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 Rated Movies #123 | 13 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
Amy Brenneman	...	Eady
Ashley Judd	...	Charlene Shiherlis
Mykelti Williamson	...	Sergeant Drucker
Wes Studi	...	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:

gun battle | honor | bank | armored car robbery | child in jeopardy | 

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Taglines:

A Los Angeles Crime Saga

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heat

Filming Locations:

Venice Boulevard at Georgia Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,445,656, 17 December 1995, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$67,436,818

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$107,000,000

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

Hank Azaria was also working on The Birdcage (1996) while he filmed his scene in this film. The scene was filmed on his thirtieth birthday. It was Al Pacino's fifty-fourth birthday as well.

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Goofs

The shootout begins near the plaza at the intersection of Flower and 5th streets. After Bosko is shot Hanna gives chase and the getaway car is seen speeding, passing the spot where the shootout begun. Once McCauley starts shooting through a windshield window, the same spot is seen being passed again. The car is then seen passing the intersection, but once the tires get blown the car is at the intersection again with the plaza just few steps away.

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

Director Michael Mann made two minor changes to the film for the Blu-ray release:

• During Justine's conversation with Vincent at the restaurant, her line "You sift through the detritus" has been removed, and a camera cut to Vincent has been inserted.
• Vincent's line "Ferocious, aren't I?", said after he screams at Alan Marciano, has been removed.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Little Fockers (2011)

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Soundtracks

Force Marker
Written and Performed by Brian Eno
Courtesy of Opal Limited

User Reviews

Masterful on all counts

For some reason I cannot stop thinking about this film lately.

You know that feeling of having seen it about 3 or 4 times in the last 12 months is not enough? That's what I feel at the moment.

I rate it as Mann's best. It's his most kinetic,vibrant(for a film mostly shot in steely blue),agonising,stirring,brash,violent and brilliance in such a simple story.

What games did you play as a young kid? Cops and robbers.Good guy.Bad guy.

We all know De Niro and Pacino could have been either main part,but can you imagine it any other way round. Pacino doing ice cool calm? De Niro the manic outbursts,arms flailing? It wouldn't work. We know these men now.We know neither will stop at what they do.And yet there is no way either would stop the other.Unless they had too. Which leads us too the characters. All of them.

This is an extended family where you feel you know all of them without knowing anything at all. The cops are similar to the robbers and vice-versa. Perhaps Mann is telling us were all the same.Except in what we do.Every speaking part holds substance in this movie, and the support cast is astonishing when you actually read the caliber of who appeared in this film.Tom Sizmore, Val Kilmer,Ashley Judd,Ted Levine,Wes Studi,Hank Azaria,William Fitchner,Henry Rollins,Dennis Haysbert,Tom Noonan. And Natalie Portman, for chrissake! Try getting that cast again.

A real 10/10 film. And that Moby song at the end(God moving over the face of waters) gets me every time.