Val Kilmer in Heat (1995)
Vitals
Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis, professional armed robber
Los Angeles, Spring 1995
Film: Heat
Release Date: December 15, 1995
Director: Michael Mann
Costume Designer: Deborah Lynn Scott
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
R.I.P. Val Kilmer (1959-2025)
After becoming the youngest student ever accepted into Juilliard’s prestigious Drama Division at the time, Kilmer rose to fame through a streak of memorable ’80s hits like Top Secret! (1984), Real Genius (1985), and Top Gun (1986). The ’90s saw Kilmer take on a range of leading roles, from his magnetic turn as Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991) to donning the cape in Batman Forever (1995), as well as his scene-stealing performance as the sardonic and tubercular Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993).
Kilmer followed that success with another standout role in Heat (1995), Michael Mann’s masterful crime epic that celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Kilmer plays Chris Shiherlis, a reliable criminal but not-so-reliable husband, part of a tight-knit crew led by the calculating Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). Hoping that one last big score will salvage his unraveling marriage, Shiherlis throws in on a high-stakes heist at the Far East National Bank in downtown Los Angeles. “The bank is worth the risk. I need it, brother,” he tells McCauley.
After the crew exits with millions bagged up, Shiherlis has nearly joined McCauley and their cohort Michael Cheritto (Tom Sizemore) in the getaway car when spots armed LAPD officers across the street and makes a split-second decision to open fire—setting off a thunderous shootout through Fifth Street that ends with Cheritto dead, Shiherlis wounded, and McCauley on the run.
In a testament to Kilmer’s dedicated professionalism, his flawless mag change during the street battle has reportedly been used in U.S. Marine Corps and Special Forces training as a textbook example of how to reload an AR-pattern carbine under pressure.
What’d He Wear?
Dating back to James Caan’s wardrobe in his directorial debut Thief (1981), Michael Mann demonstrates favoring gray tailoring for his professional criminals—often paired with white shirts and ties that get discarded as the pressure builds. For the climactic bank heist in Heat, Neil McCauley asserts his leadership in a darker charcoal-gray striped double-breasted suit, while Chris Shiherlis and Michael Cheritto wear lighter shades of gray. The coordinated palette not only projects a chilling level of professionalism to the witnesses inside the bank but also creates a uniform anonymity that would complicate efforts to distinguish the masked, similarly dressed crew.
The Suit
Shiherlis’ suit is tailored from a worsted wool, finely woven woven in a black-and-gray glen plaid Prince of Wales check with a subtle red overcheck—so faint that the suit reads as a light-gray pick-and-pick from a distance. The suit follows a loose silhouette typical of 1990s tailoring, serving both style and strategy as the roomy jackets give the raiders ample room for concealing their rifles and extra mags upon entering and exiting the bank.
The suit jacket follows a three-button configuration—very much en vogue in the mid-’90s—also suited to Val Kilmer’s six-foot frame. Its heavily padded shoulders set the frame for a ventless, boxy cut that drapes with authority. Additional design details include notch lapels, a welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, and three-button cuffs.
The forward-pleated trousers continue the full cut, detailed with side pockets, jetted rear pockets (the back-right pocket closes through a single button), and plain-hemmed bottoms. They’re held up by a black leather belt with a polished silver-toned square single-prong buckle, pulled through the trousers’ wide belt loops.
And when you looked down and saw one set of footsteps in the Zack’s parking lot, it was here that Robert De Niro carried you…
Like McCauley and Cheritto, Shiherlis wears a professional plain white cotton shirt with his gray suit. The shirt has a point collar, front placket, button cuffs, and likely a breast pocket. His fashionably wide tie presents evenly spaced “uphill” narrow stripes that alternate between black and tan.
Over his shirt and tie, he rigs a gray mesh tactical vest rigged with six black velcro mag carriers—three on each side—to hold STANAG magazines for his Colt Model 733 carbine.
Footwear and Accessories
Though perhaps not the most tactical choice, Shiherlis opts for classic black calf leather cap-toe derby shoes—a final nod to the suit’s professional roots before bullets fly. Coordinated with standard black cotton lisle socks, the shoes appear to have black rubber soles that would at least provide a greater degree of traction and mobility when fighting his way out of the bank.
Shiherlis kicks off the heist by knocking down a bank guard.
When the crew meets for breakfast at the Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, Shiherlis wears a fashionable set of gold-framed sunglasses in a narrow rectangular aviator-style shape with wide arms.
Shiherlis initially wears his usual gold watch, which features a black dial and dark leather strap. Some Redditors seeking to identify it have suggested it may be a Bulgari like the Diagono chronograph that Al Pacino wears as LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna.
Shiherlis joins McCauley as the duo are forced to improvise after Trejo calls to back out, citing increased police surveillance on him. Note that Shiherlis still wears his personal gold watch before swapping out for the digital watch he would wear during the robbery.
When it’s go-time, Shiherlis swaps his accessories to pieces more tactical and less personal. His sunglasses switch to black acetate-framed shades in a wayfarer-like shape, more squared and aggressive like the style popularized by Ray-Ban in the 1950s.
Shiherlis also follows McCauley’s example with a blacked-out digital wristwatch, functionally oriented for the precision demanded by a professional bank robbery. Unlike Neil’s Timex Stealth, Shiherlis’ watch features a red logo or button below the rectangular LCD display which could help identify it.
As he’s the most public-facing of the three thieves within the bank and also the one whose initial violent action sets the heist in motion, Shiherlis is the last to pull on his mask—a black balaclava covering all but his eyes. The men also don black work gloves, with Chris’ being a blend of leather and textile that offers grip, durability, and dexterity… while concealing the wearer’s fingerprints.
The Gun
Chris Shiherlis emerges as one of the McCauley crew’s most capable gunmen, often wielding the Colt Model 733 that McCauley himself also uses during the bank robbery. Shiherlis uses this compact carbine during both the armored car robbery early in the film and the climactic post-heist gun battle on the streets of downtown L.A., where he delivers one of the most impressive on-screen displays of tactical gunfighting ever captured on film. The way Kilmer reloads his weapon with speed and precision during the firefight has reportedly been shown in real-world military training sessions for U.S. Marines and Special Forces with the directive: “This is how I want you to reload.”
Kilmer’s confident performance with the rifle wasn’t just the result of the extensive weapons training the cast received from former British SAS operators Andy McNab and Mick Gould (the latter of whom also appears in a cameo). Having grown up around firearms and learning to shoot on his family’s ranch, Kilmer brought a natural fluency to handling the Model 733. He was reportedly so adept that he even helped other cast members learn to move, load, and shoot more convincingly—an effort that pays off onscreen in one of the most intense and realistic shootouts in cinematic history.
The Colt Model 733 was introduced in 1985 as a compact, 11.5-inch-barreled evolution of Colt’s earlier Model 653 and the Model 654 that McCauley uses during Heat’s armored car heist. Chambered for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge—the same high-velocity round used across most of the M16 family—the Model 733 offered a potent combination of firepower and maneuverability in tight urban environments. Though never officially adopted by the U.S. military, the Model 733 was marketed to tactical law enforcement and international security markets looking for a shorter-barreled carbine optimized for close-quarters use. Its design drew from the XM177 series with a carbine-length gas system and telescoping stock, with later versions updated with heavier M16A2-style barrels and reinforced receiver groups.
Because Colt often reconfigured existing rifles with different upper and lower receivers—and many civilian manufacturers were also cranking out variations of the AR-15 platform during the ’80s and ’90s—it can be difficult to definitively identify any one configuration, especially in movies. Still, the versions seen in Heat appear to be late-production Model 733 carbines, equipped with N1-style collapsible stocks, bayonet-lug-less front sight posts, and “slick-side” 715-style uppers—period-correct choices for a professional L.A. heist crew looking to punch hard and disappear fast.
How to Get the Look
Val Kilmer in Heat (1995)
Form meets function as Chris Shiherlis takes his place among Neil McCauley’s crew for the robbery of the Far East Bank, dressed in a tastefully professional glen plaid suit with a trendy full fit that conceals the bandit’s high-powered, short-barreled carbine.
- Black-and-gray glen plaid Prince of Wales check worsted wool suit:
- Single-breasted 3-button jacket with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, straight jetted hip pockets, padded shoulders, 3-button cuffs, and ventless back
- Single forward-pleated trousers with belt loops, side pockets, button-through back pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- White cotton shirt with point collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs
- Black-and-tan narrow uphill-striped tie
- Black leather belt with polished silver-toned squared single-prong buckle
- Black calf leather cap-toe derby shoes
- Black cotton lisle socks
- Black acetate-framed wayfarer-style sunglasses
- Black digital watch
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie as well as the 2022 episode of the From Tailors With Love podcast featuring my friends Pete, Ken, and Kyle discussing Heat‘s costume design.
A significant but supporting character in the film, Chris Shiherlis is featured more prominently in Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner’s recently published companion novel Heat 2, which has been green-lit for a film adaptation with Mann’s screenplay submitted to Warner Bros. last month.
The Quote
For me, the sun rises and sets with her, man.
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