Miami Vice (2006) (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

I think someone, earlier in this thread, said the club song was a cover of the song "Numb". The cover was done by Jay-Z and (I think) Linkin Park.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Ok, thanks!
I was hoping I wasn't just retarded (re: mole)

 

[Zack Gibbs]

While the mole was essentially the catalist that put them into position, it wasn't their primary mission. They were able to deliver info to the FBI to help locate the mole but, just like in real life, they will never be privy to what happens internally at the FBI. And in that, neither will the audience.

 

[Brett_M]

I was blown away last night. I loved every frame of MV and can't wait to see it again.

I have no complaints. Those of you who enjoyed it have hit all the marks of what makes it great -- visuals, tension, performance, camera work, attention to detail and authenticity, etc. I loved that it started right away -- no credits, no nothing. YOU ARE THERE. I can see how this type of film would turn some movie-goers off. The dialog is frenetic and real -- no exposition, no lame one-liners, no sit-com/buddy picture chit chat. It's almost like a foreign language. The interplay between the characters was so compelling -- eye contact & body language. My adrenalin was pumping so hard my arms and legs were shaking! During the trailer sequence I was on the edge of my seat and I could feel my heart pounding -- the pulse in my neck was standing out. I was squeezing my wife's hand so tight she had to wrench it away and re-adjust how she was sitting. The firefight at the end was pitch perfect. Many have compared it to the bank robbery scene in Heat. I don't agree. A broad daylight shoot-out in a city street where a lot of rounds are fired and a lot of glass breaks looks and sounds great -- I love that sequence. In MV, a night time shoot-out in a shipyard where people are dying and dying badly is much more vicseral, more dangerous and more intense. I was blown away.

My favorite moment of the night was when my wife leaned over to me after about an hour and said "Is that Carlito's cousin?" I smiled and replied " I knew you'd get it sooner or later."

I loved the performances, too. Colin Farrell continues to surprise me. I'm glad the final scene showed him walking into the hospital. Fade out. Credits.

Even if it doesn't do huge numbers at the b.o. it will be one of of Mann's most watched and enjoyed films. Heat didn't exactly set the b.o. on fire, either. I saw it twice at the theatre and I enjoy it more every time I watch it, which is at least 2 or 3 times per year.

MV is one of my favorite films of the year. A all the way.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

As was mentioned earlier, there was a number of scenes that were inexplicably grainy..
Even from a stylistic point of view.. how could it add anything to the scene?
And it wasn't something where graininess would be a truthful attention to detail (night vision, for example)..
It really took me out of the movie, to be honest..
But besides that, and the confusing plot points, it was very good..
No Heat, or Collateral (and that just because you could wrap your head around the plots of those movies far more easily)..
But good..

 

[Nathan V]

Doug,

I think grain is an acquired taste. I can see how it could be very annoying to some people. I've seen people here get really worked up when a movie is shot on Super35 instead of Anamorphic, but it really doesn't bother me. For me, it has an organic quality- I love shooting on hi speed film and just spattering the negative, as it were. To me, grain makes sense in low light situations, since it kind of reflects the way we see in low light- lack of detail, definition, etc. Like fashion, it's an aesthetic that certain people respond to. With this movie, it's even less intrusive precisely because it is so blatant- we know it's there intentionally, and not a result of process. Like the arresting compositions and use of focus, we're supposed to notice it or at least feel the result of it. That Mann really pushes the format, using it for its unique capabilities rather than a cost-conservation thing, is what I love. I'm a (still) film person myself, but take a similar approach to digital.

In Mann's words, on Collateral, to Sight & Sound:

It's useful here to make an analogy with architecture. When steel was first introduced as a building material architects disguised the structure of their buildings to look like masonry. It wasn't until Louis Sullivan's pioneering work in Chicago in the 1890s that the aesthetics of the steel structure were allowed to be expressed.

So my reason for choosing DV wasn't economy but was to do with the fact that the entire movie takes place in one city, on one night, and you can't see the city at night on motion-picture film the way you can on digital video. And I like the truth-telling feeling I receive when there's very little light on the actors' faces - I think this is the first serious major motion picture done in digital video that is photoreal, rather than using it for effects. DV is also a more painterly medium: you can see what you've done as you shoot because you have the end product sitting in front of you on a Sony high-def monitor, so I could change the contrast to affect the mood, add colour, do all kinds of things you can't do with film. Digital isn't a medium for directors who aren't interested in visualisation, who rely on a set of conventions or aesthetic pre-sets, if you like. But it's perfect for someone like David Fincher or Ridley Scott - directors who previsualise and know just what they want to achieve.

Brett and Dome, glad you guys loved it. Great post, Brett M. The film encourages us to look at all the forms of communication between the characters, and watching the interplay, which is so exquisitely layered, is exhilerating, like you said. There is a strong viscerality that really grabbed me. The no-exposition approach really separates it in a way from almost every other movie, making it one of the most immediate film experiences I've had in a long time. And yeah, that final shot is amazing to me, really reinforcing/solidifying the bond between between Crockett and Tubbs, while at the same time maintaining the melancholy of the previous scene, with Farrell being alone, small in the frame. Oh man, I love this movie.

Regards,

Nathan

 

[doug zdanivsky]

it's even less intrusive precisely because it is so blatant

I'd have to disagree with you, there..
Now, if it were uniform, it would be ok, I could accept that (in a pre-1980 film!!).
But to go from clear, to grainy, clear again.. Grainy..
And in an otherwise state-of-the-art movie..
I'm very picky about that sort of stuff, too, though..
I like crystal-clear images all the way..
Sometimes I don't mind monkeying around with the way scenes are portrayed, visually (Traffic, Saving Private Ryan)..
But this instance gave me pause..
I concur regarding the ultra-realistic shoot-outs and layered performances (I also loved the scene at the end where Crockett shows us he's got his head screwed on straight)..

 

[BennyD]

Saw this a few days ago. Thought it was very good but not great (Heat/Collateral level).

Few quick points...

The dialogue wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting from the early feedback. The dialogue leading up to taking the mission from the FBI felt forced, but alot of the dialogue issues I attributed more to Colin Farrell not being the strong actor we're accustomed to in a Mann film. One of my favorite parts of Collateral is the dialogue between Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith at the beginning of the film and there just wasn't anything on that level.

As far as the cinematography... absolutely gorgeous as usual. Getting out of the film my fiance and I were commenting on how Mann could film flowers growing and it would look breathtaking.

The plot wasn't the greatest, but it felt much more realistic than the normal action popcorn flick plots.

Lastly, I don't think theres anyone who can film a gun shot or gun fight as well as Mann. The gun shots had the realistic boom thats almost become a staple of Mann's films. The violence was brutal as it should be rather than romanticized. Everyone actually reloaded regularly and noone fired any automatic weapons for more than 3-4 shot bursts. I can't imagine the "Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics" site will have much to complain about with this film.

Overall I'd rate it a B+/A-, but I'm biased since I went in wanting another Collateral.

 

[Nathan V]

Those apple.com featurettes are indeed fantastic. I love watching B-roll- seeing the interactions between the director and actors. Mann in particular, with his almost absurd level of attention to detail (I'm thinking about that dance featurette).

Regards,

Nathan

 

[Chris Atkins]

Miami Vice
9/10
I don't have long to write a review, but I will say this: visually, Miami Vice is like nothing I've ever seen on screen before.

 

[Steve_Tk]

Will definately pick this one up on DVD. Only made 37M, probably has somethign to do with the R rating. I love Mann's movies that are made for adults. So glad a studio has not dumbed down one of his movies down to PG-13...........so far.

 

[ToddP]

I really really enjoyed this movie. After this and Collateral, Mann has become one of my favorites. As for some of the complaints, to each his own I guess. I think some people who are complaining or commenting that the movie isn't enough like the tv show have forgotten what the show was like. Sure it was shot in the bright lights and brighter colors of the '80s, but that's all that was bright. The actual tone of the tv show was pretty dark. Crockett and Tubbs (especially Crockett) were always dancing along the very fine line between good and bad, cops and criminals, good cops and bad cops. For the movie, Mann took that tone and just cranked it up a bit; and I for one loved it. Movies like this should be dark.
I loved the music/score. I felt emersed throughout the movie. I never had trouble hearing or understanding the dialogue, perhaps except for Gong Li at times. And I didn't think the dialogue was cheesy or weird. The 11:47 o'clock line was great. And the hola chica, hola chico thing was perfect. It was a very light, but very intimate exchange between too people with an extremely passionate connection.

 

[teapot2001]

I watched the special on NBC and found the dialogue a lot easier to hear from Tubbs and Crocket. The theater I went to has top-notch presentation, so I don't know what was wrong with the dialogue when I saw it.

~T

 

[ThomasC]

I watched the special on NBC and found the dialogue a lot easier to hear from Tubbs and Crocket. The theater I went to has top-notch presentation, so I don't know what was wrong with the dialogue when I saw it.
~T

I think the theatrical mix may have been improperly done. The dialogue coming out sounded pretty weak at my theater too.

 

[Shawn_KE]

Saw this last night and loved it. Wasn't as flashy as the 80's show but had a nice mood throughout. The shootout at the end was awesome, with some great upclose gun deaths. Rivels those of Heat perfectly.

 

[ToddP]

The other thing I loved was the actual sound of gunfire in the movie. Why is it so hard for filmmakers to use accurate sound with gunfire instead of the fake, muffled popping you always get?

 

[JediFonger]

just watched s2 of 24 last night, i thought that gunfight's sound quality was well done for a TV series.

 

[Chris Atkins]

More thoughts on this movie:

Overall, I thought the tone of the movie was very consistent with the TV show. What most forget is that under the flashy, neon surface of the TV show was a drama about the sadness of being a cop. The movie captured that quite well, and ended very much like most of the TV episodes did: with two cops dealing with the reality of their occupation, and the fact that they will never really have "normal" relationships with anyone because of it.

I noticed at least one set/location that was identical to one used in the TV series. Right after the scene where Crockett uses the grenade to get out of a sticky situation, we see Crockett and Tubbs in a hotel/apartment room getting their guns and ammo together. I'm almost positive that same room was used (for an almost identical scene) in season 1 of the series. I can't remember the name of the episode, though.

Mann got the most interesting/appealing visual images of aircraft I have ever seen. There is one scene in particular where a learjet banks through a set of clouds...the scene looked almost 3-D. Big props to Mann for making these scenes exciting and stimulating.

 

[Joe D]

I watched this on Saturday and I thought it was fantastic.

The sound mix was great, I thought all the vocals were very clear (plus the theater turned it way up! I saw Pirates 2 in the same theater and I had a very hard time understanding the Jamaican Priest).

One of my favorite scenes was the point of view shot from inside the car early on in the movie, very cool.

The music worked very well, as always in a Mann film.

A shower scene or two could have been cut from the middle, but the rest of it was great.

The video was pretty blurry in about half the scenes, hopefully the DVD cleans up the print quite a bit.

 

[teapot2001]

A shower scene or two could have been cut from the middle, but the rest of it was great.

The shower scenes are nice. It's an intimate moment for Crocket and Tubbs, a time of the day when they can relax for a bit, and you can think of them cleansing themselves of the vice they are exposed to.

~T