Scene of the Week: Heat Bank Robbery and Gunfight

I will go ahead and tell you that this gunfight from the excellent DeNiro/Pacino lead Heat is my all-time favorite gun battle in movie history. I love everything about it. The robbery scene is so simple and well executed and the craziness that ensues is much closer to a real gun battle than anything you’ll normally see in films.

Many of the things that I hate about movies like Shooter or the Red Dawn remake are excellently portrayed here. The way that Val Kilmer handles and reloads the rifle is great and the sound of this gunfight makes it that much more realistic. I’ve been lucky enough walk to away from a few scrapes back in my Army days and my disdain for many action films comes from how poorly they translate real combat to the screen. Heat gets most of it right! You won’t find a better shot and edited gun battle anywhere and if I’m wrong please tell me because I would watch that scene in a second.

This film also has one of the most outstanding casts that I’ve ever seen so if you haven’t watched Heat or maybe it’s been a long time since you’ve checked it out then you should cozy up on your sofa tonight and make sure you turn your volume up super loud. This shootout deserves to shake the walls!