Earlier this year, Michael Mann surprised us all when the Blu-ray release of Ali featured a new cut. Usually one to tinker with his films past the point of a release — as another recent example, a new version of Blackhat exists, but was only ever screened once — when the “Director’s Definitive Edition” of Heat was announced for Blu-ray, we wondered if Mann spent more time in the editing room.
Now that the release has been officially detailed, it looks like, if anything, only small edits were done as 20th Century Fox lists a runtime of “approximately 170 minutes,” the same as the previous Blu-ray release. Set to arrive this May, the new special features include a 35-minute TIFF talk by Mann from 2015 and last fall’s one-hour reunion Q&A moderated by Christopher Nolan (which one can see clips from here), where this new remastered 4K edition premiered. So, it seems the “definitive” definition lies more in the technical presentation than with any structural changes.
Ahead of the release, check out the special feature details and cover art below, and pre-order here.
Blu-ray Special Features Include
NEW Academy Panel reuniting Mann, Pacino and De Niro and moderated by Christopher Nolan
NEW Toronto International Film Festival Q&A with Mann
Commentary by Michael Mann
The Making of Heat
– True Crime
– Crime Stories
– Into the Fire
Pacino and De Niro: The Conversation
Return to the Scene of the Crime
Additional Footage – Deleted Scenes
– Scene 5 – Season’s starting early
– Scene 42 – Nicest guy on the block
– Scene 55 – Albert and Hanna (Alternate Take)
– Scene 62 – Shakedown
– Scene 76 – Murder in C-Block
– Scene 96A – Let’s Dance
– Scene 125 – Late arrival
– Scene 148/147 – Where’s Anna?
– Scene 177B – Double the worst trouble
– Scene 191 – Nate delivers
– Scene 204A – No response
Theatrical Trailers
– Surprise of a Lifetime
– Two Actors Collide
– Closing In
Heat: Director’s Definitive Edition will hit Blu-ray on May 9th. Pre-order here.