7.
The Naked Gun
Based on “Police Squad”
6.
Traffic
I only remembered Traffic was based on the Australian TV mini-series “Traffik” in the process of putting this list together and on top of that, you can watch all six episodes of the show over at IMDb. To read the synopsis for the mini-series, the storylines are virtually identical, but it also is fascinating to not the similarities and still realize just how well Stephen Gaghan adapted the story for the United States… not that it was all that hard:
The Hamburg police arrest an international businessman, charging him with smuggling heroin from Pakistan. While he’s on trial, his trophy wife, a former Olympic swimmer, discovers steely ruthlessness within herself. In Pakistan, the British home minister tours the poppy-eradication project and returns to London to find that his daughter is a heroin addict. While trying to save her, and helped by a crusading attorney, he learns the limits of government policy. Fazal, a peasant burned off his land where he farmed poppies, goes to Karachi and works for Tarik Butt, a murderous drug lord. Fazal’s frankness and sense of worth are his strength and his liability. Stories cross and collide.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any video from the original to accompany this write-up, but you can watch the complete mini-series at IMDb.
5.
The Fugitive
Based on “The Fugitive”
4.
Heat
Based on “L.A. Takedown”
It’s interesting, though, depending on where you read this was either originally intended to be a pilot episode for a television series that never came to pass, or Mann’s attempt at getting the story told in some way so it could be made into a feature film. Nevertheless, Mann was so upset with the way NBC cut the original TV feature down he disowned it, telling NBC, “You can call it a Michael Smithee or an Alan Mann movie” – but not a Michael Mann movie.
As for the clip I included from “L.A. Takedown” above, you can watch the remade armored car sequence from Heat right here if you’d like to do a little comparing.