Heat story
Heat is a 1995 American crime film written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann, starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Val Kilmer. De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a seasoned professional at robberies, and Pacino plays Lt. Vincent Hanna, an LAPD robbery-homicide detective tracking down Neil's crew after a botched heist leaves three security guards dead. The story is based on the former Chicago police officer Chuck Adamson's pursuit during the 1960s of a criminal named McCauley, after whom De Niro's character is named. Heat is a remake by Mann of an unproduced television series he had worked on, the pilot of which was released as the TV movie L.A. Takedown in 1989.
12 total · 1 choice · 9 major · 2 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| risk taking vs. playing it safe | choice | the film centered on Neil's decisions to walk away from heists, or proceed with them depending on "the heat" he was under |
| facing organized pursuit | major | Neil and crew were chased and tailed by the police but knew how to deal with it |
| how to rob a bank and get away with it | major | Neil and his crew robbed a number of bank-like institutions |
| law enforcement | major | We saw various ideas of what it might be like in the LAPD and related departments. |
| love vs. career | major | Vincent neglected his wife for his job; Neil in spite of tough talk, risked everything for Eady in the end |
| loyalty | major | Waingro betrayed Neil; Charlene stayed loyal to Chris; Neil thought that Eady had betrayed him outside the hospital |
| respect for an enemy | major | story came back to how Neil and Vincent came to appreciate each other's situation and intelligence - in the end the clasped hands |
| romantic love | major | Neil and Eady; Vincent and Justine |
| the desire for justice | major | Vincent was a driven police officer who wanted to see right done |
| the desire for vengeance | major | there were minor incidents of revenge, but in the end Neil blew everything because he wanted to get back at Waingro |