dashrendar44 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Michael Mann Thief The Keep Manhunter Last of the Mohicans Heat The Insider Ali Collateral Miami Vice Public Enemies Blackhat Christopher Nolan The Following Memento Insomnia Batman Begins The Prestige The Dark Knight Inception Dark Knight Rises Interstellar There is no question IMO who comes out on top.....by a mile. Mann of course. Without Mann, Nolan would be nothing more than a scriptwriter like he's brother. The little visual style he has which it in itself feels kinda mundane and dry, he entirely owes it to Mann's. TDK is a shooting playbook "How Mann would do it?". From cinematography, the tone to editing and sound design. The set pieces as well from the opening bank robbery to the armour car chase. There's a shot in TDK that is totally lifted from Heat. At one point of the movie Heat, in a night setting, there's a long aerial shot of the truck driving into downtown before Neil McCauley and his crew attempt to rob the metals place where Vincent Hanna and his team are watching out for. As the aerial camera is tracking the truck getting close, the sound fades away, no music, no sound effects, only for a muted droning noise that swells in the background bringing a throbbing tension in the silent night. Do you recall? Oh yeah, this was exactly the same shot and stylistic approach as this (and that.) It's more of a testament to the greatness of Mann that he seminally influenced what is considered one of the best CBM. Edited May 6, 2015 by MADash Rendar 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Gittes Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Because of Heat or Last of the Mohicans or just to hate/troll? Heat is among my 15 or 20 favorite films ever made, it's the kind of an all-timer that Nolan still only dreams of making. (To be fair, TDK was a pretty good try, and I really enjoy the similarities between them). I also think Thief, Manhunter, Last of the Mohicans and The Insider are all excellent films, and I'll pick any of them over any Nolan film outside of Memento and maybe TDK. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stingray Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Imo, Nolan is one of the top filmmakers working today, but he's got no business being talked about as an all-time great. Oh, and Mann over Nolan any day of the week. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AniNate Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) I think he's earned his place among the list of "important filmmakers"; certainly the History of 21st Century Filmmaking E-textbooks will mention his name. All-time great? I think he is. Not everyone will agree but all you need is a few passionate supporters for it to be true. Edited May 6, 2015 by tribefan695 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Because of Heat or Last of the Mohicans or just to hate/troll? I'd say Mann is tied if not slightly above Nolan right now imo, but won't be much longer. I think Mann's creative days are pretty much over(wouldn't entirely rule out another surprise from him though). Miami Vice was crap and Public Enemies was barely passable, but Blackhat looked so shockingly bland, generic, and stupid just from the trailers that I didn't even bother seeing it and apparently I saved 2 hours of my life from doing so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Reducing Nolan as a Mann wanabee is a bit too much. He s more than that easily. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stingray Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Miami Vice over The Departed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashrendar44 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Reducing Nolan as a Mann wanabee is a bit too much. He s more than that easily. Oh I agree, he's also an Orson Welles wannabe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Miami Vice over The Departed. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 LOL Nolan is a far greater director than Mann. people who say Mann is better are just simply wrong, he's made a couple of good movies and a lot of shit movies, at least Nolan has had more consistency. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashrendar44 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Mann is ten times the director, visual stylist and storyteller that Nolan wished he was and he'd be the first to admit it. Mann excels at staging gritty and realistic action while Nolan sucks real hard while trying hard to emulate Mann's style. Edited May 6, 2015 by MADash Rendar 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Mann is ten times the director, visual stylist and storyteller that Nolan wished he was and he'd be the first to admit it. lol, Mann's movies give me a headache to watch, he tries making them look so realistic, puts all this effort into it that he usually forgets to make a good film in the process. Michael Bay has more visual style than both but I wouldn't go as far to say that he's a better director. Mann is another Rdiley Scott, made some good movies and hasn;t been able to replicate it since, he has more in common with M night shyamalan than Nolan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmac Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Understanding that visual style is but ONE component of storytelling, which of these Mann movies is better than ANY of Nolan's films? Thief The Keep Manhunter Last of the Mohicans Heat The Insider Ali Collateral Miami Vice Public Enemies Blackhat Edited May 6, 2015 by lilmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4815162342 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Mohicans, Heat, Insider, and Collateral are better than ALL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolioD1 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Understanding that visual style is but ONE component of storytelling, which of these Mann movies is better than ANY of Nolan's films? Thief The Keep Manhunter Last of the Mohicans Heat The Insider Ali Collateral Miami Vice Public Enemies Blackhat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolioD1 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 And those are just the ones better than Nolan's whole filmography. Also every film there (Except blackhat which I haven't seen) is better than Following, Prestige, Insomina. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Gittes Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 What they said (well, except I'm a big enough fan of Memento to put it above most Mann films). Also you don't really know Mann if you think he's simply all about the visual style. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmac Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) http://gph.is/1iGHGEq The world would be a boring place if we all agreed but man this is hilarious. Edited May 6, 2015 by lilmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmac Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 What they said (well, except I'm a big enough fan of Memento to put it above most Mann films). Also you don't really know Mann if you think he's simply all about the visual style. I'm trying to understand the rationale and the reasons mentioned in previous pro-Mann posts have something to do with visual style. I'm going off the information being given. If they gave examples of say...superior pacing, then my comment would be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Gittes Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Well, yes, Mann's a much more distinctive visual stylist, and he can tell a piece of a story, reveal a character and establish a mood purely through visuals where Nolan is more likely to get bogged down in unnecessary expository dialogue. As for pacing, well, Heat, for example, is expertly paced - it's an enormous epic that flows beautifully, nothing in it feels rushed, drawn-out, or out of place. Thief, Manhunter, Mohicans are also perfectly fine in this regard. Sure, I was pretty bored by Miami Vice, Public Enemies, and Blackhat, but a lot of Nolan's films also have a tendency to move awkwardly, in fits and starts, so he isn't above Mann here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
