FILM · 1995 · USA
Heat
- Directed by
- Michael Mann
- Runtime
- 170 min
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Forward Pass
40 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (40)
- #001
For the bank robbery shootout, Michael Mann placed microphones carefully around the set instead of dubbing in gunfire, so that the echoes in the canyon-like downtown could be captured live. This heightened the scene's impact because it resembled no other on-screen gunfight.
- #002
In an interview with Al Pacino on the DVD Special Edition, Pacino explained that for the restaurant scene between Hanna and McCauley, Robert De Niro felt the scene should not be rehearsed so that the estrangement between the two characters would seem more real. Michael Mann agreed and shot the scene without rehearsal.
- #003
When Kevin Gage was imprisoned for two years in 2003, his fellow inmates and the guards universally addressed him as "Waingro," his character in this film.
- #004
After watching the film, the current residents of the apartment building where Danny Trejo's death scene was shot grew curious and pulled up the carpet in the room where Trejo was shot. Surprisingly, they found that remnants of the theatrical blood were still there.
- #005
In the director's commentary, Michael Mann noted that Al Pacino improvised the line "Because she's got a GREAT ASS!" Hank Azaria confirmed this, saying Pacino's unexpected outburst "scared the shit out of me," "really terrified me," and that his shocked look was "not acting at all."
- #006
In the first draft of the screenplay, Vincent Hanna had a cocaine habit, which according to Al Pacino explains his exaggerated outbursts.
- #007
Val Kilmer stated that the main reason he chose to take a role in this film was so that for the rest of his life he could say Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, "Al and Bob."
- #008
In an interview, Michael Mann stated that Cherrito is a recovering heroin addict and that his giant peacock tattoo is there to cover track marks; he also replaced heroin with robberies, so he takes part in the bank robbery that gets him killed because the action gives him a higher high than heroin.
- #009
Waingro (Kevin Gage) is based on a real Chicago criminal named "Waingro" who informed on some powerful Chicago criminals. According to Michael Mann, Waingro disappeared. His body was found nailed to the wall of a shack in northern Mexico.
- #010
In June 2002, the footage shot after the bank robbery was shown to United States Marines at MCRD San Diego as an example of the correct way to retreat under fire.
- #011
The first film starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino together generated great excitement before its release. Both had appeared in The Godfather Part II (1974), but the split chronology prevented them from ever sharing the screen. When this film finally came out, even its promotional material described it as a De Niro and Pacino "showdown."
- #012
In the restaurant scene where McCauley and Hanna finally meet, Michael Mann ran two cameras simultaneously to create a higher level of fluidity between the two adversaries. Since there was no rehearsal for the scene, this approach gave both men more generous room for improvisational experiments.
- #013
Danny Trejo, who plays a member of the crew, was in real life an inmate at Folsom Prison, just like Neil in the film.
- #014
Michael Mann drew inspiration from the real-life interactions between Chicago detective Chuck Adamson and a highly professional career criminal named Neil McCauley. Many elements of the film were based on this, including the aborted robbery, the meeting between the two men, the fatal confrontation and more.
- #015
Amy Brenneman disliked the script and did not want to be in the film, saying it was immoral and full of blood. Michael Mann told her that with that mindset she would be perfect for the role of Eady.
- #016
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino's coffee meeting was shot at Kate Mantilini on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The Los Angeles landmark was a standout spot known for stylish late dinners. The restaurant had the word "heat" in neon letters above its door and displayed a large poster of the actors in the now-famous scene. Customers could request table 71, which appeared in the scene and was known to the waiters as "The Table," and De Niro and Pacino fans were happy to be welcomed at the famous meeting place. The restaurant closed in late 2014.
- #017
In the director's commentary, Michael Mann said that Neil's signature gray suits were designed to help him blend into the crowd and not draw attention to himself.
- #018
The "Console TV Man" who witnesses the armored car robbery was a real homeless man living near the shooting location. Shop owners in the area used to leave extension cords behind their stores so he could plug in his television. The producers met him while scouting locations for the film and arranged for him to take a small role.
- #019
The film's frank depiction of certain scenes has been cited as a model for a series of robberies committed since its release, including armored-car heists in South Africa, Colombia, Denmark and Norway, and most famously the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, in which Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Matasareanu robbed a Bank of America branch in North Hollywood and, much as in the film, were confronted by the LAPD as they left the bank. That confrontation is regarded as one of the longest and bloodiest events of its kind in American police history. Both robbers were killed during the shootout and eleven police officers and seven bystanders were wounded. The film was widely referenced during the shootout.
- #020
During the famous bank robbery shootout, Mann instructed the actors playing police officers to aim deliberately and to fire their rifles only in semi-automatic mode, showing that the police were taking care not to hit bystanders. By contrast, the robbers, concerned only with their own safety, fired their weapons fully automatically, striking many people around them in the process. Moreover, the weapons available to detectives would normally be semi-automatic only.
- #021
Val Kilmer was so experienced with heavy weapons and ammunition, having been taught to use all kinds of firearms on his own ranch by his father and grandfather and at Juilliard, that he helped teach members of the technical assault team and other actors how to move comfortably and handle their weapons during long training sessions.
- #022
Ted Levine was initially offered the role of Waingro, but he turned it down because he felt it was a typical role for him. He asked to play Bosko instead.
- #023
To prepare the actors for their roles as McCauley's crew, Michael Mann took Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore and Robert De Niro to Folsom State Prison to interview real career criminals.
- #024
Al Pacino recounted that when he performed An Evening With Al Pacino at the Teatro Colón in Argentina and they had to rehearse the final scene, Robert De Niro told him: "No words". He still believes that was the right decision.
- #025
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were Michael Mann's first choices for Hanna and McCauley.
- #026
While shooting the restaurant scene at Kate Mantilini in Beverly Hills, Michael Mann used the restaurant's real employees as extras. On the last day of filming he gave all of them SAG cards.
- #027
To help with his portrayal of Neil, Michael Mann visited inmates at Folsom prison to learn a little about prison life. Mann later said that Neil's collars were always perfectly starched, just as they are in prison.
- #028
According to Val Kilmer's autobiography, his manager tried to persuade him not to take a role in the film because he would not be paid according to his stardom, especially since Kilmer was shooting that year's highest-grossing live-action film, Batman Forever (1995). Kilmer insisted on taking the role, however, and asked Michael Mann to compensate him by placing his face on the film's poster between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, which Mann gladly agreed to do.
- #029
McCauley's thirty-second rule in action: when McCauley leaves the hotel to drive away with Eady, 42 seconds pass from the moment he first spots Lieutenant Hanna to the moment he turns and runs. It takes McCauley twelve seconds to assess the situation (he sees Lieutenant Hanna start to move away from Eady), and then thirty seconds for him to actually leave Eady behind.
- #030
At the party, Bosko tells a story about a grade-school friend named Raul. Michael Mann said the story was entirely improvised by Ted Levine and that he has no idea how Levine came up with it.
- #031
Nate (Jon Voight) is based on the real-life former career criminal Edward Bunker. Bunker had previously appeared in another famous heist film, Reservoir Dogs (1992).
- #032
The two main characters were formerly in the Marine Corps. Detective Hanna is mentioned during the briefing on McCauley's last robbery. McCauley is clearly visible with an Eagle, Globe and Anchor tattoo on his arm as he gets out of bed with Eady.
- #033
Jon Voight initially turned down the role of Nate and told Michael Mann there were several actors who could perform the part better. Mann told Voight he wanted him for the role because he had always wanted to work with him.
- #034
Before Danny Trejo was hired to play "Trejo" in this film, he and writer Edward Bunker had been hired as armed-robbery consultants, since both had served time for such crimes and knew every detail of committing them. When Michael Mann noticed Danny, Mann introduced him to Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer and Jon Voight, where they discussed cops-and-robbers bullshit. After the meeting, Trejo would win the role.
- #035
For the shootout at the bank, Mann wanted to depict the damage caused by gunfire realistically. Several of the cars used on location were taken to a shooting range and shot with real rifles. The bullet holes were then filled with bondo, painted over, and later blown open on camera with squibs.
- #036
In a promotional interview for The Keep (1983), Michael Mann stated that he wanted "Heat" to be brought to the screen (it had already been written) but that he was not interested in directing it.
- #037
Robert De Niro was the first actor to receive the film's script. He showed it to Al Pacino, who also wanted to be part of the film.
- #038
Because the story was based on a Chicago policeman and a criminal, Dennis Farina, a former Chicago police officer, served as a consultant on the film. Farina had previously played a Chicago cop on Michael Mann's series Crime Story (1986) and had also played a gangster in Mann's film Thief.
- #039
Keanu Reeves was initially set to play Chris Shiherlis, and Carsten Norgaard was also one of Michael Mann's options, but both lost the role when Val Kilmer was able to fit it into his schedule while shooting Batman Forever (1995).
- #040
On the film's DVD Special Edition, Mykelti Williamson said in an interview that Michael Mann arranged for the cast to meet real-life LAPD detectives and professional criminals at a private restaurant (whose name Williamson refused to reveal) where LAPD detectives and criminals socialized. The actors playing the detectives had dinner one night with LAPD detectives and their wives, while the actors playing the thieves had dinner on a separate night with real-life criminals and their wives. Williamson said Mann organized these events so the actors and actresses would have a better idea of how real detectives and criminals socialize and interact with each other.
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