Miami Vice (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

When the sun is high or there is a solid source of luminescent light, "Miami Vice" looks very good in high definition. Scenes featuring the Go Fast boats or some of the exotic looking locations are beautifully shot. Colors are vibrant, warm and nicely saturated. Detail is extremely good during these sequences and a complete opposite of the flat-looking and dull scenes when the lighting is low. This is a very uneven transfer that bounces between being absolutely stunning and disappointment. Colors are very solid throughout the film and this is apparent from early on when the Go Boats are racing through the opening credits. The image is rock steady and no digital flaws aside from some moiré patterns against Miami´s buildings, there are no issues with the digital transfer.

Sound:
"Miami Vice" first appeared in high definition with a run-of-the-mill Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix. Universal has upped the ante some with a new English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a French DTS 5.1 soundtrack. In a quick A-B comparison between the old and the new, the DTS-HD soundtrack is clearly superior and imaging and depth of sound is greatly improved. Explosions seem deeper and gunfire is exciting. The HD-DVD felt quite flat, but this Blu-ray is far livelier. I´m still upset that Jan Hammer was not asked to provide an updated version of his iconic score, but the John Murphy score is good and music emanates from all five channels. I had pointed out a problem with the soundtrack´s volume in my review of the previous release and to a smaller degree, there are still some scenes where the volume feels a little low, but the problem does seem somewhat resolved. Dialogue is clear, although sometimes must compete with the action and the music for clarity.


Extras:

When "Miami Vice" was first released onto HD-DVD, the title was one of the forefront releases from Universal to include their U-Control functionality and the disc was released as an HD-DVD / DVD Combo Format release. With the manufacturing process of Blu-ray making the combo releases nigh unlikely, the high definition re-release finds U-Control making a return, but the ability to play the film on a standard definition DVD player is now absent. What was nice about the previous release was that the DVD was the Theatrical Version of the film whereas the Blu-ray is the Unrated Directors Cut. U-Control has been slightly tweaked to perform better on the Blu-ray format, but unlike the HD-DVD format where all players were able to utilize U-Control, only Blu-ray players with Profile 1.1 capability will have access to the advanced features contained on "Miami Vice."

The U-Control are identical to those found on the previous release. Picture in Picture brings up information on various behind-the-scenes aspects and can be found in nine of the twenty chapters. Cast Bios and Tech Specs provide information on either the actors in the film or on the high tech machinery found in the film. The Tech Specs populate just six of the chapters and the Cast Bios are found in seven, with most of its occurrences in the first third of the film. Production Photos and GPS provide additional images detailing either the behind-the-scenes aspects of the film, or a map detailing the location of a particular scene. Production Photos are the most common U-Control elements and appear in fourteen chapters, while the GPS map is active for seven. The interactive features do provide some solid entertainment, but I preferred the HD-DVD default of having them all begin turned on.

The stand alone features are relatively thin and the film contains a Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Mann. This is an extremely good commentary track and the director does a wonderful job of pointing out the differences between his two versions and providing good insight into what went on in the making of the film. I had intended to only spot-check the commentary, but found myself listening to it in its entirety.

The other items were previously found on the DVD side, but thanks to the additional storage capabilities of Blu-ray, they now sit with the high definition release. Miami Vice Undercover (13:02) details the training taken by Farrell and Foxx in learning how to portray an undercover detective by working with the real men who do this on a daily basis. Michael Mann, Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx all lend time in this supplement. The second featurettes on the standard definition side is Miami & Beyond: Shooting on Location (10:01). This is a continuation of the first supplement and looks more at shooting locations and the making of the film. Three Behind the Scenes Featurettes (10:14) are also included that I do not recollect were on the HD-DVD release. "Gun Training," "Haitian Hotel Camera Blocking" and "Mojo Race" look at certain elements of preparation and production of the film and I felt these short vignettes were decent.

Closing Comments:

I am still not a fan of the motion picture adaptation of the cult television show. Jan Hammer´s theme is absent. Don Johnson is nowhere to be found. Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx provided definite star power for this film, but Michael Mann delivered an underperforming story that didn´t quite capture the fun of the original show. This is a very serious film and is deep in story. It lacks the ´cool´ factor of the days when Johnson thrilled everybody with his stubble, pink shirts and lack of socks. This isn´t a bad film, but it just doesn´t have the same energy or appeal of the days when "Miami Vice" was on the small screen. The Blu-ray release contains an identical visual presentation of the flawed HD-DVD release, but the soundtrack is improved to a degree with a new DTS-HD transfer. The DVD flipside is gone, but some new features have been added and U-Control made the jump wholesale. This is a better overall release for the high definition crowd, but the film is still not the crowd pleaser I had hoped for.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---