c) When Frank shoots Carl, he falls back (in three cuts) into the bushes. b) When Frank is shot by Carl (Dennis Farina), and you can see the window break on the car and Frank falls to the ground - all this has been sped up. a) When Frank shoots Attaglia, the body appears to hit the ground faster. Confrontation Shootout - Mann used a video post-production technique to speed up several shots/frames during the final shootout. This is only very slight and probably only noticeable if you watch both side by side. This time, we actually do get the Craig Safan-composed 'Confrontation', the long, Floyd-esque track that played over the end sequence of the film, you know, where Michael Mann uses excessive slow motion, blood splattering, and bodies flying to bring the story home. Screen appears to blow-out to white in the Director's Edition that looks different. This is the newer, US release of the soundtrack to the 1981 Michael Mann film. House Exploding - when comparing the Theatrical and Director's Edition, there seems to be better clarity in the explosion. Then Mann just slows down the images of the waves (to make up for the time lost) before the camera pans up to Frank. b) In the Special Director's Edition - Mann cuts a few seconds from Caan's victory nod - then cuts to the Beach Scene *before* the music cue change. Perfect match of Tangerine Dream's music and visual cut. a) In the theatrical cut, we clearly see Caan light up the cigarette, then he nods his head a few times - then on the music beat change - cut to the Beach Scene. Caan, Weld, Nelson and especially Belushi all have solid roles and Michael Mann's stylish direction was a sign of things to come and has made him a gifted filmmaker ever since. I think it's one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made. In order to make up for the lost seconds, Mann make two editorial choices that end up hurting the original music/visual flow of the film. Thief was sadly overlooked upon it's release in the spring of 1981. The whole shot is only about 7 seconds long - but it is nowhere to be found in the "Special Director's Edition". First she is smiling, then looks over at Frank with a sort of melancholy expression. Beach Scene - Mann removed a slow-motion shot of Tuesday Weld walking with the baby. A slow dissolve has been added that transitions to this new scene (normally the film cuts directly to Frank at the car lot) 2. Scene takes place directly after Caan's car drives away from the opening heist. There is a new scene with Wille Dixon on the bank on the Chicago river. Differences between this version and the theatrical version are as follows: 1. For 16 years, this was the only home video release of the film in the US until Criterion's 2014 edition. Taylor's instruction is obvious, as Cann uses an exaggerated Weaver Stance, high thumbhold grip, speed reloading, and room clearing techniques directly attributable to the Modern Technique taught at API.In 1995, Thief was released in a new LaserDisc set billed as the 'Special Director's Edition', which was carried over to the film's 1998 DVD release. "Chuck" Taylor, Cooper's operations manager at the time and later a well-known instructor himself, then agreed to take Cann off-site and teach him the rudiments of what the actor performs in the film. Find album reviews, songs, credits and award information for Thief Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Tangerine Dream on AllMusic - 1981 - Tangerine Dream scored director Michael Mann's. When Cooper learned that the film's protagonist was a career criminal, he reasoned that a thief would never be exposed to the Modern Technique and declined to instruct Cann. Michael Mann is supposedly a certified range instructor himself, but for this film, he had actor Caan try to attend the American Pistol Institute (a/k/a "Gunsite"), the celebrated firearms training facility founded by Jeff Cooper in the Arizona High Desert north of Chino Valley to instruct in the "Modern Technique of the Pistol." An over-the-shoulder view of Barry with the rifle.