Heat (film)

Infobox Film
name = Heat


image_size =
caption = Theatrical poster
director = Michael Mann
producer = Michael Mann
Art Linson
writer = Michael Mann
narrator =
starring = Al Pacino
Robert De Niro
Tom Sizemore
Diane Venora
Amy Brenneman
Ashley Judd
Mykelti Williamson
Wes Studi
Ted Levine
Dennis Haysbert
William Fichtner
Natalie Portman
Tom Noonan
Kevin Gage
Hank Azaria
Danny Trejo
with Jon Voight
and Val Kilmer
music = Elliot Goldenthal
cinematography = Dante Spinotti
editing = Pasquale Buba
William Goldenberg
Dov Hoenig
Tom Rolf
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = December 15, 1995
runtime = 171 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget = $60,000,000 (estimated)
gross = $187,436,818 (worldwide)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:135459
imdb_id = 0113277

"Heat" is a 1995 American crime drama film written and directed by Michael Mann. It stars Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Val Kilmer. The film was released on December 15, 1995.

De Niro plays a professional burglar who is a calm and methodical introvert, while Pacino plays a veteran LAPD homicide detective whose devotion to his job causes him to neglect his personal problems. The central conflict of the film was based on the experiences of former Chicago police officer Chuck Adamson and his pursuit of a criminal named McCauley in the 1960s, from which the name of De Niro's character, Neil McCauley, was derived.

"Heat" marked the first time that Pacino and De Niro appeared together onscreen, garnering much anticipation from film fans. Although both actors had already starred in "The Godfather Part II" 21 years earlier, they had not appeared in any scenes together. Pacino and De Niro appeared together again in the 2008 film "Righteous Kill".

The film is technically a remake of "L.A. Takedown", a 1989 made-for-television film also written and directed by Mann; Mann had been trying to get "Heat" made for over a decade, and created "L.A Takedown" as a simplified version after his efforts were unsuccessful. "Heat" was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $185 million worldwide.

Plot summary

Career thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) leads a team of criminals, including longtime friends Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) and Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore) on an armored car heist, stealing US$1.6 million in bearer bonds from Malibu Equity Investments, a shell company that launders off-shore drug accounts. The robbery is botched when new member Waingro (Kevin Gage) impulsively murders a guard, forcing the team to execute the remaining guards and escape. McCauley meets with his fence, Nate (Jon Voight), who suggests selling the bonds back to their original owner, Roger Van Zant (William Fichtner), who stands to profit from the bond insurance while purchasing them at a reduced price. During his meeting with the robbers at a local diner, an enraged McCauley prepares to kill Waingro when he is interrupted by a passing LAPD patrol car, allowing Waingro to weasel away. Meanwhile, Van Zant agrees to buy his bonds back but instructs his men to ambush McCauley at the meeting and take the bonds back. McCauley escapes the ambush, with help from his crew, and vows revenge.

Investigating the bearer bonds heist, Lieutenant Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) of the elite LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division learns through informants and surveillance that McCauley and his crew are planning a bank robbery with an estimated $12 million payoff, which would allow McCauley to finally retire. The investigation and subsequent planning highlight how each man's commitment to their respective professions has severely damaged their personal lives: Hanna's third marriage to wife Justine (Diane Venora) is in the early stages of a breakdown, threatened by his grueling work schedule and his troubled stepdaughter Lauren (Natalie Portman), his wife's child from a previous marriage. Shiherlis's relationship with his wife Charlene (Ashley Judd) is hampered by his crippling gambling addiction, pushing her into an extramarital affair. Only McCauley, who lives a solitary existence that forbids attachments and stresses mobility, finds his life renewed from a budding relationship with Eady (Amy Brenneman), a kind, naive graphic designer who believes him to be a metal salesman.

Gradually, McCauley realizes he is being surveilled, and counter-investigates Hanna and his Robbery-Homicide squad. Hanna, realizing he's been discovered, deliberately intercepts McCauley and invites him to coffee at a local diner. During their tense meeting, the two professionals examine each other and, despite their positive impressions, reveal that if necessary, they will not hesitate to kill each other if the situation demands it. Meanwhile Waingro, previously in hiding following the armored car heist, approaches Van Zant and offers to lead him to another member of McCauley's crew, Trejo (Danny Trejo) who is tortured with his wife into revealing information about McCauley's planned robbery, which Van Zant leaks to the police.

The robbery already in progress, Hanna and his unit, their ranks bolstered with uniformed police officers, drive to the bank and inadvertently surprise McCauley and his crew as they begin to leave. A chaotic gunfight breaks out in downtown Los Angeles, the robbers blasting their way past police blockades in an attempt at freedom. The firefight claims the lives of Cherrito and the getaway driver Donald Breeden (Dennis Haysbert), and several police officers, including one of Hanna's squad members, Bosko (Ted Levine). McCauley escapes with a wounded Shiherlis. Realizing Trejo's betrayal, McCauley visits his house where he discovers Trejo near death. In his final moments, Trejo reveals that Waingro and Van Zant are responsible before McCauley euthanizes the dying Trejo, and drives to Van Zant's house where he murders him. Learning about Van Zant's death, Hanna realizes that McCauley will next seek revenge against Waingro, now hiding in a hotel room under a false name and surveiled by police, and orders his team to spread information about Waingro's location to bait McCauley. Meanwhile, the police move Charlene Shiherlis and her son Dominic to a safe house where Sgt. Drucker (Mykelti Williamson) explains that Charlene will be charged as an accessory to her husband's crime and relocate her son to a foster home if she doesn't surrender Chris to the police. Chris appears hours later with an altered appearance to disguise his identity. Despite their marital problems, Charlene surreptitiously warns him about the police presence, the two sharing one last emotional look before Chris returns to his car and inconspicuously departs.

McCauley returns to Eady and breaks his longstanding creed, compelling her to flee with him to New Zealand. As he finalizes his plans, Nate reveals Waingro's whereabouts to McCauley. Confident with his escape plan, McCauley impulsively takes the bait and infiltrates the hotel, activating the fire alarm to vacate the hotel. With the hotel security and police distracted, McCauley barges in and kills Waingro before beginning his escape. Moments later, Hanna arrives at the hotel and from a distance observes Eady waiting in McCauley's car. As he approaches, McCauley emerges from the building and noticing Hanna, hesitantly defaults to his "thirty seconds" rule and abandons Eady, disappearing into the crowd with Hanna in pursuit. Following a tense cat-and-mouse chase in the darkness of the LAX freight terminal, McCauley nearly gets the drop on Hanna, but Hanna manages to shoot McCauley first, leaving him clinging to life in the fields of the adjoining runways. Knowing he has more in common with McCauley than anyone else in his life, Hanna moves to comfort his would-be killer, to which McCauley extends his hand and Hanna embraces. Together, the two share a final, quiet moment of reflection and understanding as McCauley dies.

Cast

*Al Pacino as Lt. Vincent Hanna
*Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley
*Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis
*Jon Voight as Nate
*Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto
*Diane Venora as Justine Hanna
*Amy Brenneman as Eady
*Ashley Judd as Charlene Shiherlis
*Mykelti Williamson as Sgt. Drucker
*Wes Studi as Det. Casals
*Ted Levine as Bosko
*Dennis Haysbert as Donald Breedan
*William Fichtner as Roger Van Zant
*Natalie Portman as Lauren Gustafson
*Tom Noonan as Kelso
*Kevin Gage as Waingro
*Hank Azaria as Alan Marciano
*Danny Trejo as Trejo
*Henry Rollins as Hugh Benny
*Tone Lōc as Richard Torena
*Jeremy Piven as Dr. Bob

Reception

Among audiences, the film is often considered one of the greatest crime pictures in cinema history, and has gained a significant following since its release.fact|date=September 2008 Heat's ranking on IMDB's "Top 250" has slowly been increasing since the list's inception. As of September 2008, it's currently placed at #141.

The film was also well received by critics. As of July 20th, 2008, it holds an 89 percent "fresh" rating on the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 76 on the Metacritic aggregate of film reviews.

"Heat" was listed as the 38th greatest film in history on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the "500 Greatest Movies of All Time".

Effect on real crime

The explicit nature of several of the scenes in Heat were cited as the model of a spate of robberies since its release. This included armored car robberies in South Africa, Colombia, and Denmark [ [http://free.financialmail.co.za/05/1209/leisure/fmalala.htm JUST BLAME THE HEAT] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3124879.stm Life imitates art in Colombia robbery] ] and a bank robbery in North Hollywood, California. [44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Bank Robbery Shootout (TV, 2003). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362389/]

DVD releases

A "bare bones" edition of "Heat" was released on DVD in 1999, which did not include any extra features. A two-disc special edition DVD was released in 2005, featuring an audio commentary by director Michael Mann, deleted scenes, and numerous documentaries detailing the production of the film. Warner has announced the Blu-ray Disc release of the film for 2008. [http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=937]

ee also

*"Heat" soundtrack

External links

*imdb title|id=0113277|title=Heat
* [http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/heat/ Metacritic Reviews]
*imdb title|id=0803002|title=Heat (video game)
*imdb title|id=0097700|title=L.A. Takedown
* [http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC43folder/Heat.html "Jump Cut" essay]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2D61231F934A15754C0A963958260 " De Niro and Pacino Star in a Film. Together." "New York Times" article]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E5DC1539F937A15751C1A963958260 "Michael Mann: Hot Again With 'L.A. Vice'" "New York Times" article]

References