Miami Vice (2006) User Reviews

Solid but underwhelming

[maxwellsmart · 7/10 · 29 July 2006]

Due to Michael Mann's track record it was hard to go into this movie without very high expectations. After all, we are talking about the creator of arguably the greatest crime drama/thriller ever made with "Heat", as well as the highly entertaining "Collateral". But "Miami Vice" fails to live up to Mann's past success in the crime genre.

The plot is completely ordinary and doesn't offer up any unexpected twists and turns along the way. Because of this, the movie lacks intensity through much of the first and second acts, when everything that's happening is completely predictable.

However, pedestrian plot aside, the biggest disappointment was the manner in which the characters were developed. Both "Collateral" and "Heat" were notable for the way in which they delved deep into the psyche of the central characters, providing compelling personal drama to go along with the heists, hits and gunplay. But in "Miami Vice", we never really get to know the characters or their motivations beyond the surface level. And to make matters worse, Foxx and Farrell never develop the kind of rapport that's necessary to make a movie like this work on a high level. Compare Foxx and Farrell to Johnson and Thomas, or Gibson and Glover, and you'll see what I mean. Even though the "Miami Vice" movie aspires to be darker and grittier than "Lethal Weapon", which it is, it fails to be as dramatic because we never really come to care about the characters all that much. While there was clearly a conscious decision to downplay the "buddy" elements of the movie, the result is that Crockett and Tubbs seem so disconnected from each other on a personal level that it's hard to buy that they would die for each other, which we are expected to believe. The only relationship that is at all convincing or fleshed out is between Crockett and Isabella. The rest seem decidedly distant and undercooked.

What saves the film from being a bust is the visual splendor and great action sets. Mann once again proves that when it comes to creating a gritty atmosphere and staging shootouts, he's among the best in the business. When it comes to style, visuals, and atmosphere, "Miami Vice" is top notch.

In the end perhaps what hurt this movie most was studio deadlines and delays while shooting. It's been widely reported that Michael Mann had to feverishly edit this film just to get it into theaters on time, and in many ways that shows. There are multiple loose ends that are never tied up or explained, and several plot threads seem underdeveloped. I'm sure some day we will see a director's cut which approaches the 3 hour mark just like "Heat", and perhaps that version will overcome of the issues involving character development and plot holes in the theatrical version. Until then, "Miami Vice" is a movie that, while far from being a total failure, is none-the-less disappointing in that it had the potential to be a much more complete film than it is.

Underrated and closer to real than people think...

[derek-a-charette100 · 7/10 · 5 March 2022]

I've owned this movie for so long and I haven't watched it for almost 11 years, as my DVD's are in boxes in the basement. I'm glad I went to dig it out. It was very nostalgic and dreamy, just as I remember. The visuals are amazing, and the music is really good.

The first review I read is saying that Li Gong's character is married. To that person, I say, go back and watch the movie, genius. They are NOT MARRIED.

The younger people think it's boring because they have an attention span of a mosquito and if it's not full of bright and shiny things, nudity, and bad CGI, they won't like it,

The older people think it's not 'hip' and 'stylish' like the TV series. To those people, I say, cool story, the cold war was over a long time ago.

For everyone else that understands this movie, cheers!

Nothing needs to be said about it. Mann delivers a good movie. Nothing more, nothing less.

A few problems, yes, but on the whole solid entertainment

[tcarnam · 6/10 · 7 August 2006]

Not gonna get too much into it, will just say that it was pretty good, though with a little work to the script (dialogue, yes, but also how it evoked Crockett's and Tubbs's lives and identities outside of their lives/identities undercover), it could have neared excellent.

Visually, it was beautiful, though this should come as no surprise given who directed it. I was also satisfied stylistically; an updated remake, yes, but for the most part it held true (to the original series) in terms of pattern and theme (i.e., cars, boats, guns, clothes, clubs).

The acting was, given the limitations of a script that didn't really demand all too much of players, pretty good.

The script was, as I wrote above, adequate, but not something I would lavish with any significant praise. There were two scenes where the dialogue ventured well into the territory of trite, but only two scenes, and, more problematically, I wanted to be made more aware of the lines that were being blurred (by their going deep, deep undercover).

On the whole, though, this was good entertainment. The music was good, the action sequences were well-wrought, the tension was kept in-line with a narrative arc that did basically had no missteps. And like I said, it's a beautiful movie.

Liquid Cinema: Part 1

[tieman64 · 8 October 2009]

"All is flux, nothing is stationary." - Heraclitus

"Miami Vice", "The Departed" and "The Black Dahlia" were all released in 2006. "The Departed" went on to do big business and win several key awards, whilst "Dahlia" and "Vice" did nothing but annoy audiences tremendously. Their characters were ciphers, the films had little action and despite their tremendous visual style, their plots were a giant bore. I myself found both films almost painful to sit through when first seeing them in theatres.

But time has a way of putting everything in its proper place. Today I find Scorsese's film intolerable and have since seen "Vice" and "Dahlia" over five times, the later two films revealing themselves, with subsequent viewings, to be truly spectacular. But isn't that always the case with great films? You're unprepared, they leave you baffled and your immediate response is always to react with hostility.

The "Miami Vice" television series was renowned for its flashy cars, cool clothes, sexy women and glossy look. Police detectives Tubbs and Crockett were as interested in their designer sunglasses and exotic sports cars as they were in catching criminals. The TV series celebrated superficiality and vapid aesthetics.

The "Vice" film, however, is one of profound numbness. This is an anti-procedural in which the characters are all desensitised to aesthetics, director Michael Mann opening the film with Linkin Park's "Numb Encore" before throwing his audience headlong into a police story so dense and alien that we immediately become as suffocated as the characters on screen. Tubbs and Crockett have themselves been on the job for so long that everything has long lost its sex appeal. The clothes, cars and exotic locales are now all completely banal. Life has been bled of colour, their toys have been bled of value and everything has a hollow, empty feel.

The film's plot – the detectives going undercover to infiltrate a criminal organisation – is both unoriginal and unimportant. This is a tone poem, a big budget art movie in the vein of Wong Kar-wai and Antonioni, Mann more interested in crafting a low-key crime story in which business is conducted with the existential detachment of Jean-Pierre Melville.

When late in the film Tubbs says to his partner, "So, fabricated identity, and what's really up, collapses into one frame. You ready for that on this one?", he's speaking of his partner's ability to distinguish between the professional life of a police officer and the domestic realm of romance. But on another level, the film is about the collapsing of identities in a larger sense, the archetypal police hero robbed of all energy, hopelessly fragmented, numb and reduced. The film itself is bookended by the lyrics "I'm tired of being what you want me to be, feeling so faithless lost under the surface" and "one of these mornings, they will look for me and I'll be gone", both movie and cast bleeding off into melancholic nothingness.

The flashy universe of the "Miami Vice" TV series, with its boundless money, its 80s excess, its glitzy materialism, has been torn open to reveal a vast network hidden deep within. If De Palma's "Scarface", released a year before Mann's TV series, exposes the banality of wealth, of pop individualism, of our very own post modern aesthetic, then "Vice" the movie tries – like HBO's "The Wire" - to map capitalism's unmappable network of corruption and money. This is a complex and illegible world in which it has become impossible to interact if not in a peripheral manner. Everything is in flux, moving, changing hands too quick for minds to process, let alone affect. Money, relationships and people are always in transition. By the film's end, a leak in the heart of a government agency has not been plugged, the villains escape and Crockett loses his girl. Nothing is resolved and everything is liquid. Liquid money, liquid people, liquid jobs, liquid relationships. Everything moves and it moves fast.

The detectives themselves embody divergent movements. Tubbs is focused, a man of stability, both in his love life and professionally, whilst Crockett is unpredictable, unbalanced and instinctive. He's always gazing out at the horizon, yearning for that utopian "beach paradise" that all Mann's heroes long for. But "Vice's" utopia differs significantly from the paradisaical longings of the men in "Collateral", "Manhunter", "Thief", "Public Enemies" and "Heat". Those characters all failed to actualise their idyllic havens because they were unable to separate the "professional" from the "domestic". But the lesson that "Vice" teaches is that the modern man is permanently disembodied. There is no "actual", no "real", to connect to. The human being has disappeared and dematerialised into the heart of an urban universe governed by technology and money. The post urban world is a confused and atomized mass held together only by the financial tendrils that cross it and the electronic images that recreate the simulacrum.

Crockett thinks he can resist this global system, thinks he can carve out a place of "tranquillity" that exists outside the flux. But this place no longer exists. In a world where a rapid edit is all that separates Miami beach from the slums of Columbia, where money darts back and forth on go-fast boats, where "product" circles the globe in Learjets, where identities are readily forged, created and abandoned at the click of a button, how can one truly hope to tear themselves away from the global system?

Man literalizes these themes toward the and of the film, when a sliding camera motion tracks the entwined hands of Tubbs and his lover. This same horizontal motion charters the disconnect between Crockett and his girl as she leaves on a boat (and their abandoned safe house). If Tubbs and his lover have connection in motion, it is only because they occupy the same professional space. But even this connection is fragile and hopelessly volatile.

(Part 2 of this essay can be found in my review of "Thief")

Miami Vice emerges as a very good grown-up thriller despite it's flaws.

[gav_mcf · 7/10 · 26 September 2008]

I'm a huge fan of Michael Mann, Collateral and Heat are brilliant and this unfortunately doesn't live up to those two. Having said that it's a tense and scarily realistic film. I mean, there's no way cop life is like how it's portrayed in films like Bad Boys and the Rush Hour series.

Foxx and Farrell are solid as the focused partners, although it would have better to see more interaction between the two, they barely say two words to each other the whole film. The acting overall is very good, with Gong Li and Naomie Harris being the stand-outs.

There's no doubt the main feature of Mann's movies is his visual style. The night time atmosphere of Collateral is brilliant and he makes no exception here, providing plenty of great cityscapes and night shots. The soundtrack is also brilliant and bonds with the movie well, the highlight being the excellent "Auto Rock" by Mogwai thumping in the emotional finale.

I think the storyline is a weak point in Miami Vice and could have been stronger. I didn't have too much of an idea of what was going on half the time, but this again is part of the realistic cop scenario and avoids having an elaborate plot. I like the opening sequence when you're thrown straight into a heavy-hitting club scene, not sure whats happening and given no clues.

I admit Mann's thriller will not be for everyone and like most of his films, it may take multiple viewings to take everything in. It is clear though if you are looking for a non-stop action movie definitely avoid this. However, if you want a grown-up, intelligent, realistic thriller I would be happy to recommend it.

Not the MV I was expecting..

[webontheweb75 · 6/10 · 28 August 2006]

I thought the movie was slick and stylish, yet Mann gave absolutely no nods towards one of the biggest t.v shows of all time, aside from the characters having the same names and residing in Miami.

Where was the boat? The alligator? The ex-wife? The kid? Where was Miami? The scenes shot there could have pretty much been anywhere on the coastline of the States. Mann reportedly said a few years back that Miami isn't an interesting place to him anymore. Well he made that quite apparent with his new version of Miami Vice.

I, against popular opinion, actually thought he made a good choice in Farell. I don't really like the guy but he seems to be convincing in most of his roles, and who's better to play a party hard, rough around the edges renegade than a party hard, rough around the edges, erm, renegade.. ahem. But as it's been stated over and over, Farell and Foxx had no chemistry whatsoever. They barely even looked at each other. In fact, Foxx's role could have pretty much been played as well by most African American actors, given the amount of screen time the guy had.

I came out of the movie feeling like I wanted to hit a club, drink mojito's and pick up a model. Which I did, almost.

Miami Vice was a slick cop story with a shaky plot and cool visuals. But if you're looking for any references to the series then forget it, aside from a crap cover version of In The Air tonight thrown on during the end credits (originally sung by Phil Collins in the series pilot).

What was great about the series was the style, the attitude, the music. The film got one out of three of those right.

Cinematic adaptation from classic TV with action, suspense and violence

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 15 October 2007]

This is a story about being undercover, and what happens when you go deep undercover.Particularly if you're doing an operation in a foreign country, where your badge doesn't count and where you can't have SWAT team surveillance you, and people are not in contact, you really are out on the edge. It's the allure of doing that undercover work and what happens to you when you're deep in that role of that fabricated identity. These roles protagonists(Colin Farrell,Jamie Foxx as Sonny Crockett and Tubbs) are filled by real deal. This is a cool film directed by Michael Mann. He tells that his ambitions with a picture like that was to really go exploring into some of diverse areas. It's shot in location Scout, South America. One of the exciting things about Michael Mann is the choosing real location all the time. We're dealing with environment that can often surprise us. Whether it's the light, whether it's dramatic moment with the sky, or some interior or some sort of background action that would not have happened in a controlled backlog situation. Michael gets this slickness, finding places, that, you know , that aren't even on the map.He makes as real as he possibly can. He's all about, why fake it, when you can do it for real? . The cameraman Dion Beebe gets a maximum chromatic saturation. The shooting in these places like Ciudad del Este is incredibly stimulating and exciting.It's a Tri-border area where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet. It's such a unique part of the world. This town have people who are from Middle East, Lebanese and Syrians, a lot of ethnic Chinese and the country speaks Guarani, which is the indigenous language. These people were extras and director got to be pretty determined to get a crew to these places. Also was shot a lot of stuff in the Dominican Republic and in some areas, it took a lot of social engineering to be able to bring a film company in and shoot responsibly and shoot safely. The main shooting is Miami, it's kind of globalized city with a huge population and a lot of money, and lot of people from Haiti, Brazil, Venezuela Columbia. In the movie Miami seems to have elevated itself, up into the most sensual which is up into the air.It's reflected the storm systems, the clouds, the dramatic weather and nature in a very, almost tactile way. Filming in really swank, fantastic places, and the girls are still beautiful(Gong Li, Naomie Harris,Elizabeth Rodriguez) and the cars are still fast but doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the underbelly of Miami.The city is photographed with alluring, it's very attractive, very engaging , sensual and also very dangerous and things that we can see around the images; furthermore an atmospheric music score by John Murphy. The motion picture is well realized by the successful director Michael Mann.

Cool. Bring your iPod to drown out the talking.

[anandare · 3/10 · 31 July 2006]

A die-hard Michael Mann fan, I deeply respect all of his prior work and hold "Thief" and "Heat" in the highest regard. I essentially went into the theater to watch Miami Vice expecting a reaction similar to when I viewed "Ali" and "Collateral" on the big screen. I expected to see the big Mann pull off what I didn't think anyone else could pull off... restructuring the perception of a specific actor and producing an engaging and resonating plot in an otherwise skeptical script idea. In "Ali" I didn't believe Will Smith was the right choice but he worked and Jamie Foxx as Bundini was amazing. In hindsight I understood why he focused solely on the height of Ali's career. When "Collateral" was announced, I had severe doubts as to the believability of the plot, the choice of Tom Cruise as a villain and the decision to shoot on High Definition video. I've watched those two movies several times over and love them both.

So it was with Miami Vice that I didn't think Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as a team were right for the roles. I also believed that the idea of recreating Miami Vice was a pure marketing scheme. I gave Michael Mann the benefit of the doubt considering he directed the TV series that I barely remember since I was only an adolescent. My only knowledge of Colin Farrell was that he was an Irish dude in "Minority Report". I was afraid Jamie Foxx would be a continuation of his "Collateral" "Max" character after he finds his balls.

Sure enough, for the first time, Michael Mann didn't sidestep my opinions. From the first scene in the nightclub, Jamie Foxx has taken over the actions of Tom Cruise. Break a bodyguard, step on him and look up past the camera. That was a great maneuver in Collateral, now I think it's cheese. So he's a tough dude. Colin Farrell is a charmer we learn immediately. So we'll expect sex scenes. Yeah. Too bad the characters are in the same camera shot but miles apart chemistry wise. It's just emotionally cold sex. There's no sense of a symbiotic relationship between Farrell and Foxx either. Both of them just seem to immediately know how to get things done and don't really do anything together that one couldn't do alone or with a randomly assigned partner. Their characters dominate every scene of possible tension and diffuse it immediately. Which is what I consider to be the film's second greatest weakness, the lack of tension and drama. We have to watch talk scenes. Characters talk to characters. Deceive characters by talking. Talk about deceiving by talking. Then fly or pilot a speedboat to talk somewhere else and talk over the phone. All quick witted and distant. It's all supposed to keep the audience wondering and guessing. Which is what it does, makes you wonder why any of it matters and try to guess if there will be any action or resonance with a character. Which is the film's greatest weakness.

You can't relate to any of the characters. All you are watching is a bunch of ethnically and gender diverse bad asses with cool cars, helicopters and boats go about being bad ass talkers and shooters. All presented in very fantastic heroism jumbled by dialogue, dialogue and more dialogue.

The only excitement comes from basic shootouts with shock value due to the timing of action and subsequent gore. But I'm not sure they're exceptional other than how they effectively remove you from the slow anxiety of watching the film not mean anything. The final one in particular seems like a low budget night rehash of the Heat shootout in the dark on grainy video with subpar sound effects.

There's no need to care for the characters. Gong Li is the film's only redemption. She acts with her body. Probably because she's not very good with English. It seems like one of the movie's major intents was to instill minority actors into invincible heroic roles. The white FBI agent is incompetent. White trash and jealous Latino dudes are the baddies, a random black pimp is just left to be. Come watch them get graphically shot to pieces by men and women of color. There's no internal development or conflict. They all talk and stare like Max at his turning point in Felix's club in "Collateral". There's no fear. Come in get the job done. Get er done! And we as the audience have to admire them for their cool cars and cool actions. Maybe only cool people like this movie. There's no depth or passion to any of it. Just cool people being cool in coolly stylized shots. And you won't even care about the questions it leaves unanswered cuz it's not cool to stress out over it. You might feel jealous or passionate and get shot in your "inner medulla by a bullet going 2750 feet per second".

I hope this isn't the start of Mediocre Michael Mann. The idea pains my heart.

A difficult but ultimately exhilarating piece of cinema

[themcquade · 9/10 · 9 August 2006]

There is almost a documentary quality to this movie. Aside from one short sequence the film almost exclusively focuses on the characters at work. In essence the film is about two groups of exceptionally competent professionals- one set cops, one drug dealers - at work. And their work is a cat and mouse conflict between the two. There are almost no exposition or explanatory scenes. Similarly the film makes no concessions to the viewers in terms of the use professional jargon and language. The viewer is thrown in at the deep end, as in many documentaries, and has to work out for themselves what is going on.

In other words the film treats its viewers as intelligent people and challenges them to understand. If you are prepared to accept the film on these terms then it is quite a stunning experience - beautifully shot, well acted, with some exceptional and realistic action sequences - by one of the finest directors alive.

This film is several leagues ahead of the brainless pulp that often passes for thrillers or action movies. Outstanding.

better than expected

[hankyuloff-1 · 7/10 · 27 July 2006]

Flashbacks of a white suit worn to the wedding of an ex-girlfriend's sister went through my mind when I saw that there was another Television show Turned Movie. Go ahead and laugh, but I am sure more than one of the men out there had an Angel's Flight suit or some other Don Johnson wannabe be piece of 80's kitch clothing.

I was very doubtful of the outcome until I saw they handed Miami Vice to director/writer Michael Mann. Mann, who brought us Heat, Ali, and Collateral adds another action film to his collection of hits with this version of the Miami Police Department's vice detective team of James 'Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. They're the guys who show up and make happen what the CSI folk figure out later.

In this Vice story, our heroes are about to break up a prostitution ring when they get a call from a non-active informant saying that there is something major going down and he is leaving. That this first story line goes away is good because it will give you a chance to get up to speed with the movie which starts above the speed limit in the very first frame and you need to get ready for the ride. This informant leads them to be assigned to an FBI task force investigating a drug ring that is going to involve Russians, Skinhead Nazis, Colombians and anyone else that can be thrown in. But that's not the important part. What is important is that the FBI task force has a leak that is getting agents killed. And since Miami PD is not part of it, Crockett (Colin Farrell from Phone Booth, Daredevil) and Tubbs (Jaime Foxx from Jarhead, Ray, Collateral) can be trusted to help the Feds get to the bottom of it.

Part of the charm of Vice, is that it doesn't stop to explain things to the slow kids in the audience. To Mann's credit, he doesn't dumb down the dialog to let us know the intricacies of what the main characters are talking about. There's no "Gee, if there is a bullet in his brain he was probably killed by the impact of it" pabulum that invades television cop shows. The characters all know what they are talking about and expect us to keep up or catch up during gunfire scenes. Also to Mann's credit, he does not throw in a stupid twist like Crockett and Tubb's boss is part of the conspiracy. That would have sucked. Don't worry, their boss is a good guy, like them.

The violence of Vice is another thing that is not dumbed or numbed down in this film. You don't just see a man getting shot and flying backwards from the impact, you see his insides come outside as each piece of lead tears apart the body. This is an R-rated film and it earns it. A strong warning to parents here if you think that the kids have seen cop shows and this is going to be the same..... NO.... This is lots of violence and it's not hidden by quick cuts and editing. And for those parents who don't mind their kids seeing bodies being ripped apart sinew by sinew, there are people having SEX, too! Good sex. With a 228 mile boat ride full of foreplay.

And speaking of those racing boats I have a quick side note here. This may be a plot problem but I am not sure. You know those Go-Go boats? The really fast racing ones? Do they have enough range to get from Miami to Havana? I didn't know the answer to that one and it might be something that needs 'xpalining. But by the time you see this scene, you will probably be completely entrenched in the story and can't wait to see the two characters in the boat get to Havana for a mojito and sex that you won't care.

I had been dreading this movie because if Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx were expected to act at all like their predecessors, it would have been a long couple of hours. But that did not happen. Farrell gets more screen time than Foxx, but they are both terrific. In looking back at Foxx's career, it was in another Mann film, ALI, that his career truly turned and he began getting away from the dufus parts to the serious Leading Man roles that he has had since. It was good to see him team up with Mann for the third time. He is an actor who is honing his craft and has become a reason to see a film. The best acting in the movie is turned, however, by John Ortiz, who plays Jose Yero, a mid-level management type in the crime syndicate. He is smart, and not so much evil as ruthless in running the business. Yero has been a lot of crime movies - The Opportunists, Narc, Ransom - but never anywhere close to top billing. This film could and should get him a lot more work, higher up the cast list. The Farrell love interest (there always IS one - it's in his contract) is Li Gong, last seen as the bad ass hooker Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha. I feel she was a little stilted and tight, but that might be the language block. When she is in scenes where she does not speak - and just relies on her body language, we see more of her abilities The soundtrack and sound are also terrific. Gunshots are loud and jarring and the background music makes you feel the heat on screen.

I enjoyed Miami Vice. It was much better than I expected and that does not happen enough for me. You need to like action flicks. Or watching Foxx and Farrell and Gong. But that is not difficult - Let it be your own little vice.

Expected Much More

[Bluewaterjack · 5/10 · 28 July 2006]

This movie was simply lacking.

It lacked everything that made MV great. Great soundtrack, flashy cars, and tongue in cheek devil may care attitude of Tubbs and Crocket.

This movie tried to be dark, and was just tired.

There was little chemistry between Fox and Ferrel and it was as if Mann had to write to parallel plots for each leading man. Two girls, two romances, two sex scenes, two shower scenes, two girls in distress scenes, etc.

Finally, for a relatively pedestrian plot, Mann left most of the plot twists hanging and unanswered. Who was the FBI leak, what was in the Russian crates, why was a Montoya a Russian working with a Chinese national using American skin heads as muscle, why did they need to be deputized by the FBI and what the hell ever happened to the FBI in the movie.

The movie just didn't rehash the magic of MV or reinvent itself.

Worth a Second Watch

[brooks250 · 8/10 · 6 October 2018]

I must admit as a Michael Mann fan, going all the way back to Thief, I was a bit underwhelmed when this movie first came out on '06. But a second and third viewing later on impresses with how Mann still has all of his talents on full display (the perfect music mix, the moody lighting, the clean and brutal fight and shoot out scenes and ,yes, a couple very hot sex scenes) OK, the dialogue and much of the setup are ridiculous. It's nowhere nearly as realistic as Thief or Heat. Still, this is very enjoyable filmmaking. Now that it's on Amazon, there's no reason not to have a fun 2:15. I'm disappointed there was no sequel.

Highly interactive drug-ring movie plays well on DVD

[noizyme · 7/10 · 14 December 2006]

When I first commented on this movie, I was furious. First, I couldn't tell why this was being adapted into a movie from the 80's TV show, but with that aside, secondly, I couldn't figure out how I felt about Colin Farrell (with his gruff voice throughout the whole movie trying to replace Don Johnson as Crockett) and Jamie Foxx playing Tubbs (especially because I always loved Foxx's more comedic acting over his serious roles). I saw it in the theater the first time around, and everything just felt completely off-putting for me, even little things like not including the trademark theme song from the TV show to hype up the movie.

So I lost that initial impression altogether with a second viewing. I forgot that they never used the original theme music. I overlooked Farrell's acting like Don Johnson. And I had time (and subtitles for most of the overly specific commands and subtle name changes that the characters used throughout the film) to sit back and figure everything out without being uncomfortably squirming around in a theater chair to view it. Although I felt that some music changes would've gotten this film a higher score with my taste in soundtracks (or maybe a loss of the random sex scenes between the two vice partners and the included music in those changed around), ultimately the DVD proved a lot of my primary opinion were false.

The camera-work was awesome (each scene being shot with a photograph included in place of a traditional storyboard layout). Time was put into the detail-oriented script almost to the point of confusion, for the audience at points, but in the long-run, the totally expanding life of a vice agent and the takeovers that are possible in the real world might be this sky-bound. Michael Mann deserves a lot of the credit for the entire film for its look and continuous feel throughout; this adaptation definitely could not have been made as complete without him as the director. And his tests for simple things (such as .50 caliber gun impact tests on a car) really show through in the final draft of the film.

All in all, the film deserves at least 7 stars as its rating. I don't know about seeing it again and again (mostly due to its heady-script and elongated duration of the film), but there are moments of the film that have you laughing to yourself abut how this drug-trade stuff goes on within vice squads. Very informative, very stylish and functional camera-work, and very worth seeing.

Huh?

[fullejo-1 · 5/10 · 30 July 2006]

Just saw the film today- I am a big fan of Michael Mann' films but I must say I was somewhat disappointed. The story is realistic and believable, the acting was on point for the most part and of course the cinematography was excellent. The films biggest fault-unintelligible dialog. I viewed Miami Vice in a digital surround theater,and the effects-gunshots,helicopters,speedboats,sports cars etc.were plenty clear but I found myself straining to hear most of what the actors were saying. Of course, the heavy accents and macho low voice tones didn't help. Its a good drug/crime action movie but very far from the caliber of films Mann is known for(Heat,Collateral). I remember rushing home in the eighties to see Miami Vice,I don't think I ever missed an episode. Maybe I just expected too much.

confusing and unsatisfactory

[Special-K88 · 29 July 2006]

From director Michael Mann and based on the 1980s television series comes this flashy, but overlong and unfocused Miami action flick about Vice detectives Sonny Crockett (Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) who must go deep undercover and throw their personal lives into disarray in order to stop an international drug trafficking scheme. Pulls you in with its stylish direction and flamboyant visuals, but the two leads have poor chemistry, character development is almost nonexistent, and the film drags on from one convoluted plot twist to the next. Action scenes provide a spark every once in a while, but overall the film is frustrating and never provides one single reason to care about any of its characters! A disappointment considering the cast and crew involved. **

"Miami Vice" 2006

[jakelamotta06 · 7/10 · 25 July 2006]

Michael Mann's 2006 cinematic update of the 80s-television show "Miami Vice" is gritty, violent, and nothing like the television show it is updating. Opening the movie during an undercover operation, we are introduced to the new Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs. We, the audience, are also introduced to the high-risk crime world these characters are a part of. Mann's picture is very detailed and seems to be more interested in being an undercover police procedural. That is until love connections of the two main characters are developed, trying to make these two characters more human and identifiable (and, in an all-too-calculated fashion make the high-risk world riskier). After the long-winded and uneven set-up arrives the movie's action set pieces, Mann's directoral specialty. But, what makes "Miami Vice" entertaining are its remarkable and impressive visuals. Michael Mann and cinematographer Dion Beebe, again, use the HD-digital camera and create a visual feast for the eyes (Some images making the movie seem better than it actually is). The beauty of exotic locales, a plane in flight, a boat traveling in the water, even the characters on top of building among the city's skyline are all gorgeously shot. Ultimately, it all adds up to an okay movie. Not close to the greatness Mann achieved in "Heat" or "Collateral". But, let's just say, its what "Bad Boys 2" (not a Mann picture) should have aspired to be.

Such a disappointing movie.

[aidonvito · 6/10 · 27 August 2006]

Overall I didn't like this movie, but I am a big fan of Michael Mann's films.

This movie had such great potential, but in the end, it was too long (the editor needed to be more ruthless) and had very little substance. I cannot argue with the shooting of the film, the sets and visuals were superb. The soundtrack was good, but the big disappointment was the middle of the movie.

A story needs a beginning, a middle and an end!. It seemed that after an initial good 20 minutes, the remainder of the movie, just ambled along with no real sense of purpose. The beginning and end were OK, but the middle was a mess.

I have seen the movie twice, just to give it a second chance, but to no avail.

The two leads (Farrell and Fox) just don't gel. I think both are very talented actors, but it seemed like they had met a day before shooting the movie began. They just did not create the impression, that they were a partnership on screen. Too many of the scenes feature Crockett, Tubbs and various other individuals. There should have been more scenes with only Crockett and Tubbs.

More effort should have gone into developing the reasons, why crockett and tubbs were such a great team. The audience is just expected to assume that they are a great partnership, with little or no background.

I am a fan of the 80's TV show, but knew it was an updated version, rather than a remake, but the story was still lacking.

As I stated earlier, for visuals and soundtrack, you won't be disappointed, Mann has again scored on that front.

The problem lies with the development of the story, after the first 20 mins. An informant commits suicide and this then opens up the main purpose of the film. Crockett and Tubbs are to infiltrate a drug smuggling ring and take down all the major players.

All of a sudden, Tubbs is a qualified pilot, Crockett is adept at handling a speedboat and any action decides to take time out. The whole middle sequence of the film, rambles from Crocketts love interest to lots of dialogue about drug deals (at which point subtitles would have been nice!! the speech is too quick from all the actors and even with the great sound of a movie theatre, it is hard to understand what has just been said) Some action would have been nice, just to change the pace, but the whole middle section becomes quite boring.

The last half hour does up the tempo, but by this time, its too little, too late, as you are treated to a couple of action sequences. Compared to Mann's previous movies, these sequences, seem like they were filmed in five minutes and not given much thought to.

As I said, I am a big fan of Michael Mann movies, I saw it TWICE to give it a fair chance, but overall, this is not a good movie. I hope his next movie improves on this one!

Visually Stunning And Bursting With Stylish Flare. Shame That The Same Can't Be Said About The Substance

[Det_McNulty · 7/10 · 4 August 2006]

Once again Michael Mann creates an entertaining and enthralling action thriller with Miami Vice. As well as staying faithful to the original iconic 80s series, it manages to being a whole new life to the franchise that changed TV and though may seem to have not got better with time it is still always going to be something special. The film's narrative structure lacks the rhythm and motion that is needed to create a more "compelling" blockbuster.

I generally hate Colin Farrell and when I heard that he had been cast as "Sonny" I was surprised and also disappointed. Colin Farrell lacks the discipline and gritty features needed to play a character such as "Sonny". What gets on my nerves about Colin Farrell's acting ability is the fact he is so "over the top" and never puts any depth, emotion or facial acting into his roles. He's generally a bland and un-appealing actor, also some of the dialogue (In particular Colin Farrell's) was so corny and lame you felt that the actor would have been being laughed at. In a strange way though you could stay the "style" of the script was a tribute to the odd 80s feel the movie had. On a lighter note Jamie Foxx was great as "Ricardo Tubbs", he lived up to the original character and put a new dimension into the role. I found it surprisingly realistic and he was awesome at keeping his "cool".

Michael Mann's beautiful, sleek and cool direction style perfectly suits the mood of Miami Vice. Mann's use of lighting (As usual) shows tremendous skill and intelligence to perfection of detail. The editing is very sharp and flows nicely, unlike the film's story which in places felt dis-joined. The style added a real raw intensity to the film's look and I felt it was very good on the eyes with some of the beautiful scenery which grabbed my attention. Mann is always a perfectionist as visual flare and creating a tense crime film (Which usually are wonderfully structured). Even though the film is modern it still manages to feel very "80s" which I enjoyed.

Being a huge Miachel Mann fan and a film buff I had been highly anticipating Miami Vice and was still enthralled even though it did not match some expectations. Yes I disagreed with a particular casting choice and was not a fan of the clumsy script, but I was still pleased with the final outcome. Though I was very hyped up for Miami Vice and it does live up to Mann's previous masterpieces it still manages to be the best film of the year so far in what is a (So far) disappointing year for film. Miami Vice is a "cool" film and I recommend it if you want some good entertainment.

Dark, Dingy, Seedy...and thats just the acting

[niallfinnegan274 · 1/10 · 23 August 2006]

I recently had the profound displeasure of viewing this film. Along with my two amigo's, I was shocked by the dearth of quality in this film. The first thing I picked up on was the lack of lighting. It was scarce throughout the film, leaving faces indistinguishable. As such, facial expressions were rendered completely useless.

Next, I come to the completely inadequate dialogue. For a start it was entirely in another language. I don't speak gangsta, and relied on my friend who is a fan of rap to translate what rare segments of speech were audible. One man had only two lines I heard and comprehended. "Still no shooter," and "Calm down!" were the sole words I understood from the mouth of the police chief.

Finally, the plot. I am still speechless as to how to two "undercover" police men managed to infiltrate the biggest drugs cartel in the world on what seemed to be a whim. Their brand of police work seemed to consist of sleeping with anyone they can, while coincidently finding clues. Miss Marple would be better suited to the case.

Please: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS FILM.

One of Mann's finest, this is so much better than the IMDb rating

[antonjsw1 · 10/10 · 2 January 2013]

Michael Mann's feature film adaption of his seminal 80s TV series comes across as a complex, exciting and thoughtful drama and is totally removed from both the TV series and a stereotypical view of what this film audiences might have expected. Nevertheless it is accessible and hugely entertaining.

The action sequences are like Heat, only as a result of the development of the story. They are grounded, realistic and very exciting. The story, while paying homage to the original TV is complex, involving, thoughtful and engrossing, and Michael Mann's use of digital cameras really works for this film in helping tell this story.

The film drops you straight into a "day on the job" and intelligence that is received by Crockett and Tubbs, both very well played by Colin Firth and Jamie Foxx, while on this job leads them into a new deep undercover role. Gong Li is also very impressive in the role as part of a drug dealing cartel. In fact, all performers are first rate and their low key and introspective performances are the major successes of the film. The characters are played as being on the job for a long time, and it looks like that all the key characters have become so immersed in the job that is all they live for. The development of Firth and Gong's character is interesting within the context of the story as we see the flickering's of a life beyond their day to day existence, just as an event in the film leads to the subtle humanising of Foxx's character, but as to whether these character changes are permanent, the viewer will need to judge for themselves.

Action scenes are exceptional in their gritty execution. Dion Beebe's camera-work is first rate, and the use of characters presented in silhouettes works very well in terms of the subliminal message of the work they are doing being in shadow. There are some interesting effects of the digital filming, with some action scenes having an almost video like look. The mix of songs and Jon Murphy's score works well and really creates a mood for the story to play out in.

Director Michael Mann again orchestrates the film with skill and style. As shown on films such as the Insider, he brings superb visual storytelling to dialogue and character focused scenes and yet handles action scenes in an involving and exciting way.

In summary a entertaining thriller. It is a shame that it was not successful enough to warrant a sequel.

Not actually that bad

[spamspaz-1 · 7/10 · 30 July 2006]

I am one of the many people who are seeing this film and have not even heard of the source material, I am too young to know what it is yet I am old enough to see the new and enjoy it. This film is not as good as the other Micheal Mann film with Jamie Foxx (Collateral for those in the know), but it still has its moments even though they are way to bloody for their own good. The acting is fairly nice in some parts, but is over acted with silly accents here or under acted with little emotion in some parts. The middle part of the film that with little reason skips out for an arguably more romantic half hour between Colin and Gong could be cut out or left in, but the action scenes are enjoyable and the plot progresses at a nice pace. This movie will most likely be enjoyed by action film people who aren't slow at following plots, but I found that even my mother enjoyed this movie. It may be graphic and a little on the long side, but it is a fairly good film that can be enjoyed by many.

The vice here is the mediocrity

[omega786 · 1/10 · 9 August 2006]

After reading a few reviews on some well known film sites i thought this was going to be great...but the totally opposite was true. What a huge disappointment. The plot was going from one place to another and at times just gave you one big headache. Poor red herrings and over the top sub plots were shown to us as believable (I think not!). The film was just one sub plot over another and a zig zag of labyrinthian proportions of where the film should be going. And how about this for corny dialogue...'probability is like gravity...'? er..yeah, like dog crap and cheese are identicial???

It seems Michael Mann is a one (HEAT) hit wonder, and simply adding a 10 minute gunfight lifted straight out of HEAT at the end of the movie is not going to save it.

If you want to watch a decent cop thriller check out the little known 'Dirty' a superior film by a lesser known director.

Avoid this Miami VICE and buy the TV series instead.

Cop thriller for adults

[General_Cromwell · 9/10 · 11 August 2006]

While this is called 'Miami Vice' and has the same names as the characters from the TV show, thats where the similarities end. This is a no nonsense undercover cop thriller. There are no 'buddy cops', wisecracks, car chases, or O.T.T action, so the casual movie goer is going to be a little bemused by what they are seeing. But fans of Michael Mann's work will be in seventh heaven, because this has all the director's trademarks.

There's some stunning camera-work (A lot of it digital), and some beautifully rendered sequences in this and some explosive action (But don't go expecting 'Lethal weapon' style action.) The trailer park stand off with the white supremacists was my favourite scene and an abject lesson in how to put suspense on screen.

Performances are all very good, right down to the smaller parts and the plot demands attention. I found the films running time flew by. Its so refreshing to see a cop thriller for adults, with no silliness and one that doesn't insult the audiences intelligence.

Best film so far this year.

Miami Bland

[marcotiero · 6/10 · 8 March 2021]

I decided to stick on this dvd after many years, and whilst it was better than I remembered, it's a far cry from the TV series and lacks the charm and style of the show. Other than the names of the characters, none of them are like the characters from the show, none have their own personality and it just doesn't feel like it's at all related. The story itself is decent and does the job, but it lacks punch and is rather flat. There's not a single joke in the movie, no excitement in the action scenes and the characters have no personality, so you don't feel anything for them. There's no rollercoaster of emotions here, it's just monotone. Amongst the cast, only Jamie Foxx has a bit of charisma about him, but not enough to save this from being average. Also, what was the point of Montoya in the movie when he's only in 3 scenes. Yero should have been the big boss instead of "middle management" when he's the main antagonist anyway. At 2 hours, this rather drags out and there are so many more movies like this which have been done better.

the movie is crap

[tony_coptic · 1/10 · 18 August 2006]

the movie was bad, couldn't understand half the words, movie was too long and contained random inappropriate scenes in an attempt to recapture the viewers attention.

there was fast cars, high class but, there were never really used , only 2 shooting scenes, and 1 car scene.This movie was a waste of money and time, i will like to see how much profit is made!

also, if you do decided to go to this movie, it would be wise to take a book with you ,as you will get bored.

The characters as well, need to speak more clearly.

.