Film: Miami Vice

[Banquo]

poll added %)

 

[alasdairm]

in spite of colin farrell, i can't wait to see this. i'm a huge fan of michael mann's work and i have doubt this will be beautiful to look at and will kick (my) ass.

alasdair

 

[Banquo]

It is ironic that some of the negative reviews of Miami Vice mention that it was not enough like that original TV show. Would these critics have rather seen something cheesy and nostalgic like the Dukes of Hazzard movie, which was universally panned?

Miami Vice is full on Michael Mann. It is the boldest use of his style to date. He makes great use of the digicams, taking plenty of shots of dark highway overpasses, cityscapes, and other images that would not be possible to capture with traditional movie cameras. There are long sequences of just music and camera pans, things that are more about style and setting than dialogue and exposition.

Just as with some of Mann's other work, like Collateral or Heat, I wouldn't recommend this movie for everyone. It's an action movie for people who appreciate more novel approaches to filmmaking. At the same time, it's also perfect for anyone who is tired of the same old shoot-em-up car chase flicks of the past.

There are two conspicuous product placements (Bacardi and Range Rover), which are thankfully taken care of in the first five minutes, but other than that, no complaints. Great movie.

 

[DJAcetone]

I love Micheal Mann, I love all his films, and I can safely say this movie was BORING. The action scenes were not intense, unlike "Heat", and the acting was horrible, unlike "Collateral".

I couldn't stand this flick, it was too cool for it's own good.

 

[posner]

Exactly what a no-frills action movie should be like. Hard and fast. The movie was great. It wasn't at all like Heat or Collateral or, for that matter, The Insider, Ali, Last of the Mohicans, Manhunter, or even Thief. This is not a mental or complex movie.

Great summer action movie--no extra baggage, looks incredible, action sequences are incredibly intense (^ your statement is not just a little perplexing). colin farrell is terrible, but it is almost comical.

 

[L2R]

I share Banquo's sentiments.

I enjoyed the fuck out of this film. First and foremost: the most gorgeous looking film in years. It's shot in a way that not only glorifies the scenery and violence to cartoonish extremes, but also, somehow, manages to convey a gritty and dark realism at the same time. The predominantly real time shootouts and violence (similar to that in Heat) combined with chest exploding firearms sounds (used also but not to this extent in Collateral) send high velocity impacts through the audience with each bullet fired. Fuck yeah!

As for the story, it's the gritty "underground" dialogue that sells it for me. With very little explanitory interpritation it may leave a good deal of the audience scratching their heads wondering what the fuck the characters are talking about, but it also respects the audience enough to figure it out for themselves. Taking it in in context isn't very hard to understand really.








****************SPOILERS**************************
BUT
The primary objective to keep going deeper undercover and higher in the bad guy hierarchy: finding the leak in the police information, was not solved. It seems as though they went in to find our who ratted the first set of undercovers and their informants, but then were distracted by the two damsels in distress missions and vengeance on the trafficker. The movie suddenly ends and the leak is still unplugged!
Please correct me if i missed something, cuz i did run out for a piss at one stage. Is this open for a sequel?

 

[lostNfound]

I thought the shooting style was very similar to COPS.
Especially the scene in the trailer park.

 

[GreatSpaceCoaster]

I refuse to see it on the grounds that I am petty. You see, for three weeks while I worked and lived in the Miami area, I would have to drive an extra 15 minutes out of my way home every night so they could shoot on the 1-95. For this reason, I will not give these f*ckers any of my heard earned money.

Is this petty? Yes. Do I care? Not really...

 

[eu4ia]

i love films where drug dealing is the main spotlight.

 

[animal_cookie]

i found the film a tad boring. it was beautifully shot, but i was expecting a harder action flick. i think i would have enjoyed the film more if i went in with different expectations

 

[alasdairm]

watched it last night and i don't have much to add to what l2r said - the look of the thing was simply sublime.

i really like jamie foxx and i'm not much of a colin farrel fan but i thought farrel did a great job in this.

alasdair

 

[TheLoveBandit]

Hindsight? I thought it was decent, as was the sequel. I never cared for the tv show that much, and thought the movies were much more enjoyable - at least you didn't have to get sick thinking you'd have to sit through the same tripe every week - it's only 2 hours!

 

[L2R]

a few months back this blu ray arrived. this time i got bored of the hammed up glamour image and convoluted story. unlike my initial reaction, i felt like it was being transparantly shallow.

 

[TheLoveBandit]

... i felt like it was being transparantly shallow....with lots of explosions

fixed