The shootout in Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995) remains one of the best ever filmed, in my opinion. Mann himself even tried topping it in Miami Vice (which is good in it’s own right), but this scene (which occurs some minutes in) is so loved, Rockstar Games actually developed a mission in Grand Theft Auto 4 to mimic it.
A group of bank robbers, led by Neal McCauley (Robert DeNiro) finally take down their score, only to find that the police squad out to get them has been tipped off. The video starts as the robbery begins. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), along with his team arrive just as the crew is coming out of the bank with the money. The rest is mayhem, with the gunfire sounds echoing all around. Elliot Goldenthal’s score for the piece sets the tone for the robbery, a piece called Force Marker (along with Brian Eno).
What I wouldn’t give to catch this in a theatre somewhere. Enjoy.
Through the Shattered Lens 
I’ve always felt that Heat was less than the sum of it’s parts. While certain scenes are good, the movie as whole just doesn’t do it for me. I do love an earlier film by Mann called Thief.
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I think that Heat and Thief are connected in some way. Heat only stutter steps for me after that shoot out. The movie stretches out a little longer than it should have after that part. Still love it though. I remember hearing that Heat was essentially a richer remake of what Thief was (unless I’m off there, which is very much possible). Thief’s a great film though.
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I’m not really a big fan of either car chases or shootouts, but I agree that this was well-done. But what strikes me about the scene is the f’d-up prioritization it represents. How many people – cops, bank employees, bystanders – are killed or injured, possibly permanently disabled, or at least traumatized to get the money back? I don’t know how many “innocents” we are supposed to believe were or were not causalities of that mayhem, and not having seen the film, I don’t know if there was any public or official backlash for the manner in which that situation was handled. But as a citizen, I would rather have the robbers get away than have that kind of a fiasco of a police response. If there was neither, that would be a strike against the film’s credibility. DeNiro was right – it’s Federally-insured. (I know – it’s only a movie.)
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