Roger Ebert gave the film stars out of 4 . He described Mann 's script as " uncommonly literate " , with a psychological insight into the symbiotic relationship between police and criminals , and the fractured intimacy between the male and female characters : " It 's not just an action picture . Above all , the dialogue is complex enough to allow the characters to say what they 're thinking : They are eloquent , insightful , fanciful , poetic when necessary . They 're not trapped with cliches . Of the many imprisonments possible in our world , one of the worst must be to be inarticulate — to be unable to tell another person what you really feel . " Simon Cote of '' The Austin Chronicle '' called the film " one of the most intelligent crime-thrillers to come along in years " , and said Pacino and De Niro 's scenes together were " poignant and gripping . " Kenneth Turan of the '' Los Angeles Times '' called the film a " sleek , accomplished piece of work , meticulously controlled and completely involving . The dark end of the street does n't get much more inviting than this . " Todd McCarthy of '' Variety '' wrote , " Stunningly made and incisively acted by a large and terrific cast , Michael Mann 's ambitious study of the relativity of good and evil stands apart from other films of its type by virtue of its extraordinarily rich characterizations and its thoughtful , deeply melancholy take on modern life . " Owen Gleiberman of '' Entertainment Weekly '' gave it a B − rating , saying that " Mann 's action scenes ... have an existential , you-are-there jitteriness , " but called the heist-planning and Hanna 's investigation scenes " dry , talky . " The explicit nature of several of the film 's scenes was cited as the model of a spate of robberies since its release . This included armored car robberies in South Africa , Colombia , Denmark , and Norway and most famously the 1997 North Hollywood shootout , in which Larry Phillips , Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu robbed the North Hollywood branch of the Bank of America and , similarly to the film , were confronted by the LAPD as they left the bank . Phillips did have a copy of the movie where he lived . This shootout is considered one of the longest and bloodiest events of its type in American police history . Both robbers were killed , and eleven police officers and seven civilians were injured during the shootout . '' Heat '' was widely referenced during the coverage of the shootout
North Hollywood shootout
North Hollywood shootout
Heat (1995 film)