt there should have been more character development. I love the the 3 hour films The Insider, Heat, etc. That's just me though.

I think I read somewhere that it was longer, but they cut alot out. I'm one that wished I could have seen the extra footage.

they always put it back in the "extended" version for DVD to try and boost sales.

[ballhog]

Wasn't too bad. Too long. Christian Bale was miscast with a terrible southern accent. Some action scenes looked like they didn't belong. Not too bad but could have been better with some character development.

[mavs>spurs2]

I hated this movie. Too long and plot development sucked ass. The fight scenes were pretty good though

[VivaPopovich]

as a big michael mann fan i'm a bit dissappointed at some of the reviews

remember: heat only had one big action scene

it'll be interesting to see mann using depp/bale as his deniro/pacino

[SA210]

as a big michael mann fan i'm a bit dissappointed at some of the reviews

remember: heat only had one big action scene

it'll be interesting to see mann using depp/bale as his deniro/pacino

I've watched it a 2nd time now. I guess I have to retract and say I'm actually a bit disappointed afterall. I do like it, but man... I really wanted Depp/Bale to be like DeNiro/Pacino.

Mann screwed it up, they picked the wrong screenplay for this film. Needed more character development as many have already said. I wanted to see more back story of both Bale and Depp, and see what really drives them. And I feel robbed of that.

It was done very well in HEAT. DeNiro was always talking about not going back. Kilmer couldn't leave without Ashley Judd. Pacino only had what he was going after. All that was interesting.

In Public Enemies, it doesn't seem like it was put together right. I didn't feel like there was a beginning, middle, and end. Man, I waited so long for this. Yes, it's better than most crap out these days, and Mann is one of my favorite Directors, but he let me down on this one.

Hopefully the directors cut is better, but I wouldn't have minded if Brian DePalma made this film instead, even if it was similar to the Untouchables, I would have liked to see how DePalma would have done it.

[Trainwreck2100]

Is the movie better than Mann's Nike commercial?