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Released in 1995 to critical acclaim, Michael Mann’s heist-thriller “Heat” represents quite a few cinematic turning points. It’s the first time that Hollywood legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino shared a scene. It’s also one of the last times Pacino turned in a real acting performance before he began simply showing up on set and screaming his lines as loud as he could.
But it’s probably most remembered for its downtown LA gunfight scene, which is all but guaranteed to show up on any list of “realistic” action sequences. In an article published in 2019, Business Insider celebrated Val Kilmer’s performance in particular, remarking that the scene is used to train American Green Berets at Fort Bragg and marines training at MCRD San Diego. The military news site “Task & Purpose” further celebrated the scene in 2020, calling the it “the most realistic firefight in movie history.”