Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Does it get any bigger than that? The two have both had legendary careers, appearing it countless classics (don't mention Jack and Jill/ Bad Grandpa) but for many their best work together is in a movie that doesn't have long left on Netflix.
Michael Mann directs the two great stars in a high-stakes game of cops and robbers that it's impossible to take your eyes off of in Heat. Famously the two share the screen for a fraction of the time, despite their relentless pursuit of each other, but that only serves to ramp up tension to near unbearable levels in one of the best movies the genre has seen. If you've seen it before, it's always a good time for a re-watch, but if you've not caught it before then boy are you in for a treat. Just get it done before May 1st when it will wave goodbye to Netflix and leave the streaming service behind.
De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a career thief in charge of a seasoned gang with one weak link, new recruit Waingro. When a hit on an armoured car goes South thanks to Waingro, the trail of bodies attracts more LAPD attention than McCauley would like, including Detective Hanna (Pacino). Of course, the criminal life hasn't exactly made it easy for McCauley to have much of a personal life and Hanna too is a man consumed by his work, to the detriment of both himself and his loved ones.
Hanna pursues McCauley relentlessly but it isn't until one famous scene in a diner that the two finally meet. Even as two men on opposite sides of the law, they actually have a lot of respect between them, but both confirm they won't hesitate to kill the other if needs be.
Although they also share the screen in The Irishman, I'd recommend this as the superior De Niro/Pacino collaboration. Not only does it not have the uncanny valley factor of the digital de-aging in The Irishman but seeing the two in their prime (with Pacino doing so much running) in the film's impressive shootouts and heists will never get old. Pretty much everyone agrees with me too, the film boasts a stellar 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
There's also a stellar cast of supporting actors on show. Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Danny Trejo, Tom Sizemore and even a very young Natalie Portman all feature. Coupled with Mann's expertise behind the camera, and some incredible LA locations, it's impossible to go wrong with this one.
