A lot of people mention that the ending music sounds similar to the end guitar solo in "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd, well there's a reason for that: Mann wanted to use "Comfortably Numb" for this scene but Pink Floyd declined, so he got Craig Safan to compose a similar piece that avoided copyright infringement issues. Mann must really like that song because he also used elements of it in the music for "Manhunter".
OMG same here, I've ALWAYS drawn parallels to that 'extremely dramatic and hypnotic' sound/similarities. Thank you for clearing that up. And yes, Miami Vice, Manhunter and Heat all also used a similar 'sound/background'. That classic Tangerine Dream/Jan Hammer/Craig Safan vibe.
Thief is a masterpiece of cinema, there's no other way to describe it. The fact that it's flown under the radar is saddening because this should be held up as one of 80s cinema's greatest achievements.
@@insanelyheinousbeefer The film wasn't well-received by audiences and critics alike upon its release, many thought the score was poor and took issues with the editing. Thief is criminally underrated and I totally agree with Sebastian here. This is the film that defined the neon-brushed aesthetics of '80s neo-noirs and paved the way for modern classics like Drive or The Place Beyond the Pines. Not to forget that NWR is basically carrying early Mann's legacy today. People need to go back to this masterpiece.
Always awesome. I ran into James Caan in an elevator once, and complimented him for this performance...something he had no doubt heard a thousand times...
5:18 what’s so great about that is not the slow-motion reload but the fact that Frank still probably as another round or two left but he’s smart enough to reload at the right moment instead of running out of bullets and having to reload mid-gun battle. It’s little details like that that make this film a masterpiece in every sense of the word!
Hollywood was generally poor went it came to guncraft unless it was advised decently and choose to listen to the pros. Glad they did with this one. Mann is generally sharp and wise on accuracy as was Caan (RIP) when it came to getting it right.
This movie was way ahead of its time. It’s 1981 but Mann’s style and Tangerine Dream’s overall soundtrack, it felt like something from much later in the decade.
Well Mann kinda was one of the forces behind the 80s culture. Don't forget he made Miami Vice which was HUGELY influential on popular culture and the 80s aesthetic. Armani got their leg up onto the international market from Miami Vice for example.
Well, some might debate about a little movie called 'The Godfather' but, I probably still have to agree with you as that was not a 'James Caan movie', he was just in it. :-)
Killer climax to a killer film. James Caan is cool incarnate. Robert Prosky was pretty agile for an older gent. Gotta love Dennis Farina's bit as the shotgunner. Michael Mann is the man.
@Englewood Frank21 Prosky's first film was back in 1971, he made other's before. Actually this was Dennis Farina's first film. He just retired as a cop from the Chicago PD.
I remember seeing this in the theater when I was younger. It always spoke to me about the ways people use power to control you, and how true freedom always means being willing to burn it all down and walk away. Be careful who you give power to.
What's interesting about the way James Caan handles his 1911 in this scene is that this was, in the '80s, the most up-to-date "modern technique" taught with handguns -- the high thumb grip, modified Weaver stance, the room clearing techniques, this was all considered cutting edge at the time (even if some of it has been superseded in the decades since). Michael Mann sent James Caan to Arizona to learn all this from Jeff Cooper, who was one of the men who developed it. I've read that, although Cooper trained Caan for the film, he was reluctant, as this was pretty new stuff at the time, and not taught to many people outside law enforcement, and serious competitive shooters. Cooper, since he'd never had a career criminal come through any of his classes, felt it was unrealistic for a professional thief to have learned these techniques. I've even read that Cooper declined to teach Caan this stuff because he didn't want it associated with criminals, and his friend and associate Chuck Taylor took Caan aside and was the one who taught him, but Caan, in an interview, mentioned Cooper by name as the one he learned from, so I don't doubt that Cooper went ahead and did it, probably valuing the publicity, and thinking it would just be really cool to see the stuff he was teaching up there on the big screen. It did make for a really incredible ending scene for the movie.
I can see what Cooper was saying but Mann’s characters were never the run of the mill guys into ‘thrill-seeking liquor store holdups’, it was the one out of a thousand guy who was truly dedicated to his profession. Anyhow for and after Heat he always used Mick Gould for his training
Mann mad Caan attend a rigorous live fire training course on handling a .45. Caan also learned how to peel a safe from real thieves. Sgt. Urizzi, Paul Santucci was a legitimate criminal. Mann also used real cops. There's a great interview about it.
Caan was quite mobbed-up. There was heat associated with him, hence why this film has gone under the radar for so many years. Additionally, you can always tell a Michael Mann film, by wet streets and lights. Signature.
What stands out to me is how ahead of the time this scene is when it comes to gun handling. James Caan moves like an actual SWAT officer as he holds the gun pointed downwards rather than up, uses a 2-hand grip constantly, performs tactical reloads and clears rooms very slowly and cautiously. This was unseen in movies back in 1981. I actually believe James Caan knows how to shoot guns and - most importantly - knows how to hold a gun in a manner that would help him survive against armed mobsters.
@@BenzaitenTower Glock is less than second rate now. Disgusting triggers, Gen 5's did literally nothing. Gen 4's only added a red dot plate. S&W's M&P lines have destroyed Glock for quite a few years now. Even Walther just released the PDP which has the best striker fire trigger to date. Glock's are a relic now that are just pistol lego kits. There has been no reason to carry a Glock past 2015 because there are not only better pistols out there, but more up to date as well.
@@Hot80s He was brilliant as Jack Crawford in Manhunter. Of course, Scott Glenn was similarly fantastic as that character in Silence of the Lambs, but when I hear the name Jack Crawford, it’s Dennis Farina that comes to mind. An amazing actor, (among many other talents) who we sadly lost just about 10 years ago now.
Michael Mann is the greatest director of action scenes ever. You can see the beginnings of Miami Vice, Heat, Last of the Mohicans, Collateral all here.
That's a custom Jim Hoag longslide 1911 by the way. Room clearing and pistol techniques taught by an instructor from Gunsite. Don't forget, Michael Mann is himself a certified Range Instructor.
It is indeed a Jim Hoag longslide for certain shots in this scene and the classic "I am the last guy in the world that you want f**k with!" scene, but in others, such as the slo-mo reload, entering Leo's living room and actual firing, its a standard length Colt Gold Cup. Once you see it you cannot unsee it!
I don't really like Steven Seagal that much you never knows how to lighten up only movies I liked him in are Marked for Death and Out for Justice and Under Siege
James Caan went to a place in Arizona called American Pistol Institute to learn proper gun handling and room clearing from a retired Marine Corps Lt Colonel. This type of proper firearms training was unheard of at the time as most actors just wanted to look cool when handling a gun on screen. Caan later used the tactics he learned in Alien Nation, Eraser, and The Way of The Gun.
Great build up tension, especially with the cinematography and camera angles. It was obvious James Caan received training in his tactical movements and use of his pistol, something in all Mann films depict. Gotta love the music too, sounds similar to Pink Floyd.
@@gunther_hermann Caan was also likely no newbie lightweight around guns. He came from a background of bull riding rodeos and the Brooklyn streets. I guantee you he had been around guns his entire adult life.
Yes, so many fan edits leave this crucial detail out. It fits so well with the philosophical dimension of this thriller...I think what Mann is trying to say is that these underworld types sacrifice the norms of civilian life like love. I guess he spelled it out more clearly in the ending of Heat.
Yeah it’s some deep shit. Whether it’s his wife or the maid it shows what living under the thumb of the mob gets you completely broken lost and apathetic. The comfortably numb soundtrack playing too. Damn.
also remember when Leo talks about how his family is the most important thing? Obviously his wife disagrees. It's almost like she wants Frank to burn it all down.
Best sub scene, in my opinion, the moment Frank appears out of the front door, going after the "milk man". His determination is carved on his face. He's like, "you started this, but I am gonna finish it"!
One of the most Satisfying movie endings of all time. Mann's debut set the tone for the rest of his TV and movie work. Plus I believe this is James Caan favourite of his own movies and he is simply outstanding especially in this final sequence. This ending is right up there with Heat and Collateral Mann's other seminal movies that followed in the 90's and 00's.
By far one of the most satisfying ending in the history of cinema. Knowing that the Tangerine Dream Soundtrack (this is the only song not from them, from Craig Safan) was and the second place at the Razzie for the worst score make me think about what they drank before hearing the pieces.
James Caan was a fantastic actor. From El Dorado with the Duke to Sonny in The Godfather with Brando to Freebie and the Bean with Arkin to Misery with Bates and he even played in a romance with Marsha Mason in Chapter Two and let's not forget Rollerball. He played many genres very skillfully. He can't be replaced, especially with the quality of so called "actors' of today. RIP sir.
My God, Rollerball. That last scene after he has wiped out everybody and everything, against all odds, the way he scates towards the camera with that granite look of determination on his face, is UNFORGETABLE!!
As much as I love this ending to this masterpiece, I still would have loved to have seen a cut of the original ending where he met up with Tuesday and his Son a few months later.
@@robertbeckman2054Gen X grew up with this stuff but started mocking it in the 90's and some of them still think everything about the 80's was terrible.
Man here I am after finding this movie again one of the best actors James Caan is the man takes no prisoners in this movie. Don’t ever think you can bring a man down who already has pride and heart. Caan told them from the start he doesn’t need anything or anybody.
@@akos2432 I still enjoy Collateral and Manhunter And Heat, especially Miami Vice, Mann is a genius and is the best in my opinion, Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese are pretty amazing though too
While I might agree with you here, both Heat and Manhunter were also EPIC. Miami Vice speaks for itself of course. On a hilarious side note, Michael Mann was also in 'Smokey and the Bandit', he was the deputy that drives/wrecks Sheriff Branford's police cruiser LOL.
I absolutely love this ending and the scenes preceding it. Its left for the viewer to decide whether he survived or not. Either or: I regard this is his grand graduation, he reached self-actualization throughout the film and displayed his full potential here and proved why he has earned the spot of being a legend for years to come...ascending to the status of infamy. Chirped alive in murmurs traded in dark hallways that are shielded from the screaming winds and fleeting graffiti on the side of subways cars... A true legend, like Earp, James, Dillinger and the like...now and his presence will loom down the backs of anyone who whispers tall tales about his mythological status like ice
@@robertmccauley754 Unless you believe he wore the vest to be extra cautious to survive long enough to kill his targets. He might not have been thinking any further beyond this.
@Envoy no he gave her $410,000 and he told Jessie to give Joseph $10,000 for a month, $20,000 for a second month, and $30,000 for a third. He was sending her on her own and he made it clear by saying she was gonna be paying Joseph.
I LOVE the woman's reaction to him when watching TV in living room.... "Go ahead and wack em' all. Just leave me outta it!" No love in that house. Back to the boob tube :+)
only idiots can talk badly about this film, this is one of the best films of the 80s, Mann does not care about the plot logic, like all the films of Mann this is a perfect combination of image and music, some great critics have talked about this film as a visionary and nocturnal film, where what matters and the sparkling light of the thermal lance, the end is a hyperrealism killing (the best are Thief, Taxi Driver and Manhunter of Mann himself, also in Manhunter perfect combination of music and image, and some frames cut during the final shooting, while in Taxi Driver the shootings are genially accelerated) Mann remembers the violent poetics of JP Melville and I said everything!
@@roderickstockdale1678 yes I was wrong to associate them in the same sentence (I did not check the translator), it was obvious that Taxi Driver was by Scorsese, which in my opinion is one of the greatest films ever made
That old man was gangsta! 2 shots to the chest and he was still trying to shoot Frank! But you can't beat that one hitter quitter to the dome. Micheal Mann is the Man! One of my favorite flicks!
yeah...that 3rd shot wasn't a headshot. Dead center on the chest. though the splatter behind him makes it look like a headshot you can clearly see the giant patch of blood in the center of his chest that wasn't there before he fired again. quite possibly one of the most overacted death scenes I've ever seen though.
how did i never hear about this movie until 2020? my friends should be ashamed of themselves along with me too. this ending was amazing...just a damn good movie overall.
Excellent quality. I first saw this film in 1981 and has always been in my personal favourites top 10. I finally see where he shoots Robert Prosky the final time (Between his eyebrows) which has bugged me for decades. Thanks.
@@charlesporter1148 Strongly disagree Charles. Freeze the picture at 4m.34secs and you can see the "bullet hole" make up effect just above where Leo's right eyebrow meets the bridge of his nose. Freeze it at 4mins 40secs and its very visible again, just above his spectacles frame in a closer view of Leo's face. You can also see that the blood spatter effect on the wall behind is clearly centred on his head. If it was exiting his back from a downward trajectory chest shot then the splatter pattern would be far lower down the wall, The "blood" on the chest is flowing from the first two shots to the chest. This is the first cinematic example of Michael Mann showing what would become almost a trademark for him: the "Failure to stop" shooting technique, a.k.a "The Mozambique Drill" or simply: " 2 to the chest 1 to the head". (I think he also used it at least once in the "Miami Vice" tv show). He likes to show this technique. Other examples that come to mind are Tom Cruise killing the mugger in the alley and killing the target in the night club in "Collateral", Sizemore executing the armoured car guard in "HEAT" (a liitle OTT considering he was using an FAL in 7.62x51 at point blank range) and De Niro executing "Waingro" also in "HEAT".
Michael Mann at his best! Great Movie, Well Written, Fantastically Casted and Edited! But the thing I love the most! is That a lot of the movie scenes were shot on location in Chicago, as a kid growing up in the city I recognized the places! And now as an old man I've rewatched this movie over & over because it's like a time machine for me! It makes me think back as a young man! I love Michael Mann Movies!
um...I think that's just two cameras filming at the same time. I doubt they would have even thought about it, nor would anyone have noticed if it wasn't.
Mann and Caan don't agree about the ending. Mann says Frank goes nowhere, Caan says he gets everything back. Although Mann made the movie, I go with Caan after rewatching it. Frank's not going to cower somewhere thinking about what he has lost, he's on his way to reclaim everything that belongs to him.
Frank "achieved that mental attitude" (where he doesn't give a f**** if he lives or dies, where nothin' means nothin') that enabled him to perform without fear of losing, without fear of his family losing. But, before leaving his house for the confrontation Frank told Jessie, "this is not what was supposed to be." Frank also donned a Type III Kevlar vest... which doesn't seem to fit the "live or die" concept, unless you assume he wanted to live long enough to complete his task. After the confrontation Frank walked away, walked past his car, left a discarded magazine on the grass, wasn't wearing gloves... left fingerprints. Frank also did not know where Jessie worked it out with Joseph where they were to go; Frank had no clue where they went, he destroyed his businesses, his partner Barry was killed and Okla died. Frank goes nowhere, and likely ends up back in prison.
@@igkgigoh Chuck He donned the vest so he had a better chance of getting Leo he may have still been worried they'd kill his family if there were enough of them left. I say he wore the vest to increase his chances of killing Leo and as many as he could
@@ChuckMaureen Frank caught a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles to make a new life for himself. With his criminal connections, an emergency cash reserve, he bought some new identity papers and a small apartment, very near Venice Beach. Frank shed his old life and became 'Chico', a transvestite Mexican hooker, selling his wares to all and sundry. Chico enjoyed his new life for many years. He maintained the warm LA climate, as well as his customers occasional sperm facial, was good for his skin.
Dynamite ending. I love how Robert Prosky manages to quickly grab his gun after taking two hits and still tries to get the kill. It’s the little things.
He tied everything together in the card that represented his life and through a rigorous series of attempts to change him that he unyielding resisted - he came out on top. His process of individuation is complete! Even if he is half dead and has no material worth left... haunt the streets Frank you mean, stubborn bastard and if you cross anyone who is hustling you: swallow them whole so you can puke their guts out onto their casket as it lowers down!
This style of cinematography is why Michael Mann is one of my favorite directors. Heat, Collateral, Manhunter, and most of all Thief. He shines when it comes to film noir.
Some people say it’s the maid but I like to think it’s his wife too. Earlier in the movie Leo talks about how important his family is and here is his wife so dead inside she could care less people are being murdered in front of her. Meanwhile it’s Leo’s henchmen who are the real family. “You want some milk?” 😳 😂
"so, how do you want me to die here" Mann "you are getting shot in the fucking face, and even after you hit the floor and your brains are blown out, you are so pissed that you scream!"
Haha To be honest it didn’t seem like an angry scream to me. The scream illicited pity in me. Something I wasn’t ready for because Leo is the obvious antagonist. It makes me wonder if Mann planned it that way to point out that everyone was a victim of the system somehow.
From David A. Wood: I was fortunate enough to have seen "Thief" on Cable TV's Showtime Movie Network on the morning of May 2, 1982. My verdict upon the film still stands to this very day in that Michael Mann's film, which I believe was his first theatrical film, is a gloriously beautiful film! I am not going to waste the reader's time in detailing the movie's entire plot; at least, I will try to keep discussion of the plot down to a minimum. Rather, I am just going to discuss two of the most important attributes of the movie "Thief." That is, the film's soundtrack and cinematography..Now, on with the discussion! "Thief's" elegantly gritty cinematography alone, which is the inspiration for many 1980s urban-oriented films/early MTV music videos, is alone worth the price of admission. Another reason someone should see "Thief" is because of the eerily entrancing, synthesizer score by the German musical group Tangerine Dream. I still love the way the synthesizer induced soundtrack hypnotically sets the movie's mood all throughout its running time. The soundtrack itself is almost another character as it is made to comment on the following scenes: James Caan's safecracker character Frank happily conversing with his former prison buddy/criminal mentor (Willie Nelson); Frank allowing himself to be figuratively seduced in a Faustian-style into joining "the corporation" in order to gain his longstanding dream of affluent respectability by one of "the corporation's" top executives (a chillingly avuncular Robert Prosky); Frank completing and/or planning his various "jobs;" Frank being violently disciplined by corrupt Chicago Police Dept.detectives; and last, but not definitely least, the movie's seductively thrilling climax, where Frank flamboyantly breaks away from "the corporation." Incidentally, in case no one already knew it, the corporation within the movie happens to be Chicago's longstanding American Mafia Family, an organized criminal entity notoriously known as "The Outfit." Additionally, the ecstatically enjoyable combination of cinematography and music highlights another scene early in the movie, where Frank is on his way to a date at a Chicago nightclub.The "date" in question is of the romantic variety, and it is.with his new fiancee, a woman with an equally dubious past (well played by character actress Tuesday Weld). Please allow me to set up the scene, which is tastefully accompanied by music, as Frank's snarky 1981 Cadillac Eldorado briskly glides through the rain-soaked streets of Chicago as a Blues Music band, fronted by none other than the legendary Chicago Blues musician Willie Dixon, expertly entertains the various patrons, including Frank's highly perturbed girlfriend. Once Frank is inside the nightclub. he and his fiancee heatedly, but briefly, argue over Frank's regrettable tardiness in making the date after he belatedly enters the nightclub. The couple, while in the middle of their lover's quarrel, quickly leaves the nightclub in Frank's late model Eldorado as it narrowly avoids hitting onlookers milling outside the nightclub. Mind you, this entire scene (from Frank' cruising to the nightclub to he and his fiancee's rather unpleasant departure from said nightclub) is taking place while Willie Dixon's band is rhythmically chugging along in a "get-down"musical style. All in all, an impressive early scene that allows the movie to desirably proceed with its story of upward mobility acquisition via criminal means. Another aspect that makes "Thief" a sublime movie is its cinematography. It is indeed a thing of beauty to watch in cinematographic fashion as James Caan's Frank character casually go about his criminal business as he briskly strides through Life. Whether it is Frank elegantly strutting to his car, which is suitably parked in a strategically lit alley, after pulling off a safecracking assignment early in the film. Or, Frank's aforementioned Cadillac, another sign of late 20th Century American affluence that the criminally ambitious Frank obsessively seeks, ominously glides through the muddy pathway that leads into parking area of an electrician who can supply Frank with a torching implement to be used in what Frank assumes his going to be his final safecracking "job." The thrilling, nighttime surveillance chase enacted by the corrupt Chicago Police Dept.detectives who made it their primary mission to apprehend Frank, who is enroute to what he assumes to be his biggest and final heist, not because Frank is about to commit a major criminal act, but simply because he refused to regularly pay them off with secretly illegal installments. Going back to the movie's soundtrack, the music accompanying the nocturnal surveillance of Frank by "Chicago's Finest" sounds exactly like a soaring synthesizer version of Calvary horns blaring just before a mass charge into enemy territory. Then there is the final heist itself, which is shown with all the intricate detail of workmanship that is invariably a trademark of director Michael Mann's films, showing the sparks of an acetylene torch breaching the safe, the extraction of the breached vault's desired contents, and the exhausted, but eminently contented Frank sitting back briefly staring into space after the completion of a job well done. Then there is the brutally exciting climactic scene, where Frank violently "resigns" from "the corporation." Before I discuss the film's climax, I will briefly describe the scene which prefigures the climax, Frank, while in an epic fit of nihilism, casually destroys all of the trappings of upward mobility that were once so dear to him by way of utterly shocking, but excitingly filmed explosions/immolation. That is, Frank spectacularly detonates both his expensive home in the Chicago suburbs and well-established, yet trendy Downtown Bar, and then torches his expansive automobile dealership, which he operated as his "front job," to before he moves onto the final and most terrifying step of his "resignation plan." Finally, there is the nail-biting climax itself, which is, frighteningly enough, a beautifully filmed sequence that shows Frank brutally cutting his ties with "The Outfit" once for all by way of a home invasion that inevitably results in a terrifying "shoot-out." The home in question belonged to Frank's immediate "corporate supervisor," Leo (the Robert Prosky character). Leo viciously tried to remind Frank of his "corporate obligations," that is, after Frank naively tried to resign his safecracker post, by both orchestrating the murder of Frank's criminal partner (Jim Belushi) and profanely threatening both Frank and his newfound family (wife and illegally adopted infant son) with dire harm should Frank ever attempt to disavow his "corporate responsibilities." A scene of "Thief" where the corpse of Frank's genial, but wholly unfortunate, criminal partner, Barry, being laboriously dumped in a huge container of acid in order to conveniently dissolve the tragically departed Barry's remains eerily shot in slow motion sums up the chilling nature of what can be the potential outcome of any personal involvement within organized crime. Getting back to the climax, Frank surreptitiously enters Leo's equally expensive home, locates Leo, and fatally shoots him down. Then Frank hurriedly heads outside to engage in a spectacularly and subtly staged firefight with the remainder of Leo's "work crew," who all had to have been busily waiting, on Leo's orders naturally, for Frank to crazily make his vengeful appearance/violent attempt at individual empowerment. In a suitably lit and expertly filmed, nocturnal scene, all while the Tangerine Dream soundtrack is reaching its apotheosis, Frank flamboyantly "hands in his resignation from the corporation" by violently dispatching the remainder of Leo's henchmen, via semi-automatic pistol fire, during an enthralling firefight while miraculously incurring no more than a buckshot-incurred,shoulder wound. The last shot, and this is an example of sublime cinematography, shows Frank slowly walking away from the scene of the carnage implying that his human individuality has been suitably restored. However, the downside of Frank's successful attempt at personal empowerment has got to be that Frank now having the entirety of "the corporation" ruthlessly bearing down on him in a state of lethally unforgivable vengeance ; "the corporation" being Chicago's American Mafia Family, forever ominously known as "The Outfit."
R.I.P …You will be missed , Sunny the Thief… One of the best Gangster’s in film 🎥 goes down in the gangsters 🍾 Hall of fame. May the force be with you…… 💯💯💯💯💯
