12 Incredible Slow Burn Movie Scenes With Killer Pay Offs

12. Heat -€“ Runway

Possibly Michael Mann's best film, Heat combines an outstanding cast with visceral cinematography and a stunning score, in what is undeniably one the best crime dramas ever put to screen. One of the film's greatest strengths comes in the form of its two leads, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, the honest cop and the likeable thief respectively.

Fittingly the film's final scene features a heart-wrenching shootout between these two imperfect leads, both characterised by their loneliness and their commitment to their respective occupations. We know from very early on that these characters' paths are going to collide at some point, and after a few meetings and clashes the audience is convinced that it's all going to end in tragedy.

Vincent Hanna (Pacino) chases Neil McCauley (De Niro) onto a field adjacent to an LAX runway, where McCauley takes refuge by an array of electronic control buildings. A silent game of cat-and-mouse ensues, lit only by the lights of the runway and occasionally interrupted by the roar of a jet flying overhead.

Eventually, after two unsettling minutes, McCauley is given away by his shadow and Hanna manages to get the first shot away, before hitting McCauley a few more times, wounding him mortally. Hanna sympathetically wanders over to McCauley and holds his hand as he dies.

The final shot of their linked hands is not just a fitting end to a brilliantly drawn-out finale, it's about as close to visual poetry as you're ever going to find.