Not sure, just all the interviews I have seen by actors that are in his films tell how he makes them go through extensive firearms training pre-production. Also, all of his films have a lot of gun porn in them; FNCs, Sig 55X, FALs, G3s, Galils, etc.
As for Miami Vice the TV series he was only the executive prodcer so I don’t know how much influence he had on the acting/coaching/firearm handling.
Realistic gun play, yes. Here’s an two-hour “clip” from the movie: Thief.
Shorter clip here: Confrontation.
Mann attended Jeff Cooper’s American Pistol Institute in 1979.
Outstanding. A big time Hollywood director who’s not an anti gun D bag. Makes me like his movies all the more now.
Thank you Sir, I knew Caan was sent to a school (couldn’t remember which one) but I did not know Mann attended as well.
Very cool, thanks for sharing.
And while we are on it Larry Vickers has it on pretty good authority that Tom Cruise is a 1911 aficionado.
Its about time Mann came up with a new movie like Heat/Collateral/Miami Vice. Anyone know if he has a movie in the works now? I am a huge fan of Mann & Ridley Scott.
-Jax
He has a new untitled feature film in the works slated for 2014, it is said to be a “cyber-thriller” project.
Copy. Thanks Moose.
Cruise=Garbage
Why does no one like Wahlberg as Swagger? I thought that was a half way decent movie.
Stallone has to be like 5’8"-5’9" as he is in some scenes from the Expendable movies a tad shorter or a tad taller than Statham who admits he is 5’9".
I’ve long been a Michael Mann fan, and it is interesting to see how his films have evolved. I’m currently resisting the urge to fire up the Blu-Ray player and work through Mann’s filmography with the Director’s Commentary turned on to see if he talks about Gunsite.
Interestingly, there is a list of notable Gunsite students at Wikipedia, and James Caan’s name is specifically not listed, along with the following explanation…
Actor James Caan is sometimes included in the foregoing list, but when he told Cooper than he wanted to learn the Modern Technique for his role in the Michael Mann production, Thief (1981), Cooper declined, reasoning that Caan’s character, an ex-con and career criminal, would not have been exposed to such training. Caan and Mann did, however, induce Gunsite’s then D.Ops, Galen D. “Chuck” Taylor, to give him a one evening crash course, not in shooting, but looking like he knew how to shoot and move with a handgun. So thorough was Taylor’s instruction, that many who saw the movie were convinced that Caan had been through Gunsite.
On the other hand, I briefly listened to the Thief commentary (nope, couldn’t resist) and clearly heard -
CAAN: “I got to handle these tools that Michael talked about…I got to handle my gun…oh, that was another great thing…we went to Jeff Cooper in Gunsite, Arizona and went through a course…we shot for two days…learned how to go through rooms, houses…how to draw and fire…”
During the final scene…
CAAN: “…and now we will see some of the techniques that Michael and I learned from Jeff Cooper called sweeping…sweeping a house, sweeping a room, etc.”
I’m inclined to take Mann and Caan’s statements over Wikipedia, but it is interesting to see the discrepancy.
Mann certainly invests in training his actors. If you haven’t watched the behind the scenes features on firearms training for Heat, Collateral and Miami Vice (the movie) I’ve linked them below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW0yebyGk-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8-P8sJNHk0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uoKTI_gmqo
There are certainly elements of Thief that appear in Heat, but if you were ever curious what Heat would look like on a 1980s ‘made-for-TV’ budget, check out Mann’s earlier attempt at this storyline, L.A. Takedown. I’ve linked the bank robbery sequence below, which is a surprisingly close analogue to Heat, but be warned - what has been seen cannot be unseen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7EqYkCsxzXc
Amazing what a difference a $60 million budget can make…
Interestingly, Mann revisited elements of Heat in 2002 when he produced the television series Robbery Homicide Division, which followed an elite unit of detectives very similar to Vincent Hanna’s (Al Pacino). Tom Sizemore (who played Michael Cherrito in Heat) was cast in the role of Lieutenant Sam Cole. Sadly, the series didn’t make it past its first season, though it showed promise. Here’s hoping that Mann revisits the crime drama yet again.
I actually think Miami Vice was pretty solid for the time period. Besides the involvement of Jim Zubiena as detailed in the PACT video, arming Sonny Crockett with the Bren Ten suggests that Mann was still dialed into Cooper, who was certainly the leading firearms authority at the time. Cooper was directly involved in the development of the Bren Ten, which would’ve been a cutting edge sidearm in 1984. When Crockett was equipped with a long arm, it was a M16 or the Steyr AUG as opposed to the ubiquitous pump action police shotgun.
Damn, now I’ve got to watch Heat again…
Did you read the book? If you did, don’t think you’d ask that one.
I’m 5’7 and I stood in front of Stallone and talked to him for probably 15 mins an he’s at least a few inches taller than I am. He’s listed as 5’10 on the net and he looked every bit of it when I met him. I looked carefully at his shoes, and they were not thick soled shoes. He could have had lifts in his shoes of course, but I can confirm, he’s taller than 5’8.
Sly has been for years surrounding himself w/ actors near his height and refuses close ups w/ significant taller men besides Drago in rocky 4 
He’s a wee man 
One of our members here is a former bodyguard of Stallone’s, maybe he can settle the debate if he so chooses to participate in the conversation.
You guys worked this old thread over pretty good today.
I finally watched the movie. It sucked. I’m a huge fan of the books and I just couldn’t get into it. In the books the Reacher character dwarfs his oponents, can’t drive worth a shit and his dialogue is wittier than the screenwriters pulled off.
I am going with lifts as it has been rumored for a while he uses them but who knows if it is true. He doesn’t look 5’10" to me at all. I’d be suprised if he is anything taller than 5’8" barefoot. Still taller than that dwarf of a terrible actor Cruise. Guy is what 5’6"? :lol:
The obsession with somebody’s height is strange.
Agreed, never gave a damn one way or another, never paid attention, etc. Only reason I mention Stallone is because after I met him first Q I got was “so how tall was he?” :rolleyes:
MM uses Ex SAS Mick Gould as Tech Advisor for all his recent film projects. He has his own MA called “Nagasu Do.”
Tech Advisor credits include: Colt 45", Public Enemies, Taken, Miami Vice, The Good Shepherd, Collateral, The Score, Ronin, The Replacement Killers, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Heat.
I have heard both versions regarding JC & GS. Dunno which is true.
My one question:
I’ve heard that he has a concealed carry permit, but thinks guns should be banned. That true? (Directed at anybody.)