Michael Mann's 1995 crime thriller Heat, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, has become available to stream for free on Pluto TV. The film is best known for directly inspiring Christopher Nolan's approach to The Dark Knight, particularly its city-wide scope, large-scale bank heist sequences and the tense diner confrontation between Batman and the Joker, which echoes Heat's famous scene between De Niro's and Pacino's characters.

In Heat, De Niro plays bank robber Neil McCauley and Pacino plays detective Vincent Hanna, who spends the 170-minute film trying to catch him after a deadly armoured car robbery. The story was inspired by Mann's real-life friend, police officer Chuck Adamson, who killed the real Neil McCauley in 1964 and reportedly shared a genuine mutual respect with him, mirrored in the film's diner scene. Nolan has spoken about the film's influence on several occasions, including telling GQ in 2020 that Heat's immersive depiction of Los Angeles shaped his decision to root The Dark Knight firmly in one city using large-format IMAX cameras.