Writer and director Michael Mann (The Last of the Mohicans) has created a powerful and compelling drama about two similar men on opposite sides of the law who are on a collision course.

Robert De Niro is eerie as Neil McCauley, a control freak thief who believes that one last bank robbery will take him to an easy life in the Caribbean.

But there are too many things he can't control such as the betrayal of an ex-con from his crew and the dogged pursuit of a Los Angeles detective.

Al Pacino, in an explosive performance, plays Vincent Hanna, a zealous cop who ignores his third wife (Diane Venora) while obsessing about McCauley.

Although there are a few adrenalin-pumping scenes of action in Heat, Mann zeroes in on the battle of wills between these two workaholics.

The scariest thing about the film is that there are so many soulless men like these two out there in the streets pursuing their obsessions without regard for anyone but themselves.