Tidbit on Mann's Heat

Michael Mann's Heat is one of my favorite movies of all time. I actually have many, many movies in the "one of my favorite movies of all time," so maybe take that with a medium size grain of salt. Nevertheless, I didn't know this. "The film is technically a remake of L.A. Takedown, a 1989 made-for-television film also written and directed by Mann; Mann had been trying to get Heat made for over a decade, and created L.A Takedown as a simplified version after his efforts were unsuccessful." The wikipedia page on L.A. Takedown is interesting. Here's a comparison of the two movies.

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 step-daughter, 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, straight forward story of a robbery and those directly involved, Heat fleshes this out, branching off into several subplots, including one of the thieves having a 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.