Fasten Your Seat Belt For This Iconic Thriller!
In 1995, the world was blown away by the exciting, multi-layered and soon-to-be iconic crime masterpiece “Heat!”
From the cast to the production, this topnotch thriller is an intelligent crime drama that you won’t forget! Produced by Art Linson and Directed by Michael Mann, it’s a career highlight for both.
My “Cult Movie Monday” has some great trivia about his powerful film!
The plot sounds simple enough: a group of professional bank robbers start to feel the “heat” from police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist.
Time to dig into this film! First, look at this incredible cast:
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Natalie Portman, Dennis Haysbert, Danny Trejo, Hank Azaria and Jeremy Piven!
Check out the trailer, which highlights the first ever collaboration between Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro:
Robert De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a seasoned professional robber and Al Pacino plays Lt. Vincent Hanna, an LAPD robbery-homicide detective tracking down Neil’s crew after a botched heist leaves three security guards dead.
The story is based on the true story of a former Chicago police officer’s pursuit of a criminal in the 60’s.
Directed by Michael Mann, “Heat” was filmed entirely on location in sixty-five locations around Los Angeles, without a single soundstage being used!
The powerful action centerpiece in the film takes place in downtown Los Angeles, and instead of dubbing in gunshots during the bank robbery shoot-out, Director Mann had microphones carefully placed around the set so that the audio could be captured live.
The sound is stunning!
Here’s another great piece of trivia:
The Film Is Based On This Real-life Meeting – And It Was Pacino And DeNiro’s First Time Acting Together!
In 1963, Chicago detective Chuck Adamson met in a Chicago coffee shop with convicted bank robber Neil McCauley — the same name as De Niro’s character. This meeting, captured in the film, ended up being the first time that Pacino and DeNiro ever acted together!
In an interview with Pacino on the film’s DVD Special Edition, the Actor revealed that for the scene in the restaurant between Hanna and McCauley, Robert De Niro felt that the scene should not be rehearsed so that the unfamiliarity between the two characters would seem more genuine. Michael Mann agreed, and shot the scene with no practice rehearsals!
That’s right: the first time they acted together was the first time they EVER acted together!
And what about this:
Val Kilmer Knew His Way Around A Gun!
One of Heat’s most iconic moments is the climactic 10-minute shootout scene, which was filmed every Saturday and Sunday in downtown L.A. for six weeks. The actors trained with men from the British Special Air Service (SAS) and at the L.A. County Sheriff’s combat shooting ranges.
“We did everything for real,” Mann told Deadline. “[The actors] got so good that the footage of Val Kilmer, firing in two directions and doing a reload without a cut, they used that at Fort Bragg for Special Forces training.”
Yes, Val’s handiwork is now being taught!
The terrific website “Mentalfloss.com” has a dozen more great facts about “Heat” and you can see them all here:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/72525/15-epic-facts-about-heat
I cannot recommend “Heat” enough, having just watched it AGAIN this weekend!
If yo like gritty crime thrillers, here’s one from the late 70’s you might enjoy as well!
Dustin Hoffman, Gary Busey and Harry Dean Stanton star in this gritty thriller about an ex-con struggling to do his “straight time.” It’s also filmed on the streets of Los Angeles…you can see the film’s trailer and much more by clicking on my story here:
And if you want to see two Actors having a blast playing off each other, how about DeNiro and Charles Grodin?
“Midnight Run” is one of the best “buddy comedies” ever, and filled with great action sequences as well!
Check out the trailer and a bunch of great lines from the film by clicking on my story here:
If you like these stories, why not sign up to receive emails whenever I post? It’s easy to do, I do NOT collect any information about you at all, there are absolutely NO ads of any kind, just stories about movies, music, books, food, travel and pop culture…
You can sign up by clicking on my blog here and see the note on the right!
Sign up for a daily hit of social media, pop culture, travel, food and more – and most important – stay at home while we fight this pandemic – and if you go out, wear a mask!
Categories: Action Films, Art, Books / Media, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Los Angeles, Movies, Pop Culture, Revenge Movies, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
How the hell did I miss this! Wonderful, John. Fully agree on everything said and covered here.
LikeLike
An excellent choice of movie, John, and it has a great cast.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I need to see this one again!!
LikeLike
An all-time great …Thank you for the extras..so interesting… we need to watch this film again, Awesome post!
LikeLike
Such a fine movie! The acting is a textbook on film acting, from the two at the top and on down.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s “cinema” – intelligent filmmaking, great acting, a sharp script and something to say – but still plenty of action!
LikeLike
John, I love ‘Heat’. But you know what I am going to say. We have had this conversation before. It was a scene by scene steal from the original, ‘L.A. Takedown’. I like the raw feel of the original best.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097700/
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, but since that was Mann’s film, I think it was OK to remake it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed. 🙂
LikeLike
I bloody love De Niro & Pacino. What an awesome team. I could go for watching this again soon. Midnight Run, however, I can’t recall ever watching so it’ll go on my to-watch list. Cheers, John! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Midnight Run” has some of the most memorable dialogue of all!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved this one!! Time for me to see it again
LikeLike