I've long been a fan of Michael Mann's work, dating back to my misspent youth watching Miami Vice reruns and trying to figure out what Sonny Crockett was carrying in Season One before the invention of Google. Mann's attention to technical proficiency gives his films a particular intelligence and air of authenticity that sets him apart from his contemporaries. While his attention to firearms selection and training makes him particularly appealing to the members here, his eye for detail extends to nearly any tool used by his characters. I recently was listening to the Director's Commentary for Thief (Mann is one of the few Directors that will get me to turn on the Director's track) and was struck by the array of real tools used by Frank (James Caan) during the film as he executes his heists.
The Thief commentary had a few more gems within as Mann and Caan discussed the making of the film. Mann apparently attended the American Pistol Institute in 1979.
JAMES 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...
JAMES 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."
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.
I'm inclined to take Mann and Caan's statements over Wikipedia, but it is curious to see the discrepancy. Still Mann's interest in properly training his actors (and actresses) in firearms use remains consistent throughout his filmography. Jim Zubiena becomes his lead trainer for Miami Vice (TV) and Manhunter. Thankfully Mann didn't let the made-for-TV LA Takedown dissuade him from revisiting that storyline in his epic, Heat. Andy McNab and Mick Gould trained the actors for Heat, with Gould continuing on to train Tom Cruise for Collateral and the cast for the 2006 big screen reboot of Miami Vice.
L to R Michael Mann, Robert Deniro and Mick Gould
Recently I discovered Mick Gould's website, which contains a neat gallery showing the training of the actors for Heat and Miami Vice. I'd never seen these production pictures from Heat before, so I thought I'd share with the fans on this site.
There are a number of videos that show the behind the scenes training for Heat, Collateral and Miami Vice. I'm sure they've been widely seen here, but thought I'd post them if anyone was interested.
Here's hoping that Mann returns to the crime saga soon.