Miracle Mile (1988) User Reviews

Cult classic for a reason

[Vartiainen · 8/10 · 10 September 2021]

So, at first, Miracle Mile doesn't appear to be anything that special. Harry (Anthony Edwards) meets Julie (Mare Winningham) and things seem to go along well. But then he misses their date and happens to answer the payphone next to the diner. And from thereon out the film is pure bonkers.

Miracle Mile is the very definition of why you should see movies outside the mainstream media. Its premise is pure madness, its actors are relatively unknown, you won't have heard of anything its director has done. And yet it's one of the most profound films to have come out of the 80s.

Miracle Mile takes a fairly typical apocalypse setting and milks every single possible drop of drama out of it. It focuses on a single individual and their struggle to comprehend the unthinkable.

Definitely not something that could win over mainstream audiences. It's too focused, too out there, to win over audiences.

But for those of us that can see the shape of the forest for the trees, this is something special.

Offbeat, intriguing

[kennon42 · 8/10 · 11 June 2002]

I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic movies; for some reason, the thought of civilization as we know it grinding to a halt on a backdrop of nuclear bombs falling intrigues me to no end.

There are a host of movies that deal with Life After The Bomb, a whole lot more dealing with Life While Preventing The Bomb, but not very many that deal with Life Immediately Before The Bomb. This is one of the latter, and I think it pulls it off really well.

This offbeat movie chronicles a few hours in the life of a character who has just found out that the missiles are on the way.

This movie is rather offbeat; the acting is not bad, but just unlike normal hollywood acting, even despite a few familiar faces. The pacing is different, the sets are different, the colors are different. And in this case, the differences give it an edge that is quite intriguing.

The main character (tom cruise's ill-fated co-pilot in top gun) displays such an acute, personal anxiety that really grabbed my attention and really made the movie hit home.

While some of the other acting is less than stellar, in a movie like this it does not detract.

This movie really did make me think about what I would do in a similar situation. Very thought-provoking.

If you are as intriguied by nuclear war as I am, you should definitely watch this film.

8 / 10

The Power of a Rumor

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 10 October 2010]

In Los Angeles, when the musician Harry Washello (Anthony Edwards) meets Julie Peters (Mare Winningham) in the museum, he immediately falls in love with her. They schedule a date late night in Miracle Mile, but the alarm clock fails and Harry misses the date and he arrives three and a half hours late. Harry accidentally hears a mistaken phone call and a man tells that the United State has just started a nuclear war sending missiles against Soviet Union and in two hours Los Angeles would be hit by the enemy back missiles. Harry seeks out Julie and frantically tries to find a helicopter pilot to leave Los Angeles. Meanwhile the rumor is spread out and brings chaos to the city.

Today I have watched the cult "Miracle Mile" maybe for the sixth time and despite being dated in the present days with the end of the Cold War, it still impresses how a rumor can be so destructive. The frantic and nightmarish story of a young man that discovers that Los Angeles will go into a meltdown in about two hours has the pace of "After Hours" of 1985. The haunting music score of Tangerine Dream fits perfectly to the apocalyptical screenplay of this unforgettable unique film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Miracle Mile"

Note: On 30 January 2021, I saw this film again.

The best real-time thriller ever made

[justinedgar · 22 September 2004]

Miracle Mile is one of my favourite films -I know it has its rough edges but I fell in love the first time I saw it at the University of Portsmouth film society ten years ago. I can't quite understand why though.

It belongs to the genre of suspense films called real-time thrillers -Hitchcock's Rope and Nick of Time are other examples. These are films which explore the very nature of film as a time-based medium. Usually the device is used in suspense movies, but has become popular recently in art house cinema like Timecode and Russian Ark.

The set-up is simple -after a day when he has fallen in love at first sight, Harry Washello randomly answers a ringing phone at a phone booth. The call is a wrong number from a soldier stationed at a nuclear silo. He is trying to warn his father that a nuclear strike has been launched and the US will be face a retaliatory attack in eighty minutes time. From then on, the action is played out in real time.

Unlike the aforementioned examples and the execrable 24, the real time actually works in Miracle Mile. If you sit through it with a stop watch, it only ever drifts out by a few seconds. The real time is essential to holding suspense and sympathy with the characters. Was the phone call for real? We don't know until an unforgettable moment, when the film becomes a race for survival.

There are some great, truly profound images -such as the dying Wilson scrambling up the down escalator with the body of his sister, or Harry and Julie lost in a department store surrounded by ticking clocks. This attention to detail and the bizarrely dark tone of the film elevate it to cult status. It has a soul and an individuality all of its own -can you imagine an episode of 24 ever being scored by Tangerine Dream?

This is a film about chance -the chance of Harry falling in love that day, the chance of him picking up the phone. The chance that effects us all and how we are at the mercy of it. But ultimately it is a very dark love story and perhaps that's why I like it so very much.

what starts like a bad made-for-TV movie turns into a compelling character-driven sci-fi horror

[sdsalsero · 9/10 · 3 April 2004]

I first saw this movie on video around the time it was produced. I immediately liked it even though it was a bit bleak. But the late 80's were full of apocalyptic nuclear holocaust movies and this was the only one that stayed with me. Now, years later, I've just rewatched it (this time on DVD) and I still think it's a very good -- but not great -- movie.

Admittedly, there's some over-the-top 80's haircuts and costumes, stuff that would be seriously 'retro' nowadays. And the acting, particularly in the beginning, is 'obvious' and a bit tiring. But when the hero receives that fateful phone call, it all changes. Suddenly, it's like watching a stage-performance of a play, a pressure-cooker where everyone suspects everyone else and no one knows what's really going on.

In fact, one of the best parts of the screenplay is that we, the audience, also don't really know what to believe (until the very end). We watch the hero struggle with what to tell people who's help he needs: if he tells them the awful truth, they may not believe/help him; if he tells them a more believable lie, is he denying them the chance to survive or at least to die with their loved ones. Either way, both he and the people he meets turn to progressively more and more extreme behavior -- people die! . . . and what if it all turns-out to have been a hoax?

In all, I think this movie ranks as a great sci-fi film, and in the truest sense of the genre: What If. It's not about aliens or galactic empires or anything else that's more fantasy than reality. Instead, it's a situation that any of us could easily imagine and I think this is why it stayed with me all these years, why it now forms a part of the framework for my imagination whenever I find myself catastrophizing about terrorism or natural disaster, anything that could separate me from the ones I love. What would I do?

A bit too sentimental, but the idea's sound and the premise is novel

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 28 August 2016]

In amid the unfunny comedies and silly romantic tales of the late '80s movie business comes this absorbing, interesting gem of a film dealing with the threat of nuclear war. Achieving wonders on what is a low budget, this is an intelligent, accurate slice of film-making which remains gripping from start to finish. The decision to make this a character-focused piece of drama, instead of a special effects intense film (think : Armageddon), makes it all the more thrilling in that we care about the people involved.

A cast of mostly unknowns, only familiar from television, do a pretty good job to convey the fear as the clock ticks down to nuclear warfare. Another clever plot device is to have the film playing out in real time, so the viewer can also count the seconds ticking down to the strike, making it all the more intense. Anthony Edwards, while appearing somewhat wimpish and cowardly as the lead, does a great job, being as he is a messenger of death to most of the cast. You can really feel for his frantic plight as he rushes across the city and engages in all sorts of mishaps and violence. Many familiar faces turn up in bit parts, from Denise Crosby to the black police chief from ROBOCOP, who here plays the café owner. Also popping up are THE TERMINATOR's Doctor Silberman and Brian Thompson, the chief baddie in COBRA. Old timers John Agar and Lou Hancock provide a few laughs as the stubborn couple who are brought together by the threat - a cliché, yes, but a good one.

There are plenty of tense, nail biting moments in this film. The café scene, where Edward struggles to convince the locals of the threat, is a great one, as is the petrol station incident which explodes into unexpected tragic violence. But it's in the final stages where the film really comes into it's own, showing a city in chaos, full of crashed cars, looters, and people who have lost all their scruples and are more than willing to kill in a bid to survive. It's clever how this film shows how such a threat can change people in different ways, reverting human society back to its basic principles. Widespread chaos is easily conveyed in some powerful, dramatic scenes of turmoil and confusion at the end, which are very impressive on a low budget and good at putting across the hopelessness of the situation.

Okay, so the nuclear blast, when it comes, isn't very impressive (after all, they didn't have that big a budget, and I still think TERMINATOR 2 is the final word on portraying a horrific nuclear attack via spectacular effects), and the film does descend into some awful sentimentality in the dragged-out conclusion, with some terrible romantic stuff between Edwards and Winningham. But ignore these faults and instead focus on the ideas and issues behind this character-led piece of intense drama, and you'll have a great time.

A nuclear assault on the senses.

[BA_Harrison · 10/10 · 9 June 2007]

In the late 80s, I, along with a couple of like-minded friends, would frequent all night horror film festivals. Over a period of a couple of years, we saw movies featuring psychos, monsters, serial killers, zombies, cannibals, and aliens, and witnessed all manner of unspeakable ways to die, but, for me, perhaps one of the most horrifying films was Miracle Mile. It featured no toothy critters or undead ghouls and there were no lunatics brandishing power tools, but it managed to scare the hell out of me.

Starring a young Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham, and directed by the virtually unknown Steve De Jarnatt, this taut thriller is suspenseful, action packed, romantic, and heart-breaking. If you thought that Shakespeare was the last word in tragedy, then think again!

Edwards plays 30 year old Harry Washello, a trombone player who finally meets the girl of his dreams, waitress Julie Peters (Winningham). Harry arranges to meet Julie at the end of her late night shift at a roadside diner, but misses the date after his alarm fails to go off. Arriving three hours late, he calls Julie (who has long gone home) to apologise; then, as he is standing outside the diner buying a paper, the phone in the nearby booth begins to ring. Harry answers the call.

The frantic voice of a man reveals that World War 3 is imminent; nuclear missiles are on their way. At first Harry thinks it is a prank, but he eventually becomes convinced that it is indeed a genuine call, intended as a warning to the caller's father, but thanks to an incorrectly dialled number, now a cause of panic for poor Harry.

With only an hour to go, can he find Julie and escape to safety, or will they both die in an atomic blast?

As the movie's protagonist frantically attempts to locate his new love, we are introduced to several other characters who all become inextricably involved in his plight. With the clock ticking, the tension is wound to breaking point, as all manner of obstacles get in his way. And all the while, De Jarnatt toys with his audience, never quite letting on whether Armageddon is genuinely on its way, or whether Harry has got matters slightly confused.

Until the end, that is. The shocking, depressing, totally downbeat end.

Wonderfully inventive, well acted, brilliantly directed, with a great score by Tangerine Dream, Miracle Mile is a fine example of how to create a masterpiece on a low budget.

A trainwreck, but fun to watch

[mspenguin1974 · 6/10 · 10 February 2022]

Cheesy dialogue, bad acting, characters who are so incredibly stupid that the ending feels well-deserved. I laughed a lot when I wasn't cringing.

I really hope RiffTrax can riff this one someday.

GREAT COLD-WAR MOVIE , DATED BUT KEEPS HAUNTING ME,SO SAD......

[spanky6666 · 8/10 · 7 July 2003]

Hello there,

You're definitely interested in this movie if you've got this far on the IMDB...

If you're, like me, a child of the 80's (teenager in the 80's) who saw this movie in the cinema's with that great soundtrack from "Tangerin Dream" in it(in the middle of the cold war),than you really are going to like this movie... I was able to track down this movie on PAL VHS-Tape on Ebay(you can buy it on DVD now,zone 1 only) and saw it last night on my own again. Ok,I'll have to admit that it's dated now (look at the clothes...)but that same sad feeling that creeps slowly into your head while watching this movie is still there! I really hope with the whole of my heart that we never,and I say NEVER,have to witness the day that our chosen leaders make the same stupid mistake of launching a nuclear attack on a country like they do in this movie... This is not your typical big budget,special effects loaded action-vehicle about a full-on nuclear strike but a modest little movie about what happens to a small bunch of people that finds out by accident that their country (USA) has launched a nuclear attack against another unspecified country and are getting back what they've started....

If you have your heart at the right place,then this movie grabs you by the throat and won't let go...

On the other handiIf you ONLY like comedy's and big budget action movies(which I also like very much)then you're probably going to despise this one...

Go now and find this little gem of a movie,I know you want to...

Cheers,

Dirk

End of LA and the world

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 7 December 2019]

Steve De Jarnatt created two apocalyptic movies that have stood the test of time, even if they've been somewhat forgotten: Cherry 2000 and this film. He also helped write 1983's SCTV movie, Strange Brew, a fact which I'd always list first on my resume.

His movie Miracle Mile sat for a decade, one of the best scripts that Hollywood knew about but balked at making, as De Jarnatt refused to change the downbeat ending. It almost started with Nicholas Cage and Kurt Russell as the leads and at one point was going to be the only tale in Twilight Zone: The Movie.

Taking place in real time over a single day and night, this movie is all about Harry (Anthony Edwards, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) and Julie (Mare Winningham, St. Elmo's Fire), a couple who meet at the La Brea Tar Pits and instantly fall in love. The only problem is that Harry picks up a payphone and learns from Chip - a scientist trying to call his father - that there are only seventy minutes until the world ends.

As Harry tells everyone in a diner about the phone call, one of the diners named Landa (Denise Crosby, Tasha Yar herself), calls a number of politicians in Washington on her wireless phone - a rare thing for 1988 to be honest - and learns that they're all heading for the extreme Southern Hemisphere. She charters a jet to Antarctica - a place with limited rainfall - and offers to take most of the diner's customers with her.

Within hours, Los Angeles has descended into chaos, with Harry even inadvertently causing several deaths. The end is a mixture of fulfilled promise and wasted potential and the end of everything. This isn't a movie full of fun and joy, to be perfectly honest, but it is not free from hope.

Look for John Agar - star of several B films (Night Fright, Revenge of the Creature) and John Wayne movies - as well as Kurt Fuller, who played the sleazy promoter in the Hulk Hogan vehicle No Holds Barred, Brian Thompson (the Night Slasher from Cobra), Robert DoQui (who played Sgt. Warren Reed in RoboCop), Sam Shepherd's wife O-Lan Jones (who was in Edward Scissorhands), Lucille Bliss (the "Girl with the Thousand Voices" who was Smurfette and Crusader Rabbot), former felon and later screenwriter Edward Bunker (he wrote Straight Time and Runaway Train), Peter Berg (who would go on to direct Friday Night Lights) and Jenette Goldstein (who would go on to appear in Aliens and Near Dark). Fred the Cook was going to be played by Eraserhead star Jack Nance, but the actor decided that he wanted to focus on his job of being a security guard instead.

Ironically, Earl Boen plays a character named Harlan, named for writer Harlan Ellison. Boen is in just about every Terminator movie, which is ironic, as Ellison sued the creators of Terminator for stealing their idea from two of his Outer Limits scripts, Soldier and Demon With a Glass Hand.

In 2017, Tangerine Dream released the version of the score that they delivered to the director. Several of the tracks on this version are simply musical effects that they created for the film. It was the twelfth movie that they did the soundtrack for.

If the payphone from this film still exists, it's phone number would be 323-254-9411. Feel free to give that number a call.

Entertaining but stupid

[vocklabruck · 3/10 · 29 September 2007]

It's amazing to see the rating this movie has or to read some of the other reviews here claiming this film was brilliant, realistic, etc. I don't understand how someone can give it more than 3 stars.

The plot is simple: One afternoon a guy next door meets the love of his life, at night he loses a date with her and accidentally he receives a call in a pay phone saying that a nuclear attack is going to happen in about one hour. He panics and goes desperately doing stupid things to find his girl and save her and himself.

OK. The panic in this movie was well depicted but there were MANY implausible things that made me laugh... Just from the start what would a normal person do with that phone call? Anybody would just hang up the phone and continue his/her life. A normal person would go after someone that met just a few hours ago while the world is going to end? These are just examples but the movie was full of things like that, one by the other. The decisions these characters took were far away to be realistic.

The movie was not boring at all, it is quite suspenseful but the characters behavior and the acting was pathetic. The only redeeming feature of this film was the music and the atmosphere. You will also smile when you see some of The Terminator supporting actors appearing here. This film would have been great as a comedy, but it was sold as a drama about nukes.

If you want to get some fun rent it. I think you will enjoy it if you set you up for a comedy/hilarious film. Now if you want to watch a realistic and chilling nukes movie go for The Day After, Threads or Testament.

Quite simply one of the best movies I have ever seen

[archie-26 · 10/10 · 10 November 2000]

To anyone who has not seen this, I would urge you to try & obtain a copy because it is amazing On the face of it, it would appear to be a simple thriller about whether the Anthony Edwards character has listened to a genuine message that a nuclear strike is about to hit Los Angeles, or whether it is a hoax, and the subsequent panic it causes. However the film goes much deeper than that, dealing with the issue of fate, our own mortality, relationships with each other & the fact that the human race has evolved so much that we have the power to undo all that we have achieved & destroy ourselves.

Coupled with an amazing soundtrack by Tangerine Dream & superb acting, this is a very special film.

Stylistically Unique

[nitro72 · 7/10 · 20 March 2022]

Stylistically unique examination of a concentrated cross-section of humanity's real-time reaction to the (potential?) prologue to the apocalypse. Swings effortlessly from quirky to grounded, sweet to severe, & hopeful to bleak. #nitrosMovieChallenge.

Whoops apocalypse.

[dombrewer · 4/10 · 2 September 2003]

SPOILERS. What a disappointment. After hearing much about this blink-and-you-missed it 80s apocalyptic love-story thriller, I finally managed to track down a battered old VHS copy, but my feeling now was I needn't have made the effort; it's been hard to find for a reason.

Anthony Edwards gives a credible performance in an otherwise ridiculous film. The director seemed intent on delivering the antithesis of the fluffy neon 80s teen fare but in the process blew up his own film by throwing logic and plot out of the window. It starts well enough and the middle section of the film is quite exciting, especially as the time begins to tick away and Harry is hampered at every corner from achieving what he sets out to do. Sadly it never progresses from there, as the constant set-backs just get annoying in their obvious contrivance and the film descends into ludicrousness.

Ultimately this is a seriously bleak film, especially as the "point" of this is the eternal nature of love, even one hour with your true love is better than nothing etc etc etc. This entirely fails to pay off as the script for the lovers is risible (they won't be diamonds, they'll be soup) and Mare Winningham is not up to the task of proving to us that she genuinely loves this man in the closing moments, rather that she is scared out of her mind (who wouldn't be) and will say anything. No one apart from Edwards gets to advance their character anyway, so Winningham is just dragged through the streets at 4am in a daze. A better tagline for the film would have been "If you had one hour left to live, would you waste it like Harry and Julie?".

I can't help thinking what a fascinating film this could have been if Harry had started all the panic and bloodshed only to discover he'd been wrong all along - that would have been a far more interesting ending to the one we're presented with. I found myself praying for a "it was only a dream" sequence at the end, and I deeply loathe those, so that only goes to show how little I appreciated this film. Avoid this like fallout.

'Forget everything you just heard, and go back to sleep'

[Vermithrax · 30 August 2002]

*click*

As the phone went dead, my heart almost stopped as I watched Harry's expression.

I have known of this obscure thriller for years, and it gets better every time I see it.

'Miracle Mile' is an apocalyptic classic. As many other user comments have indicated, the film portrays mass hysteria and panic due to an impending nuclear attack. At first only Harry (Anthony Edwards) knows about it, and then tells a handful of citizens with such urgency that they have no choice but to believe him. From there the word spreads gradually, and impending doom really sets in. The streets break out into riots, and people just go absolutely nuts. All this while, Harry and his girlfriend Julie and desperately trying to get to a helicopter platform so they can escape to the extreme north. Problem is, many others have that idea as well.

Sounds a bit far-fetched? Perhaps, but the film's anticipation never seems to let up. This is an extremely enjoyable film that makes you think of your own immediate values. I mean, what WOULD you do in that situation? Would you just sit and wait for it? or would you (attempt to) flee? After viewing this film, you ask yourself these questions.

A forgotten gem that deserves the full anamorphic DVD treatment. It's an 80's movie, so it's not without it's corny moments and the somewhat cheesy format. But these things don't really matter as the film portrays panic so perfectly. If such an event (god forbid) was to actually occur, I believe the chaos on the streets would look just like the film.

I've seen some very negative comments on the film, and everyone is entitled to an opinion. But what can I say? I consider this a classic of sorts.

9/10

Incredibly good plot

[Fpi · 10/10 · 25 January 2006]

This is actually my favourite American movie ever, and also my favourite thriller ever. I've seen it three times, and I've been blown away on each occasion. Some elements may be compared to Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys, but I find Miracle Mile superior to it.

The plot is incredibly good, with much more depth than I thought after seeing it the first time - at that time I mistakenly thought it was a little flawed. The use of colours is also noteworthy.

While the movie is extraordinarily captivating overall, I think a few scenes in the beginning have a somewhat cheesy 80s feeling to them, but they're still strangely hypnotic.

One might also wish that some of the acting were a little better. Nevertheless, I see now that Anthony Edwards makes an absolutely outstanding acting performance in the lead role. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack is also excellent. By all means, don't let the movie's quite apparent weaknesses deceive you into thinking that this is just another second-rate, one-dimensional thriller.

Something Different Then and Now

[barbara_schatz · 7/10 · 31 January 2023]

I saw this movie back in 1989 and it blew my mind. Just like today it broke a lot of rules especially about endings.

I saw it in '89 when I was still dating my husband to be. We are still married today and haven't forgotten this movie. But in an era that is 30 years removed from Reagan Bush where males ensure that mass shootings happen 1.5 per each day in America this movie has less impact in the here and now then it did back when it was brand new.

The whole thing had and has a kind of surreal edge, somewhere between the aunjanue taking a Valium at the beginning and the fact that once 4 AM is reached Melatonin is the master of our minds. Somehow the creators of the movie gave it a feel that was very much like the substances that were dominant.

Everything is a little weird, stark, edgy, all from the point when we reach 4 AM and onwards.

Once we get beyond the intro it is real time and once the Mcguffin is dropped the tension just builds. There is a bit of comedy but things get worse and heavier as we tend towards the inevitable end in real time.

Another issue in this movie is that it is recommended to young people who are curious about how people dealt with crises before Internet connectivity.

Without having instant access to instant communication and information people rely on things like word of mouth, hoping people will relay messages, passing on rumors and pay phones. Otherwise they have to travel to the person to whom they wish to communicate.

The hero spends most of his time running around trying to locate his lady and find a way out. It is really weird and indicative of the Reagan Bush era how he is not really willing to say what the problem is and comes up with every excuse (toxic fire with cyanide cloud is just one) under the sun except impending nuclear war when dealing with people.

The closer we get to the very non Hollywood ending the more chaotic things become.

Our hero is never in control but it comes home poignantly as we proceed towards the final quarter of the movie when the surrealism and chaos amps up (cops abandoning the scene scene).

It only took an hour for a rumor to start spreading through the entire city. Without digital connectivity In the middle of the night.

This movie is commendable and recommended for a lot of reasons but be ready for a very non Hollywood ending.

In the end I was kind of left wondering did the war start the rumors or did the rumors start the war. Either seemed equally possible.

The extended ending scenes with them trying to comfort each other through the horror is a beautiful illustration of what love is really about.

Basically if you don't shed a tear at the end you don't really have a soul.

Why have I never heard of this film before?

[DexX · 10/10 · 18 July 2003]

How on earth did such a sublime film pass under my radar for so long? While visiting a friend the other night, he mentioned that he had just received this DVD in the post that day and was dying to watch it. I had never heard of it, but he recommended it so highly I agreed to watch it.

Wow. What an amazing film.

I had no clue what the plot was about, and I think it benefits from that. If you have not seen it yet, try to avoid spoilers and stop reading these reviews! Miracle Mile's unpredictable roller-coaster plot is probably its strongest aspect, and you would probably be well-served not even reading the video or DVD case. Unlike most other films, at any point, it is impossible to guess exactly what will happen in ten minutes time, and this makes it a delight to watch.

The script is masterfully directed, and the cast are uniformly superb and perfect for their roles. Its low budget lets it down a little in its closing moments, but it is notoriously difficult to get funding for a script such as this, so the flawed effects are easily forgiveable.

Miracle Mile is gloriously non-Hollywood, one of those weird American films that feels extremely European throughout, which only serves to add to its surreal and bewildering nature. It even has a beautiful and sad love story tying it all together.

See Miracle Mile. You will love it.

Okay, but not great...coulda been huge....

[nomoons11 · 6/10 · 9 September 2010]

Watching this film and knowing the back story on it, I can only say that this film could have been a monster Hollywood hit if it was only put in the hands of a seasoned Director with a budget. I enjoyed watching it for what it was but I just felt it was lacking in some places.

Right from the start, If you have more than 2 cents worth of a brain, you realize there's no way on earth these people in the diner are gonna get to an airport in time to get away from any Nuclear weapon. There's a scene in the beginning in the diner when they all find out about the bomb coming, a transvestite hooker decides its all phony and they're all over reacting. That would have been my reaction to a "T". There's not much can be done about it so screw it. Just stay there and eat your breakfast.

I can't help feel, again, at how huge this could have been. It's a damn shame. For what it's worth though, I enjoyed it. Great to look back to a time when everyone was always on edge about being nuked. I grew up with it so I empathized with the characters. If you wanna see a film that has real "fear" on this stuff, try War Games, By Dawn's Early Light or Threads. Much more effective on the psyche.

Miracle movie

[ThreeMoons · 10/10 · 20 April 2019]

Ebert gave this one three out of four stars, well at least that´s more than bombs and turkeys from other critics. This is not a story about World War III at all. It´s a love story and a "what if-tale". Mainly it´s atmospheric. And not in a way that´s been experienced before thanks to different directors, writers or such. It becomes atmospheric within yourself. Probably Tangerine Deram has something to do with this. If suspense, humour, excitement, romance, and awe equals triviality, then let´s all become a little trivial. It certainly is not as blatant as being about atombombs, but it´s plain naked in being all about us being beautiful diamonds.

It's all about the writing

[Mikelikesnotlikes · 7/10 · 14 March 2017]

You will need to either make a sandwich or do the washing up for the first 15 minutes of this movie. It is so dull and lame I was sure I'd clicked on the wrong title.

But hang in there, it does pick up from this point.

I thought the suspense held up well throughout. Harry is never 100% sure of his own warning. Over and over we see him second-guess himself. And as every action he takes contributes to a chain-reaction of events where people are burned alive, shot, and smashed up, you can feel the pressure growing in his head. Several times Harry almost gives up in total despair, fearing that his warning might have been wrong.

The 80's vibe is hilarious. Unintentionally, I think. Were we ever that unsophisticated? A frightening thought in itself.

I liked the ending. I don't see why it all has to work out in the end.

You have got to be kidding me

[jondoef · 1/10 · 4 March 2006]

How on God's green Earth did anyone rate this movie higher than a 1? I actually watched it to the end just to see how much worse it could get. I mean, c'mon - there wasn't a single credible scene or situation in this entire movie! People just don't behave that way. The dialog was poor, the characters were a joke, the plot didn't exist, it amazes me that someone actually put up the $$ to get this film made! And how could Anthony Edwards have gotten suckered into such a dud - this was after Top gun - he must have owed someone a ~big~ favor! This is right up there as one of the worst movies I have ever seen - at least movies like They Live made an attempt to be original. Miracle Mile is worse even than the lame Romeo and Juliette with Leonardo DiCaprio (the only movie I have ever walked out of the theater during).

One in the Sea of Chaos

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 24 June 2012]

The main thing I love about suspense thrillers are their mainly based on what ifs. These what ifs are always based on subconscious fear of death or destruction of your life in any form that we would carry everyday. Like being charged with a crime you know you didn't commit, telling the truth but no one believes you, or just simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time. This what if is a big one because the worst thing than the threat of dying is actually knowing when.

This is one of the best and most disturbing suspense thrillers I've seen because it feels frighteningly plausible. The cinematography as well as effects (though not many)are great, I like the use of the Miami location in the time of night though day. I really love the score from Tangerine Dream. Though most importantly the I love the pacing and suspense where things just start out slowly then go really fast to the point you almost can't take the breath, it's sort of the dictum of calm before the storm.

The two main characters I really like, I like the fact that this couple they look like people we would pass by on the street this just makes the sympathy and emphasize level elevate because it makes us feel that what is happened to both of them could happen to us. Mare Winningham as Juile I thought was a solid significant other can hold her own in danger.

But most importantly I really like Anthony Edwards as Harry. He sort of like any other typical guy like any of us has aspirations on life and even life itself, he the kind of guy that isn't looking for trouble but as the saying goes trouble could be looking for him. I like how he reacts toward things because it feels like that is how I would react if ever in this predicament.

Everywhere around this guy there is just complete chaos left and right, you not just hoping he can survive the ordeal but be able to take control; the problem is chaos doesn't want to be controlled. One favorite cinematography shot and scene that I thought was both shocking and beautiful was Harry getting up on top of some van and he sees widespread panic everywhere from traffic completely jammed, cars speeding and exploding, looting, psychos killing people for no reason, and a lot of other bad things you can think about. In a way it shows that it's not going to be a cataclysmic event that will first destroy us but ourselves.

But I also like the chemistry between both Harry and Julie because it feels genuine, some of the things they say to each other feel like what any of us would say. I just like how despite how much chaos their both making the most of their interplay. Which makes it a little sad because these are two people that had aspirations in life, the knowledge of whats to come had robbed both of them of that. This sort of demonstrates how none of us have all the time in the world, whatever we had planned for tomorrow can be gone today.

Spend your day wisely, it could be your last.

Rating: 4 stars

A really solid thriller.

[brianberta · 7/10 · 12 May 2022]

This was a lot darker than I expected it would be going into it. At the back of my mind, I noticed a bit of cheesiness here and there which may or may not bother me if I were to rewatch it (Harry searching for a helicopter pilot was a prime example of this), but for the most part, I enjoyed the film quite a lot and felt it was able to maintain its disturbing feel. This is the kind of film whose tone at the end is so different than what it was like at the beginning, by the time I finished it, I lost sight of how the film even got to such a state as I was edged closer and closer to the climax. The film is also technically impressive, specifically with its depiction of the city-wide panic in the final act which ranks amongst the most exciting sequences I've seen in a while. The only flaw with this film is it hasn't aged that well as, if something like this were to happen nowadays, the film would be more like "Don't Look Up". Still though, really good film and I'm glad I watched it.

Did I watch the same film?

[id247 · 1/10 · 7 September 1999]

After years of reading reviews in books and online about how good Miracle Mile was, I finally got the chance to see it tonight on tv.

As someone who was seriously moved by other films dealing with impending nuclear doom scenarios such as Testament, The Day After and Threads, I was really looking forward to seeing this.

Imagine my disappointment then to sit down and watch a film with a great premise totally ruined by illogical plot development, ludicrous dialogue and characters who I never got to care about.

What is it with modern day moviegoers who would accept such laughable execution of an appalling script?

Is it any wonder the writer/director's CV looks painfully thin since this film?

Garbage of the lowest order - one out of ten - and that's only cos this trash lasted less than 90 mins.