An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.An ace safe cracker wants to do one last big heist for the mob before going straight.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 6 nominations
Jim Belushi
- Barry
- (as James Belushi)
W.R. Brown
- Mitch
- (as W.R. [Bill] Brown)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn the hospital scene, James Caan decided to stare coldly at J. Jay Saunders, who played the doctor. This really frightened Saunders, and his reaction in the scene is genuine.
- GoofsFrank's mentor at the steel mill said, "Seven-, Eight-thousand degrees. Portable equipment! Sonny, if I can build it, it's going to be a son-of-a-bitch to use." Given that and the small hole cut at the top of the elevator shaft, getting into the vault room with all the welding equipment, oxygen and acetylene tanks would not have been easy but they could have winched it down. When planning the heist, it is mentioned they would be spending 16 to 18 hours inside the building.
- Quotes
Okla: Lie to no one. If there 's somebody close to you, you'll ruin it with a lie. If they're a stranger, who the fuck are they you gotta lie to them?
- Alternate versionsThere are three official versions of the film - the Theatrical Cut (1981), the Director's Special Edition (1995), and the Director's Cut (2014). The Director's Special Edition was released on LaserDisc in 1995, and subsequently on DVD in 1998. This was the only version of the film available until 2014, when Criterion released the newly edited Director's Cut on DVD and Blu-ray. The following year Arrow Video released a two-disc Blu-ray set featuring both the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut. There is only one difference between the Theatrical Cut and the Director's Cut - right after the opening heist, there is a new scene where Frank (James Caan) meets his friend Cap (Willie Dixon) on the pier and the two admire the stillness of the water (1:22). The rest of the Director's Cut is identical to the Theatrical Cut. The Director's Special Edition also features the scene with Cap, but there are also some other minor changes, which were not been carried over to the Director's Cut. For the Special Director's Edition,
- After the second heist, the scene of Frank lighting up a cigarette and nodding to himself has been shortened (-00:02).
- The cut from Frank nodding to the shot of the beach is no longer in sync with the music, instead it cuts to the beach before the music cue.
- A slow motion shot of Jessie (Tuesday Weld) holding the baby on the beach is absent (-00:07).
- The initial shot of the waves in the above scene has been slowed down (00:09).
- The shot of Frank taking a box from a shelf before telling Jessie to leave has been shortened (-00:03).
- During the scene where Frank is telling Jessie to leave, her line "We just disassemble it and put it back in a box like an erector set you just send back to a store?" has been changed to "We just disassemble it and put it back in a box?"
- The last shot of Frank's collage has been shortened (-00:02).
- The speed of some of the shots during the shootout has been altered; the shot of Attaglia (Tom Signorelli) falling to the ground and the shot of Frank falling after Carl (Dennis Farina) shoots him have been sped up (-00:04), whilst the shot of Carl falling back into the bushes has been slowed down and edited slightly differently (00:02)
Featured review
Michael Mann's Masterpiece
Thief(1981) contains the best performance of James Caan as a professional thief in a rare leading role. He is complex and three deminsional as the protagonist, Frank. Thief(1981) is similar in many ideas to the Dustin Hoffman film, Straight Time(1977). One of the best directorial debut as Michael Mann gives a realistic portrayal of the hardships in being a professional thief. The movie does a good job in showing the corruption that Frank has to go against.
Its much better than Heat(1995) because it focuses on one person instead of trying to interweave in confusing detail the lives of two people who are opposite in job but the same in spirit. Willie Nelson is terrific in the small of of Frank's mentor, Okla. Robert Prosky is impressive as the father like crime boss, Leo. The heist scenes are the highlight of the film. Thief(1981) has to be one of the best movies to come out during the 1980s and is definitely the director's top film.
Its much better than Heat(1995) because it focuses on one person instead of trying to interweave in confusing detail the lives of two people who are opposite in job but the same in spirit. Willie Nelson is terrific in the small of of Frank's mentor, Okla. Robert Prosky is impressive as the father like crime boss, Leo. The heist scenes are the highlight of the film. Thief(1981) has to be one of the best movies to come out during the 1980s and is definitely the director's top film.
helpful•6832
- eibon09
- Feb 16, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Violent Streets
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $11,492,915
- Gross worldwide
- $11,494,812
- Runtime2 hours 3 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![James Caan in Thief (1981)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGE2NWY0MzctYmRmYS00YzY1LWJlZTItYzc1YjQ4Y2MxZTkwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc5NjEzNA@@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)