Customer Reviews

City Heat [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"City Heat" (1984) is a nostalgic throwback to those Spencer Tracy-Clark Gable vehicles of the late 1930s. It's lightweight stuff, but Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds make a good team in this Prohibition-era caper. The star chemistry compensates for a weak script and troubled production history (Clint selected director Richard Benjamin after a falling out with original collaborator Blake Edwards - alias Sam O. Brown in the final credits). Though a disappointment with critics and audiences, Clint and Burt have done much worse.

I'm not sure what people expected of this movie, but if you forget about who the actors are in this movie and just watch it for fun, it's a hoot! Sure, the plot's a little thin, but it's a comedy, who cares. Enjoy, it's fun and funny.

I love movies set in this era. I love the clothes, the cars, the music; it was just a simpler time in America's history.

Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood play off of each other so well and the one-liners are hilarious. Great plot, great comedy, and great fun.

Reynolds when Eastwood walks unannounced into the office: "I didn't hear you knock."

Eastwood: "What a relief. I thought I was going deaf."

These two constantly banter like this throughout the whole fim and it's always funny.

Give this fun flick a try.

Clint Eastwood and Bert Reynolds star in this light hearted spoof of the hard nosed private eye and cop movies.
Reynolds is the smart a$$ private eye and Eastwood is the hard as nails cop in this romp into the 1930s as they battle bootleggers,
gangsters, and each other. Eastwood often plays straight man to Reynolds wisecracking character.
There are many gags and laughs in the film, but it`s what I call a soft spoof. It`s not a wild crazy spoof like "Airplane", It`s
more along the lines of the western spoof "My Name is Nobody". Rather than go for wild crazy gags, they exaggerate the tough guy
movie just enough to make it funny. And it works well.

Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds and Madeline Kahn outdo themselves with witty, well-written dialogue. This movie is full of everything you love about Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. Plenty of action and comedy. A must see for any Clint Eastwood or Burt Reynolds fan.

I loved this movie and I feel its very under rated. Yes the story was a little on the weak side but there was some fantastic action, good comedy and a wonderful setting. Too bad it didn't do well in the box office because a follow up would have been awesome.

This movie has some rawness and grit, interesting story line, plot, and sub-plots, with Eastwood as a tough no-nonsense detective, Speer, and Reynolds as an ex-cop and Private Eye, Murphy, who butt heads with each other, in Prohibition-era 1933 (last year of Prohibition, in fact), but team up to investigate mob murder and corruption. It also has some funny lines and wittiness. And of course, Eastwood, with his intensity, as well as his piano playing, is in true form as usual. This movie has been under-rated by many, and appreciated by few, but it's a true mid-1980's gem, with good music, drama, and sass.

For a movie made in the mid 80's, you'd think pairing up 2 superstars like Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds would make for a smash hit but it just wasn't meant to be. The plot isn't terribly exciting and the acting didn't raise any eyebrows but there was just enough humor and a few goofy situations to keep it from total destruction.

It's the 1930's and the time of prohibition, gangland activity, and all the nefarious activity that goes with it. Eastwood plays the seasoned, grizzled lieutenant in the police department trying to keep a hold on his city while Reynolds is his former partner now turned private eye who just can't seem to stay out of trouble. These two trade wisecracks and insults throughout the film and put themselves into some corny predicaments that merit a few laughs here and there. It seems that they're both trying to outdo each other also so that distracts a little but not too much. They finally team up together to save the day and roust the gangsters in a predictable and unexciting ending.

There's not a whole lot of saving graces other that what has already been mentioned but at least you can see some different, although hollow, acting performances by Madeline Kahn, Rip Torn, Richard Roundtree, Jane Alexander, and Irene Cara. It's not enough to rescue the film but if you go into watching this with the idea that it's just a guilty pleasure and nothing more, you probably won't feel so bad about wasting an hour and a half of your time.

In a time of Prohibition, rival gangsters and speakeasies, Clint Eastwood stars as police Lieutenant Speer who gets tangled up with former partner Mike Murphy (Burt Reynolds) who quit the force to begin his own private detective agency together with his partner Dehl Swift (Richard Roundtree). A lot of humor is well represented in this film as well as some good action as Speer and Murphy reluctantly work together to solve the case involving two rival gangsters Primo Pitt (Rip Torn) and Leon Coll (Tony Lo Bianco) and their accomplices.

Some of the songs contained in the movie were co-written by Irene Cara who stars as Swift's girlfriend and entertainer Ginny Lee who also sings a George and Ira Gershwin melody. Though not quite her best role, the late Madeline Kahn played the daughter of a wealthy businessman and girlfriend of Murphy who was Pitt's kidnap victim, holding her until he got the goods. Probably the best parts of the film were the gunfight scenes where Murphy gets tangled up between two of Pitt's soldiers and two of Coll's soldiers spraying bullets everywhere under the watchful eye of Speer as Murphy takes cover, and in Pitt's hideout inside a garage shows Murphy pulling out a long gun when Speer gets the better end by drawing out an even longer gun as they exchange gunfire with Pitt and his soldiers with a little mechanic running back and forth in panic seeking cover and dodging bullets.

Not really the best movie, but it's worth a look.

I enjoyed it more when I was younger but then again I used to believe this was a great country. You wake up as you get older.