Heat might have gone down in history as a genre-defining thriller movie, but like all great directors, Michael Mann can’t help but wonder how he could have elevated the ‘90s movie further. In a 2022 longread, Cinephilia & Beyond celebrated the 27th anniversary of Heat, and even interviewed the ‘Mann’ himself.
And while he was full of praise for Al Pacino, who delivered one of his best movie performances ever in Heat, the director admitted that, if given the opportunity, he would change one specific thing about the method actor’s performance. “If I had one thing I would do over differently, I would probably hang on Al more in the chop-shop scene,” he said.
“That scene comes from someplace—it’s about the relationship between a really high-line pro like Hanna and the informant. You’ve got to motivate him and shake him. It’s not that he will tell you the truth all the time.”
He continued, “That only happens in movies. In real life, it doesn’t. If you need to know something, your management of him is highly manipulative, and that is what’s being characterized here, particularly that Hanna has one modality and one objective: make my informant be ill-at-ease, let’s rattle his cage. That’s why that scene is that way. It’s not laughing at Al being large.”
If you want to watch Heat and the infamous chop-shop scene for yourself, you can catch the action movie in full on streaming services like Netflix. Otherwise, here’s our guide to all the new movies coming your way this year.