Heat (1995) on Netflix
Neil McCauley runs a crew of professional thieves in Los Angeles. Lieutenant Vincent Hanna works Robbery Homicide, and McCauley's armored car robbery brings the detective onto his trail.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb8.3/10818,714 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes84%
Trailer
Plot summary
An armored car robbery in Los Angeles puts $1.6 million in bearer bonds into the hands of Neil McCauley's crew: Chris Shiherlis, Michael Cheritto, Gilbert Trejo, and a new recruit, Waingro. Waingro shoots a guard without cause, and the crew kills two more to get clear. McCauley wants him dead for it; Waingro escapes. Lieutenant Vincent Hanna of Robbery Homicide takes the case, while his third marriage, to Justine, strains and he cannot reach his stepdaughter, Lauren. McCauley lives alone and begins seeing Eady, a graphic designer newly arrived in Los Angeles with no ties there. McCauley does not know that Waingro kills underage prostitutes.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Heat (1995)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- French career criminal Rédoine Faïd told Michael Mann at a film festival, "You were my technical adviser", and the media linked later robberies to the film, including the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, after which a copy of Heat was found in robber Larry Phillips Jr.'s VCR.
- Al Pacino's Detective Hanna is largely based on Chicago detective Chuck Adamson, who tracked the real thief Neil McCauley; the pair's one coffee meeting is portrayed in the film and their script dialogue comes from that real conversation, while their next meeting, with guns drawn, is also mirrored.
- Keanu Reeves was offered the role of Chris Shiherlis but turned it down to play Hamlet at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, so Val Kilmer got the part instead, and Jon Bon Jovi also auditioned.
- For a 1999 NBC television broadcast, the network cut nearly 40 minutes from Heat; Michael Mann said the cuts destroyed the film's narrative and integrity, and had his director's credit replaced with the pseudonym "Alan Smithee".
- To make the shootout realistic, the filmmakers hired ex-Special Air Service sergeant Andy McNab, who trained the actors for three months with live ammunition before they shot with blanks; the training worked so well that the U.S. Army used parts of the film to train new soldiers.
- Michael Mann asked for locations that had not appeared on film before, and fewer than 10 of the film's 85 locations had been; the hardest was Los Angeles International Airport, where the crew nearly missed the shot because of an Unabomber threat to the airport.
- Xander Berkeley, who played Waingro in the 1989 TV film L.A. Takedown, was considered to reprise the role in Heat but a commitment to Barb Wire caused a scheduling conflict; he was given a different part and is the only actor in both versions.
- Michael Mann took Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore and Robert De Niro to Folsom State Prison to interview real career criminals for their roles, and Ashley Judd met former prostitutes who had become housewives while researching hers.
