Heat (1995)

A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the heat from police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist.

Director:

Michael Mann

Writer:

Michael Mann

Stars:

Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer

Top 250 #121 | 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Lt. Vincent Hanna
Robert De Niro	...	Neil McCauley
Val Kilmer	...	Chris Shiherlis
Jon Voight	...	Nate
Tom Sizemore	...	Michael Cheritto
Diane Venora	...	Justine Hanna
Amy Brenneman	...	Eady
Ashley Judd	...	Charlene Shiherlis
Mykelti Williamson	...	Sergeant Drucker
Wes Studi	...	Detective Casals
Ted Levine	...	Bosko
Dennis Haysbert	...	Donald Breedan
William Fichtner	...	Roger Van Zant
Natalie Portman	...	Lauren Gustafson
Tom Noonan	...	Kelso

Storyline

Hunters and their prey--Neil and his professional criminal crew hunt to score big money targets (banks, vaults, armored cars) and are, in turn, hunted by Lt. Vincent Hanna and his team of cops in the Robbery/Homicide police division. A botched job puts Hanna onto their trail while they regroup and try to put together one last big 'retirement' score. Neil and Vincent are similar in many ways, including their troubled personal lives. At a crucial moment in his life, Neil disobeys the dictum taught to him long ago by his criminal mentor--'Never have anything in your life that you can't walk out on in thirty seconds flat, if you spot the heat coming around the corner'--as he falls in love. Thus the stage is set for the suspenseful ending....

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Plot Keywords:

bank | criminal | police | detective | thief | 

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Taglines:

A Los Angeles Crime Saga

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fuego contra fuego

Filming Locations:

1219 Dodds Circle, East Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

£8,903,230 (UK) (15 March 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Regency Enterprises, Forward Pass

Technical Specs

Runtime:

170 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of the film is based off a real-life confrontation between Chicago cop Chuck Adamson and the REAL Neil McCauley. Adamson was a retired police officer whom director Michael Mann had been working with off and on since the film Thief starring James Caan (and based upon the career of famed Chicago burglar Frank Hohimer whom Adamson had arrested). They had later worked together on two shows produced by Mann, "Miami Vice" and "Crime Story". According to Chuck Adamson (and confirmed by Michael Mann) in the Heat-Special Edition DVD Documentary "Crime Stories", McCauley was a professional robber whom he had frequently crossed paths with. Events such as the scene between Vincent Hanna and Neil McCauley in the coffee shop where they basically tell each other that the last time they meet will be their last, and the warehouse sting where McCauley got tipped off that the cops were around due to an officer making a noise really happened. In real life, the real Neil McCauley was killed during a robbery of a grocery store (similar to the bank heist shootout) by Adamson's team who were tipped off to the robbery.

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Goofs

When Hanna enters his hotel room after deciding to call off his pursuit of the case, he closes the door and we can see that the anti-intruder latch has been fitted the wrong way round.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Construction Clerk: Check, charge, or cash?

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Connections

Referenced in 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)

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Soundtracks

"By The Time I Get To Phoenix"
Written by Jimmy Webb

User Reviews

Captivating

Micheal Manns'(director of 'The Insider', and 'Manhunter') smooth, straightforward direction is studded with brilliant and very memorable cinematic gems in 'Heat', A bullet riddled drama with, yes , Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in their first on screen meeting.

What do you want to hear about 'Heat'. Is it DeNiro's best performance? No. Is it Pacino's best performance? I'd be lying if I said it was. Do the performances improve the story? Absolutely. Mann has written (he wrote it as well) a complex and exciting two-sided story that develops the hunter Vincent Hanna (Pacino) and the hunted Neil McCauley (De Niro) separately throughout much of the film. Underneath a hail of bullets Mann is able to paint both lead characters with the same brush by delving into the similarly tragic and chaotic personal lives of Hanna and McCauley, allowing for the final epic scene, which would have been too pretentious if it were not for the excellent performances of Pacino and De Niro.

Bottom Line: Not having seen this movie is akin to idiocy for anyone claiming to be a fan of movies. 9 out of 10