December 22, 2015
'Heat' 20-Year Anniversary Mega-Pod
20 years ago this month, one of the great action movies of all-time was released. What were the 10 most important lessons from Heat? Was DeNiro vs. Pacino worth the hype? Was this peak Michael Mann? Was this one of the great ensemble casts ever? Has there ever been a longer or better action scene than the bank heist? What was Pacino's best line? Who won this movie between Pacino and DeNiro? If you ever wanted to hear two dudes do an hour-long deep-dive on Heat, this is the pod for you... THIS PODCAST IS WORTH THE RISK.
Cast
Al Pacino as Vincent Hanna
Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley
Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis
Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto
Jon Voight as Nate
Ashley Judd as Charlene Shiherlis
Amy Brenneman as Edie
Diane Venora as Justine Hanna
Natalie Portman as Lauren Gustafson
Dennis Haysbert as Donald Breedan
Ted Levine as Bosko
William Fichtner as Roger Van Zant
Tom Noonan as Kelso
Hank Azaria as Alan Marciano
Jeremy Piven as Dr. Bob
Henry Rollins as Hugh Benny
Kevin Gage as Waingro
Danny Trejo as Trejo
Wes Studi as Casalas
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Mykelti Williamson as Drucker
Brian Libby as Captain Jackson
Ricky Harris as Albert Torena
Tone Loc as Richard Torena
Xander Berkeley as Ralph
Directed by: Michael Mann
Written by: Michael Mann
Notes
- The movie originated as a TV pilot called LA Takedown – if Brandon Tartikoff and Michael Mann had agreed on the lead actor (Scott Plank), Heat never would have happened.
- 1995 was 'the last pre-internet year' – there wasn't as much information about movies going in. 'All we knew was there was a trailer and De Niro and Pacino were in it.'
- DVD era impact – Heat was one of the first DVDs that felt like being at the movies at home. 'The bank robbery scene, all of a sudden your living room... it was the first time I ever felt like I was at the movies at my own house.'
- De Niro vs Pacino was 'the Bird vs Magic for actors' – both Italian, both out of the 70s New York crime films, both method actors. They were in Godfather Two together but never in the same scene.
- There was an internet legend in the 2000s that De Niro and Pacino weren't in the same scene for the diner – meanwhile they're holding hands for the last 10 minutes of the movie.
- The diner scene was filmed at Kate Mantilini's on Wilshire in Beverly Hills. Michael Mann shot it mostly in the first take – he wanted the energy of the two actors just going at it.
- 'Collateral' is 'almost like the LA sequel' to Heat. Both are incredible Los Angeles movies by Michael Mann.
- Both actors declined after Heat – Pacino went into self-parody (though 'The Insider' and 'Any Given Sunday' were great), and De Niro gravitated into the 'Meet the Parents, I'll do any movie' phase.
- Bill watched Heat for the first time during one of the worst winters of his life in Boston, December 1995 at the Somerville Theater. 'I stumbled out of the theater.'
- The movie has had an incredible cable TV afterlife – 'it's been on once a week for 20 years.' You can jump in at any distinct part: the truck heist, the diner scene, Jeremy Piven showing up, Henry Rollins getting tackled.
Categories
Most re-watchable scene
- The bank robbery scene – 'What 15-minute action scene is better?' If you're flipping channels and that's about to come on, you're done. The machine gun sound is cacophonous, echoing off the big avenues downtown. One of the first great DVD experiences.
- The opening armored truck heist – a 25-minute sequence that takes your breath away. They did it for real, no CGI. The sound in the theater almost gave you a heart attack.
Best (or worst!) life lessons from the movie
- Never fall for a guy with no furniture – 'Why don't you have furniture? You don't have a TV? The guy could be going tomorrow.'
- Don't let word get out on the street that it's OK to steal your stuff.
- Have no attachments, have nothing in your life that you can't walk away from in 30 seconds if you spot the heat around the corner – great advice for a criminal, and they work the title of the movie into the signature line.
- If it rains, you get wet – 'a great high school senior yearbook quote.'
- Never leave a living witness – 'Don't take out 80% of the witnesses. Why leave one or two?'
- After you steal bearer bonds from a criminal, don't try to sell them back to him – and don't do the resale in an abandoned drive-in parking lot.
- When robbing an armored truck, don't call anyone 'slick' – if Sizemore doesn't say 'slick,' nobody ever catches these guys.
- If your regular life revolves around barbecue and ball games, your life sucks.
- Don't stay in the car patiently waiting for your psychotic criminal boyfriend if he mysteriously entered a massive hotel and dozens of police cars have arrived – just drive away.
Sequel, prequel, prestige TV or untouchable?
- Would be the greatest 10-to-12-episode Netflix series of all time. Michael Mann involved, same premise, blow out the subplots.
- The Dennis Haysbert cook storyline and the Natalie Portman subplot feel like TV plotlines already – 'if you're on episode nine of the season of Heat, you're like, OK, let's find out why the Natalie Portman character is depressed.'
- The Val Kilmer gambling problem – 'I want to see him on 7th Street getting killed by the last ace coming around the corner.' We never see any of those scenes.
- Jon Voight's Cayman Islands offshore business could be its own episode.
Best "that guy"
- Ted Levine – 'Last of the Mohicans bad guy, Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. He's so cool in this movie.'
- William Fichtner – 'Armageddon and a bunch of 90s stuff. He slays as Van Zant, the money laundering guy.'
- Tom Noonan – 'Internet legend. His stuff is just out there. You don't come to it. It's just out there. All you know is grab it. 13.9 million.'
- Kevin Gage as Waingro – 'I don't think he has a real name. He's now signing autographs as Waingro.'
Apex Mountain
- Tom Sizemore – 'Best Sizemore ever.' The 10-second pause before 'for me, the action is the juice' is the greatest moment in his acting career.
- Ashley Judd – 'Peak Ashley Judd. Has never looked better in a movie. Never liked her more in a movie.'
- Michael Mann – 'Peak Michael Mann. He's coming off 'Manhunter' and Last of the Mohicans.' His directing went from painterly to more handheld and gritty with Heat.
- Jon Voight – 'The birth of Jon Voight as all of a sudden becoming a character actor. It launched his whole character thing.'
- Amy Brenneman – 'Incredible Amy Brenneman run. NYPD Blue, Heat, then Judging Amy.'