I remember the gunfight during the bank robbery being very loud in the theater, so I think there is some intent there, but even then the dialogue does seem to be mixed rather low here.

I thought they only used green screen for the scene after they first meet, whenever it cuts to a close-up of either as they stand at her balcony. It does look pretty odd, and the master looks far better, but apparently Mann said they couldn't capture the right bokeh of the city lights in close-up for some reason. However, the scene pictured in that link is a different one, from later on (when she runs out of the house after learning of Neil's part in the bank heist), and I could be wrong but I don't think that one uses green screen -- it looks pretty beautiful.

I don't know the legitimacy of this, but a projectionist I know who's worked for many directors says Michael Mann has a super high-tech ear piece that balances sound in a way that makes loud sounds quieter and quiet sounds louder. They claimed that's why Public Enemies is mixed in a way that gunshots are loud and dialogue is mumblecore-like. I rewatched Manhunter last night and re-watched Miami Vice a week ago and didn't notice any odd mixing choices. But when he chooses to get loud, it gets LOUD.

I've heard rumours that Mann is going deaf, which accounts for the strange sound mixing in his recent efforts.

This is a defect that seemed to be true of a lot of Warner DVDs and blu rays, and the Heat bluray has it worse than most; the sound mix in general gets progressively softer over the course of the film, prompting you to continually turn it up. By the end I had my television's volume at about the highest it would go just to hear the dialogue. Then suddenly the guns would fire at deafening volume. It was a huge problem which I hope they get around to fixing this time.

The Goldwyn Theater might not be the best equipped to demonstrate the full beauty of a 4K presentation, but the new print looked fantastic, with eye popping detail that shines a bright light on the work of cinematographer Spinotti. A particular stand out is how the new print makes clear some of the technical achievements Mann and Spinotti employed to make the city of Los Angeles itself as much a character as the actors moving inside it. “L.A. is a weigh station on the way to somewhere else,” said Mann tonight about the way the city looks throughout Heat. One way that was achieved was to combine then-new computer effects to heighten the city’s iconic cityscape.

For example, in the scene in which De Niro’s McCauley and Brenneman’s Eady talk on a balcony overlooking Sunset plaza, Spinotti explained how the L.A. landscape seen in the shot was filmed on a very low framerate to increase exposure. Meanwhile, De Niro and Brenneman were filmed on location in front of a green screen blocking the actual view, which was added to the background of the shot in post. It’s unnoticeable in previous home video releases but in the new print, it makes L.A.’s nighttime view look like a surreal dream, or perhaps a nightmare. It adds to the sense, as it was said more than once tonight, of how all the film’s characters are in their own way imprisoned in Los Angeles.

That looks like one of those poster-sized photo prints they sell at IKEA. I guess it looks ok on its own generic terms, but it doesn't have much to do with the movie, which I don't think has a shot of the LA skyline in its entire run time.

That looks like one of those poster-sized photo prints they sell at IKEA. I guess it looks ok on its own generic terms, but it doesn't have much to do with the movie, which I don't think has a shot of the LA skyline in its entire run time.