Most will come to L.A. Takedown having already seen Heat, so although the film is often introduced via a line something like "before there was Heat..." in truth, this movie exists AFTER Heat. This time-warp quality explodes your brain a bit as you wonder what it might have been like to watch this film on TV or on VHS, if you would've been able to recognize the Hawksian codes of professionalism exchanged between handsome soap-opera facial voids. The script is kind of a rehearsal for Heat, but what's amazing are the shots where tries out familiar blocking and gesture, as when Cerrito and Sheherlis wordlessly take posts around Neil/Vincent as he's about to shoot Waingro in a parking lot. If all this isn't enough the coke-addled LA scenography is worth the trip.