LA Takedown - much better then Heat!

Richard Dower

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EqYkCsxzXc

Original + best! - i saw this late one night on BBC1 and was hugely impressed, had some of the most realistic gunfire i've seen, this movie was pretty hardcre for a made-for-tv flick!

It was a more condensed version of Heat, but i prefered it...Heat's scenes + dialogie are almost identical in many respects, if you have the means i suggest watching the original!

Another excellent movie for tv which i remember was this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBGfKtuo2AM

Based on real events, superb shootout!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095366/usercomments

mike65

I've not seen Heat but have seen LA Takedown and agree, its a good 90 min thriller.

krudler

Its not bad for an early work, but nah, Heat is one of the best movies of the 90's

rednik

No comparison. LA takedown has a cast of tv actors who do a decent enough job. The firefight scene is good but the scene in Heat is in a different league. Mann got the budget he wanted for Heat and made probably the best crime thriller ever. De Niro and Pacino were magnificent and the supporting cast of Kilmer, Sizemore, Trejo, Levine, Fichtner, Ashley Judd and John Voight were superb. Having Andy McNab as a tech advisor helped with the weapons and the action scenes.

iMax

Heat always seemed to me to be lacking, like there was a whole other story (Kilmer's probably) which was edited out & so affected the rest of the movie. It just doesn't "gel" for me.

I (IMHO) consider it ok, but apart from the shootout, I have absolutely no desire to see it again.

CokaColumbo

LA Takedown was only marginally better than HEAT but I have to say, the whole Pacino/DeNiro thing seemed so... contrived really. LA Takedown had much more realism about it. Maybe a bigger budget would have helped Michael Mann to do a better job.

krudler

CokaColumbo wrote: »

LA Takedown was only marginally better than HEAT but I have to say, the whole Pacino/DeNiro thing seemed so... contrived really. LA Takedown had much more realism about it. Maybe a bigger budget would have helped Michael Mann to do a better job.

What was contrived about it? they only have 2 scenes together, 3 if you include the shootout

Sad Professor

It's years since I've seen LA Takedown, but going on memory I would say Heat is superior in every way. However, Mann does suffer from that auteur tendency to retell the same story over and over. Thief and Collateral could both be considered tighter, shorter versions of Heat as well.

iMax wrote: »

Heat always seemed to me to be lacking, like there was a whole other story (Kilmer's probably) which was edited out & so affected the rest of the movie. It just doesn't "gel" for me.

I don't think so. A fair few of Sizemore's scenes got cut, but afaik most of Kilmer's scenes are in the film.

I think we got enough scenes involving De Niro's crew anyway. I would have liked more focus on the cops. Bosko (Ted Levine) gets killed during the shootout and no mention is ever made of it, but Mann finds Sizemore important enough to cut away to his wife responding to the news. Considering how much Mann emphasises Hanna's social conscience, a scene of him breaking the news to Bosko's wife or going to his funeral would have been nice.

CokaColumbo

krudler wrote: »

What was contrived about it? they only have 2 scenes together, 3 if you include the shootout

I'm only kidding.

Cork boy 55

Comparison to Heat

Mann's original script was written in the early 1980s, and spanned 180 pages. For L.A. Takedown, he cut the script down to 110 pages, removing several sub-plots and plot complications. This included Hanna's relationship with his wife and stepdaughter, Chris Shiherlis' gambling addiction, and the entire Van Zant sub-plot. Using the original script, Mann decided to remake LA Takedown as it was originally intended; a complex, multi-layered crime drama.
Whereas LA Takedown was produced in just a month, with 10 days on pre-production and 19 days of shooting, Heat took over 9 months to produce, with six months of pre-production and 107 days of shooting. Takedown was also made on a low budget, while the budget of Heat is estimated at over $50 million.
Although having bigger stars, a bigger budget and better effects, the most significant difference seen in Heat is the storyline. Whereas L.A. Takedown told a simple, straightforward story of a robbery and those directly involved, Heat fleshes this out, branching off into several subplots, including Shiherlis' gambling addiction, bearer bonds being held for ransom from their original owner, Detective Hanna's family problems, and several plot complications. Because of this, Heat runs nearly twice the length of L.A. Takedown.












The above is from a wiki entry on LA takedown


I agree with the OP "LA takedown" is a great movie and better than HEAT
The major shooting scene in HEAT is better for special effects I will admit


Takedown has a rawness to it and edge
HEAT is too hollywood and as someone else said its fake and contrived.
Deniro and al pachino is same movie WOW who gives a ****?:pac: