A History Lesson in Heat

For those of you who might not know, Heat took a little while to make it to the big screen. Michael Mann originally wrote the script, but couldn't get it off the ground. In 1989, Mann decided to produce a television movie called L.A. Takedown, based on his original Heat script. He regarded it as a dry-run and produced a stripped down version of Heat for the small screen. Six years later, he got a full ensemble cast, millions in budget, and produced that sweet sweet showdown between Al Pacino and Robert Dinero.

Now, enough of the history lesson. Here's a little treat for you all. First, the epic scene between Al Pacino and Robert Dinero. This may be the best we'll ever get between the two film icons: they were performing at great levels, the dialogue they got to chew on was intense goodness, and for the first time onscreen, these two captivated an audience:




So, what does this have to do with L.A. Takedown? Well, what would that memorable scene look like with no-name actors, low production budgets, and did I mention, no-name actors? It would look like this. Seriously, you can blame budget, you can blame TV censorship, but really, it comes down to gravatis, or lack thereof. Enjoy this, cause it's quick a treat:



I really don't know, when do you need to smile in a time like this? And not any smile, a goofy sitcom, "let's be friends" smile (2:12). I'm sorry, but these performances are as good as my screen tests. Seriously.