It is loud, it is violent; it provokes thought, it puts some amazing acting and directing at center stage — and 20 years ago, you could walk into your neighborhood movie theater and watch “Heat” explode on the big screen. To mark the anniversary of one of the most watchable movies ever made (go ahead, try and change the channel, we dare you!), filmmaker Michael Mann recently screened the flick at the Toronto International Film Festival; do yourself a favor and celebrate at home by dusting off your old DVD. To help, here is our humble list of The Top 10 Awesome Things About “Heat”:
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10. The Armored Car Robbery
Choreographed as beautifully as any Beyonce dance routine, watch the way that Michael Mann ratchets up the tension while filming the intense opening robbery in real time. The masks, the spike strip, the stunned security guard — right off the bat, it gets across the multiple points that these men are professionals, they’re dangerous and they’re not going to go down without a fight.
9. The Bank Robbery
The absolute creme-de-la-creme of robbery scenes, the finale of “Heat” is no less powerful today than it was twenty years ago. McCauley’s crew rolls in with a down-to-the-smallest-detail plan, which then erupts in unspeakable violence, and finally culminates in an every-man-for-themselves bloodbath. By the end, it’s Tom Sizemore’s Michael Cheritto who steals the show, wheezing through the bright Los Angeles daylight with an automatic rifle, a bag full of cash, and unspeakable desperation.
8. It’s a True Story
Well, sort of. Writer/director Michael Mann is known for a few things, including his verite style, a fascination with police work, and his tendency to become obsessed with certain stories. Those collided with “Heat,” which was borne out of a longtime friendship with former Chicago police office Chuck Adamson — who really did have face-to-face exchanges with a lifelong criminal named Neil McCauley and then have to kill him. Mann based his 1989 made-for-TV movie “LA Takedown” on Adamson’s story, then re-worked it into “Heat.” An interesting side note: “Takedown” was supposed to be a TV pilot for NBC, and the network passed; but don’t worry, I’m sure whatever show they put on instead is also still being talked about 3 decades later.
7. Rollins
In a classic scene, Al Pacino (5′ 6″, about 150 pounds) absolutely owns muscle-bound punk rock legend Henry Rollins, picking him up by the nose and throwing him through a plate-glass window. Doing spoken-word performances in the years following, Rollins would recount the day’s shoot with a smile, talking about the laughter on set that day — but reasoned that he happily swallowed his pride to collect the “Heat” paycheck he then used to support indie bands with his beloved 2.13.61 record label. So, in a weird way, every time you watch this scene you’re supporting indie music.
6. The Hair
For two career criminals, Val Kilmer and Jon Voight have amazingly luxurious hair. Who knows what conversations went on behind-the-scenes to result in their Fabio-esque locks, but kudos to whoever was handling the impressive hair-care duties on this hirsute set.
5. The “Reservoir Dogs”/”Heat” connection
Both films are about bank robberies gone wrong, and both movies wouldn’t exist without a name you’ve probably never heard of: Eddie Bunker. Bunker was a real-life bank robber whose life had a significant second act in Hollywood. He wrote an autobiography called “No Beast So Fierce,” which was turned into the movie “Straight Time” with Dustin Hoffman playing a character based on Bunker. Quentin Tarantino loved that film so much that he later came calling on Bunker to not only give him some pointers as he wrote the “Reservoir Dogs” script, but also to give the film some legitimacy by playing the ill-fated Mr. Blue. Mann told the “Heat” actors that “No Beast” was required reading for the film, then brought Bunker on-set as a technical consultant. Jon Voight’s character is based on Bunker, who would appear in 27 films (including the forgotten Steve Buscemi gem “Animal Factory”) before dying in 2005.
4. Donald the getaway driver
Think about all the amazing, fully-developed, fascinating characters in “Heat” — Way after you get past Pacino, DeNiro, Kilmer and Ashley Judd, Sizemore, Voight and the others you get to what we could generously call the 10th most important role in the film: Dennis Haysbert as a recently-released inmate trying so hard to go straight. In only a handful of scenes, Mann and Haysbert use the driver’s tiny storyline to maximum effect — and when DeNiro’s Neil McCauley successfully convinces Donald to throw down his apron and return to a life of crime, the heartbreaking moment is a masterclass in minimalism:
3. Al Pacino’s TV set
Realizing that his wife is seeing another man, Lt. Vincent Hanna refuses to get angry. But as a frightened Ralph sits there realizing he’s crossed a powerful man, Hanna decides to draw the line at a dinky little color television. “You can borrow my wife if she wants you to, you can lounge around her on her sofa in her ex-husband’s dead-tech post-modernisitic b******t house if you want to — but you do not get to watch my television set!” Grabbing the tube and unplugging it, Pacino spends the rest of the film driving around with the TV in his car.
2. The “Face-To-Face” scene
If the marketing plan for “Heat” was to be summed up in four words, it would go thusly: “Pacino vs. DeNiro. Boom.” At the time of the film’s release, both were at the height of their powers; this is long before the duo’s regrettable “Jack and Jill“/”Rocky and Bullwinkle” self-parody periods. Seeing these two legends face-to-face for the first time in 1995, neither giving no quarter, had more fireworks than the most epic CGI scene any modern blockbuster could come up with. And the most amazing part is, they were both simply sitting down for coffee:
1. It is great
It’s a wild, almost nonsensical Al Pacino improv that has gone on to become a classic piece of Americana beside “Say hello to my little friend,” “Hoo-ah” and “I knew it was you.” And plenty has been written about the wild-eyed lunacy of the scene where Pacino’s Lt. Hanna confronts Hank Azaria’s Alan Marciano, convincing him to sell out Ashley Judd by explaining with great emphasis that Judd’s gluteus maximus is rather pleasing to look at, and that he’s simply fallen victim to it. But an underrated joy of the moment is focusing on Azaria, who gives one of the greatest reaction shots in cinematic history. Below is the shot, and a tweet from Azaria on the topic.
I wasn't acting, I was truly scared MT @filmdrunk Thx to @The8BitLife for sending me my fav @HankAzaria reaction shot http://t.co/NHSZ0HM60P
— Hank Azaria (@HankAzaria) April 3, 2013
