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Saw this piece about one of my all time favorite movies: Heat (1995): . . . What are some movie scenes that are way more realistic than we might think? Heat’s Shootout Scene Has Been Used to Train U.S Marine Recruits Heat (1995), Michael Mann’s magnum opus, is one of the greatest movies of all time and one of my Top 10 favourite movies. It marked the first time Robert De Niro and Al Pacino shared screen space, but the movie has so much more to offer than just its iconic casting. Mann strove to imbue the film with an acute sense of realism. That authenticity manifests itself in both big ways and small. He spent 7 months on ride-alongs with the LAPD’s robbery and homicide department. It is that depth of dedication that makes Heat’s iconic shootout scene one of the greatest in film history. All actors were given firearms training for three months by former SAS soldier Andy McNab, and actors playing robbers were tasked with planning an actual bank robbery, including ‘casing the joint’ without getting caught. Since Mann was adamant on shooting on location, the sequence took several weeks to film because they could only work on weekends. Instead of dubbing-in the sound of gunfire later, Mann placed mics strategically around the location. For Mann, the action is the juice. In the film, the sound of the gunfire echoing off the skyscrapers adds to the visceral thrill of the scene. The bank robbery and shootout sequence were shown to United States Marine recruits at MCRD San Diego as an example of the proper way to retreat while under fire. And the part where Val Kilmer performs a rapid reload while under fire was shown as an example of how to perform that manoeuvre correctly. Heat has inspired movies – The Dark Knight, The Town, Den of Thieves and it has inspired video games – Grand Theft Auto 3 and 5 and Payday 1 and 2. Heat is the seminal, modern heist/robbery movie. It was made in ‘95. Still, a movie hasn’t been made since that has a deeper feel of authenticity. It feels so real that bank robbers then copied Heat. And when I was interviewing people in prison they referenced Heat. And when I was interviewing the FBI, they referenced Heat. So, aside from feeling bummed out that I’d always be in the shadow of Heat, I can certainly tell you, for sure, with great authority, that Heat is the one movie that’s cited as the real thing by people who really do that stuff. - Ben Affleck (Director, The Town) God I love Heat. A guy told me one time, “Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” . . . https://deepheeds.com/ . . .