A truly confounding film. On one hand, the Tangerine Dream soundtrack is unforgettable, the camera work and color grading are very unique, and the heist scenes are highly gripping, realistic, and intense. There just isn't enough of the good stuff!
This movie manages to thoroughly bury the lead on painfully bad character development with a bizarre 100% GMO chemistry-free emotion-free "love" story, with a staggering 90 minutes of abject filler padding out the remaining 40 minutes of plot and action. Even the ending smacks of someone realizing "we gotta wrap this mess up" and feels extremely sudden. Watch this one for the visuals and music, the dialogue can be safely ignored.
Michael Mann’s feature debut is a cold, clinical masterclass in stoic noir. James Caan delivers a brilliant, stripped-back performance as a cynical professional speed-running through his own life's checklist, only to burn his entire existence to the ground when the mob tries to own him.
The safe-cracking and diamond-drill sequences are painfully authentic, treated like a heavy industrial trade rather than Hollywood magic. Backed by a stark, mechanical Tangerine Dream score and neon-slicked 80s grit, it’s a slow-burn character study that skips the comfortable resolution and leaves you with pure, scorched-earth autonomy. Bleak, methodical, and well worth digesting.
A truly confounding film with one of the best truly twisted endings that I've seen in some time!...
Methodical, engrossing, and so very detailed. An amazing relic of both a bygone Chicago and a bygone era of masculinity and femininity. Also features one of the most haunting big boss speeches I’ve ever heard. A phenomenal crime drama.
The night cinematography, especially in the opening of the film, is amazing and the soundtrack is incredible.
Thief is a great movie directed by Michel Mann well worth a watch
Brilliant, epic and somewhat forgotten stylish 80's action masterpiece. This is on the same level as The Sorcerer and Runway Train in terms of gritty, realism and intensity.
Reviews
Thief
Cubane reviewed
Thief
November 29, 2025A truly confounding film. On one hand, the Tangerine Dream soundtrack is unforgettable, the camera work and color grading are very unique, and the heist scenes are highly gripping, realistic, and intense. There just isn't enough of the good stuff!
This movie manages to thoroughly bury the lead on painfully bad character development with a bizarre 100% GMO chemistry-free emotion-free "love" story, with a staggering 90 minutes of abject filler padding out the remaining 40 minutes of plot and action. Even the ending smacks of someone realizing "we gotta wrap this mess up" and feels extremely sudden. Watch this one for the visuals and music, the dialogue can be safely ignored.
Paul reviewed
Thief
August 12, 2026Michael Mann’s feature debut is a cold, clinical masterclass in stoic noir. James Caan delivers a brilliant, stripped-back performance as a cynical professional speed-running through his own life's checklist, only to burn his entire existence to the ground when the mob tries to own him.
The safe-cracking and diamond-drill sequences are painfully authentic, treated like a heavy industrial trade rather than Hollywood magic. Backed by a stark, mechanical Tangerine Dream score and neon-slicked 80s grit, it’s a slow-burn character study that skips the comfortable resolution and leaves you with pure, scorched-earth autonomy. Bleak, methodical, and well worth digesting.
