Superb, top 10 of all time

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2003)

People like to say that Pacino and De Niro were terrific, I think ALL the actors, without exception were fantastic.
The gun battle in the streets of downtown LA is fantastic. I personally think it is the best action scene of all time. The sound is fantastic (finally someone got it right). The automatic weapons sound deafening without making you deaf. How they were able to rent out downtown LA long enough to shoot that scene is amazing.
I sometimes hear people say the gun battle was unrealistic and would never happen. A year after the movie came out, in the San Fernando Valley, a real running street battle actually occurred. The robbers were equipped with M-16s and body armor and it took the police an hour to kill them all.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/28/shootout.update/
Like the Columbine Trench Coat Mafia who were inspired by the movie "Heathers", these real life robbers were likely inspired by Heat.