Universal has finally broken free of the format they have used for the past nine months and put forth something that is a bit more 'next-gen' in feel.
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The Eighties revival continues and the latest nostalgic remembrance is the big screen adaptation of the 1984-1989 television show "Miami Vice." Starring Don Johnson as the ultra-cool detective James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Detective Ricardo Tubbs, the two went undercover and looked as good as possible while speeding around in a white Ferrari Testarossa. Backed by a great collection of pop and rock songs, the television show found success with its soundtrack and its stars. Jan Hammer's theme song helped propel the soundtrack to become the highest selling television soundtrack ever. Under Michael Mann's direction, the pastel colors and gritty Miami locations kept the show looking cool, but dangerous.
Director Michael Mann returns behind the camera for the big screen adaptation and Colin Farrell steps into the loafers of Sonny Crockett and Jamie Foxx assumes the role of his partner, Rico Tubbs. Aside from Mann's directing and the names of characters in the show, the modern telling of "Miami Vice" pays some homage to the original show, but no pastel colored t-shirts and sockless detectives will be found during the film's length. Fast speedboats and Ferrari's assist in giving some resemblance between the film and the television show, but much of the feeling, hipness and character of the original show have been left behind and the 2006 version of "Miami Vice" finds a far more serious and grittier storyline than anything that was seen on the television tube.
Jamie Foxx is an incredible actor and I enjoy the work of Colin Farrell. When I had originally heard the casting choices made for this film, I was quite excited. "Miami Vice" quickly solidified itself on my "can't wait to see it" film list. I could imagine a modern reworking of the Jam Hammer theme and was hoping for a 1980's backdrop for Crockett and Tubbs. As the film crept closer to its released date, my excitement started to fade when it seemed quite apparent that Michael Mann was going for something entirely different. I still had a solid amount of anticipation for "Miami Vice," but I knew I would not be watching anything that would bring back the fond memories of the show that I watched years ago.
In the film, Crockett and Tubbs find themselves going undercover to enter the world of a powerful drug lord that has managed to obtain inside information that resulted in an informant and friend of the pair to be gunned down and a team of FBI agents to have their cover blown and their heads aerated with bullets. It is a dangerous assignment, but the two have no problems accepting the assignment and bringing the mole out into the open and stopping the drug lord. While undercover, Crockett finds romance with a high ranking assistant to the drug czar and becomes emotionally attached to Isabella (Li Gong). Tubbs starts to question Crockett's involvement, but he has concerns of his own as his girlfriend, Detective Trudy Jopin (Naomie Harris) is targeted by the drug lord. When their cover becomes compromised, the pair must spring to action and save Trudy and bring down those that they have infiltrated.
Farrell's Crockett is a darker and harder edged than the manner in which Don Johnson portrayed the character. The film's Crockett is still a cool customer, but he is cooler in a bad-assed sense than in looking good and talking smooth. He is still a ladies man, but you get the distinct impression that the cinematic Crockett takes advantage of the ladies for his own benefit than simply for pleasure. Colin Farrell is very believable as the hard-edged Detective. Jamie Foxx is good in any role you place the actor. He is an equal partner to Crockett and takes a more commanding presence than what Thomas was able to do in the television show. Foxx's Tubbs is a savvy and even keeled detective that calculates the situation and does what is necessary to complete the task.
"Miami Vice" is a solid undercover police action film. It is film that is quite serious in tone and while it does contain a small amount of humor, Michael Mann has created about as straight-laced a film as I have seen in years. The action is very good and quite realistic. Nothing in "Miami Vice" ever goes too far over the line and the filmmakers strived for a realistic world and realistic experiences. People get hurt and people die in the film. The two detectives are put into harm's way and they must cope with surviving and maintaining believability as drug runners. Yes, the two detectives have absolutely incredible skills in performing their job, but nothing seems too "Superman" for either of them. Imagine taking "Bad Boys" and blending it with "Heat" and you can get the necessary elements to put together this film.
I enjoyed the film, but would have preferred something that was a bit closer to the original show. I do enjoy a mature and well done detective picture and I appreciate the efforts, but these certainly were not the characters that charmed a large audience for five years. Jan Hammer's theme is missed, though a very nice homage to Phil Collins is given at one point in the picture. Much of the success of "Miami Vice" on television was its music and the film pays very little attention to that part of the formula. The result is a good Michael Mann picture that finds two characters with the same names as those that populated his television show over twenty years ago. I can see where a "Miami Vice" franchise may rise from this film, but a franchise that is quite different from what you may remember.
Video:
"Miami Vice" was shot digitally and is presented in a 2.40:1 widescreen transfer, mastered at 1080p and using Microsoft's VC-1 compression technology. Given the nature of the digital source materials, one would expect a wonderfully pristine and highly detailed image that is absolutely stunning on HD-DVD. While this is the case in much of the film, there are a few very noticeable moments when "Miami Vice" gets a bit disappointing. Darkly shot scenes, such as night scenes or low light interior scenes exhibit a disheartening amount of film grain-esque noise. There are a number of dark scenes in "Miami Vice" and the quality drops noticeably during these moments and looks reminiscent of a standard definition DVD release.
When the sun is high or there is a solid source of luminescent light, "Miami Vice" looks very good on HD-DVD. 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. There are moments when "Miami Vice" could compete with the best releases found currently on HD-DVD and there are other moments when it looks frustratingly bad. One thing is for certain, "Miami Vice" makes a good argument for those out there that prefer celluloid over digital and with how bad parts of this film look, I can see the basis for their argument.
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[release]20024[/release]