Val Kilmer that same year, he starred opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in "Heat", which is now considered one of the best crime/drama films of the 1990s. In December 1993, "Batman Forever" director Joel Schumacher had seen "Tombstone" and was most impressed with Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday. Schumacher felt him to be perfect for the role of Batman, though at the time, the role was still Michael Keaton's. In July 1994, Keaton decided not to return for a third Batman film after 1992's "Batman Returns", due to "creative differences". William Baldwin (who previously worked with Schumacher on "Flatliners") was
Heat (1995 film) Heat (1995 film) Heat is a 1995 American crime film written, co-produced and directed by Michael Mann, and starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer. De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a professional thief, while Pacino plays Lt. Vincent Hanna, an LAPD robbery-homicide detective tracking down McCauley's crew. The story is based on the former Chicago police officer Chuck Adamson's pursuit during the 1960s of a criminal named McCauley, after whom De Niro's character is named. "Heat" is a remake by Mann of an unproduced television series he had worked on, the pilot of which was released as the