LA Takedown (later remade as Heat)

Watched this recently on a low-quality VHS rip. For those who aren’t aware, LA Takedown was, in Michael Mann’s own words, the “prototype” for his later, and far superior, Heat.

The plot is almost identical, bar that it excises many of the subplots that gave Heat such texture as a crime drama: the central cop Hanna’s stepdaughter; the marital problems of the second-in-command to criminal McCauley (known in LA Takedown as McLaren); the struggling ex-con who is lured back in to act as the driver for McCauley during the climactic bank robbery.

LA Takedown is an interesting curio, but little more than that. Its TV roots seep from every pore, from the unconvincing dancing and corny music in any nightclub scene, to the truly awful acting.

Scott Plank – with the role later played by Pacino – is serviceable, but Alex McArthur in De Niro’s role is dire. If you think Pacino and De Niro were coasting in the 1990s, take a look at their version of the famous ‘coffee shop’ scene, and then compare it to Plank’s and McArthur’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQTn0psH_bM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZjraQagtTo


The dénouement of the film is similar, in terms of deaths, though how some characters meet their demise is different.

Has anyone else seen this?