Miami Vice is a 2006 American crime drama film about two Miami police detectives,
CrockettJames "Sonny" Crockett is a fictional character from the Miami Vice television series and film of the same name. The character is portrayed by Don Johnson in the television series, and Colin Farrell in the movie version of the show. He was introduced in the Miami Vice pilot in 1984 and appeared in...
and
TubbsDetective Ricardo Tubbs is a fictional character and protagonist from the American television series Miami Vice and the 2006 film of the same name. He is portrayed in all his appearances in the television series by Philip Michael Thomas, and in the film by Jamie Foxx...
, who go
undercoverBeing undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
to fight drug trafficking operations. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1980s
TV series of the same nameMiami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann. The film stars
Jamie FoxxEric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
as Tubbs and
Colin FarrellColin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
as Crockett, as well as Chinese actress
Gong LiGong Li is a Chinese film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States....
as Isabella.
Plot
While working an undercover prostitute sting operation to arrest a pimp named Neptune,
Miami-DadeMiami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
Police detectives James "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs receive a frantic phone call from their former informant Alonzo Stevens (
John HawkesJohn Hawkes is an American film and television actor. He is known for his portrayal of the merchant Sol Star on the HBO series Deadwood, Dustin Powers on Eastbound & Down, and his Academy Award-nominated performance as the menacing backwoods meth addict Teardrop in Winter's Bone.-Life and...
). Stevens reveals that he is planning to leave town, and, believing his wife Leonetta to be in immediate danger, asks Rico to check on her. Crockett learns that Stevens was working as an informant for the
FBIThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
but has been compromised. Crockett and Tubbs quickly contact the FBI Special Agent in Charge John Fujima (
Ciarán HindsCiarán Hinds is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He has built up a reputation as a versatile character actor appearing in such high profile films as Road to Perdition, The Phantom of the Opera, Munich, There Will Be Blood and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His television roles include...
) and warn him about Stevens' safety. Tracking down Stevens through a vehicle transponder and aerial surveillance, Crockett and Tubbs stop him along I-95. Stevens reveals that a Colombian cartel knew that Russian undercovers were working with the FBI from the start and had threatened that Leonetta would be murdered via a
C-4C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...
necklace bomb if he did not confess. Rico tells Alonzo that he does not have to go home. Having learned her fate, Stevens, in a state of grief, commits suicide by walking in front of an oncoming semi truck.
En route to the murder scene, Sonny and Rico receive a call from Lt. Castillo (
Barry Shabaka HenleyBarry Shabaka Henley is an American character actor. Henley is a fixture in many films, most often the films of director Michael Mann, having worked with the director four times....
) and are instructed to stay away. He tells them to meet him downtown, where they are introduced to John Fujima, head of the Florida Joint Inter-Agency Task Force between
U.S. Immigration and Customs EnforcementU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
, the
Drug Enforcement AdministrationThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
, and the FBI. An angry Crockett and Tubbs berate Fujima for the errors committed and inquire as to why the MPD were not involved. Fujima reveals that the Colombian group is highly sophisticated and run by Jose Yero (
John OrtizJohn Ortiz is an American actor and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of LAByrinth Theater Company.-Career:In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino’s young cousin ‘Guajiro’ in Carlito’s Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad,...
), initially thought to be the cartel's leader. Fujima enlists Crockett and Tubbs, making them Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force deputies, to help, and they continue the investigation by looking into "
go-fast boatA go-fast boat, or cigarette boat, is a small, fast boat designed with a long narrow platform and a planing hull to enable it to reach high speeds....
s" coming from the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, delivering loads of narcotics from the Colombians. They then use their Miami informant contacts to set up a meet and greet with the cartel.
Posing as drug smugglers "Sonny Burnett" and "Rico Cooper", the two offer their services to Yero. They find out Yero is the cartel's security and intel man. After a high tension meeting they pass screening and are introduced to Archangel de Jesus Montoya (
Luis TosarLuis Tosar is a Galician actor and musician.-Biography:Born in Lugo, Galicia, Spain on 13th October 1971, he is best known internationally for his villain role in Miami Vice and the role in the upcoming horror film Flatmate, which is directed by Jaume Balagueró.-Selected filmography:*1998 Atilano...
), kingpin of drug trafficking in South Florida. In the course of their investigation, Crockett and Tubbs learn that the cartel is using the
Aryan BrotherhoodThe Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
gang to distribute drugs, and is supplying them with state-of-the-art weaponry. Crockett is also drawn to Montoya's financial advisor and lover Isabella (
Gong LiGong Li is a Chinese film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States....
), and the two begin a secret romance on the side. Tubbs begins to worry that Crockett may be getting too deeply involved in his undercover role and fears for the safety of the team. Those fears are soon realized as Trudy (
Naomie HarrisNaomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress. She is best known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later, as well as her supporting turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films...
), the unit's intelligence agent, is kidnapped by the Aryan Brotherhood gang, and her life is threatened with a bomb the same way Leonetta's was unless the loads Crockett and Tubbs were delivering are directly handed over to the AB. With the help of Lt. Castillo the unit triangulates Trudy's location to a mobile home in a trailer park and performs a rescue, but she is critically injured in the aftermath when Tubbs fails to clear her in time from the mobile home and the bomb explodes. Soon afterwards, Crockett and Tubbs face off against Montoya's number two man Jose Yero, his men, and the Aryan gang at the port of Miami.
After the face-off, Crockett begins to call in backup. When Isabella sees his police shield and sees him using the radio, she comes to the realization that he is undercover. Feeling betrayed and in rage, she demands that Crockett tell her who he really is. Shortly after the gunfight, Crockett takes her to a police safehouse and tells her she will have to leave the country and return to her home in Cuba. As Crockett and Isabella stare at each other while Isabella is on a boat slowly drifting off, Crockett takes one last glance, walks away, and drives off. Meanwhile, Tubbs is in the hospital holding Trudy's hand as she grasps his, signifying that she is recovering from her coma. Isabella is shown again on the boat crying, while Crockett is headed into the entrance of the hospital to visit Trudy.
Cast
- Colin Farrell
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
as Detective James "Sonny" CrockettJames "Sonny" Crockett is a fictional character from the Miami Vice television series and film of the same name. The character is portrayed by Don Johnson in the television series, and Colin Farrell in the movie version of the show. He was introduced in the Miami Vice pilot in 1984 and appeared in...
: A Miami-Dade police detective who goes undercover to stop a drug operation.
- Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
as Detective Ricardo "Rico" TubbsDetective Ricardo Tubbs is a fictional character and protagonist from the American television series Miami Vice and the 2006 film of the same name. He is portrayed in all his appearances in the television series by Philip Michael Thomas, and in the film by Jamie Foxx...
: A Miami-Dade police detective who goes undercover with his partner, Crockett, to fight drug trafficking operations.
- Gong Li
Gong Li is a Chinese film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States....
as Isabella: Financial advisor to Montoya who falls in love with Sonny Crockett.
- Luis Tosar
Luis Tosar is a Galician actor and musician.-Biography:Born in Lugo, Galicia, Spain on 13th October 1971, he is best known internationally for his villain role in Miami Vice and the role in the upcoming horror film Flatmate, which is directed by Jaume Balagueró.-Selected filmography:*1998 Atilano...
as Arcangel de Jesus Montoya: A South American drug lord.
- Naomie Harris
Naomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress. She is best known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later, as well as her supporting turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films...
as Detective Trudy Joplin: An intelligence agent who is captured by a Neo-Nazi gang as a ransom for a drug deal. In a relationship with Ricardo Tubbs.
- John Ortiz
John Ortiz is an American actor and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of LAByrinth Theater Company.-Career:In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino’s young cousin ‘Guajiro’ in Carlito’s Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad,...
as Jose Yero: Montoya's second-in-command who handles Montoya's business on the North American front, as well as his security and communications.
- Elizabeth Rodriguez
Elizabeth Rodriguez is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Carmen Morales on All My Children .-Filmography:-External links:...
as Detective Gina Calabrese
- Justin Theroux as Detective Larry Zito
- Ciarán Hinds
Ciarán Hinds is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He has built up a reputation as a versatile character actor appearing in such high profile films as Road to Perdition, The Phantom of the Opera, Munich, There Will Be Blood and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His television roles include...
as FBI Agent John Fujima
- Barry Shabaka Henley
Barry Shabaka Henley is an American character actor. Henley is a fixture in many films, most often the films of director Michael Mann, having worked with the director four times....
as Lieutenant Martin Castillo
- Domenick Lombardozzi
Domenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi is an American actor best known for his role as Thomas "Herc" Hauk on The Wire. Lombardozzi was inspired to act by the film State of Grace.-Filmography:...
as Detective Stan Switek
- Isaach De Bankolé
Isaach or Isaac de Bankolé is an Ivorian actor.-Work:He has appeared in over 30 films, including Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and Coffee and Cigarettes...
as Neptune
- John Hawkes
John Hawkes is an American film and television actor. He is known for his portrayal of the merchant Sol Star on the HBO series Deadwood, Dustin Powers on Eastbound & Down, and his Academy Award-nominated performance as the menacing backwoods meth addict Teardrop in Winter's Bone.-Life and...
as Alonzo Stevens
- Tom Towles
Tom Towles is an American actor.Towles was born and raised in Chicago. He became an actor after a stint in the U.S. Marines, beginning with an uncredited performance in Dog Day Afternoon . He has appeared in film and television extensively since the 1980s...
as Coleman
- Eddie Marsan
Edward Maurice C. "Eddie" Marsan is an English actor.-Early life:Marsan was born in Stepney, London to a working class family; his father was a lorry driver and his mother a school dinner lady and teacher's assistant...
as Nicholas
Development
Jamie Foxx brought up the idea of a Miami Vice film to Michael Mann during a party for
AliAli is a 2001 American biographical film directed by Michael Mann. The film tells the story of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964 to 1974 featuring his capture as of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston , his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, banishment...
. This led Michael Mann to revisit the series he helped create.
Like
CollateralCollateral is a 2004 crime thriller film starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie. It was Mann's first feature film to be shot mostly with high-definition cameras. Mann had previously used the format for portions of Ali and for his CBS drama...
, which also starred Foxx, most of the film was shot with the Thomson Viper Filmstream Camera, while Super 35 was used for high-speed and underwater shots. Cinematographer
Dion BeebeDion Beebe, A.C.S., ASC is an Australian cinematographer.Originally from Brisbane, Australia, his family moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 1972...
was also the cinematographer of Collateral.
The suits that Jamie Foxx wore in the film were designed by famous fashion designer
Ozwald BoatengOzwald Boateng OBE is a British-born fashion designer of Ghanaian descent, known for his trade mark twist style on classic British tailoring. Inspired by his father's suits, Boateng opened his first shop on Savile Row at the age of 23.-Biography:...
. He had worked with Jamie Foxx in the past and caught Mann's eye, who then asked him to work on the film. Michael Kaplan was responsible for the costume design overall.
Filming
The film, shot on location in the Caribbean,
UruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
(the seaside resort
AtlántidaAtlantida is a poetic name of the mythical continent of Atlantis. It can also refer to:*Atlantida , a genus of brachiopods*Atlántida, Uruguay, a town in the department of Canelones, Uruguay*Atlántida in Honduras...
, the old building of the Carrasco International Airport, the "Rambla" and the Old City of
MontevideoMontevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
),
ParaguayParaguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
(
Ciudad del EsteCiudad del Este is the second largest city in Paraguay and capital of Alto Paraná department, located at the Rio Paraná....
) and South Florida, lost seven days of filming to Hurricanes
KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
,
RitaHurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
, and
WilmaHurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...
. The delays led to a budget of what some insiders claimed to be over $150 million, though Universal Pictures says it cost $135 million. Several crew members criticized Mann's decisions during production, which featured sudden script changes, filming in unsafe weather conditions, and choosing locations that "even the police avoid, drafting gang members to work as security".
Foxx was also characterized as unpleasant to work with. Foxx refused to fly commercially, forcing Universal to give him a private jet. Foxx would not participate in scenes on boats or planes. After gunshots were fired on set in the Dominican Republic on October 24, 2005, Foxx packed up and refused to return; this forced Mann to re-write the ending of the film, an ending that some crew members characterized as less dramatic than the original. Foxx, who won an Academy Award after signing to do Miami Vice, was also reputed to complain about co-star Farrell's larger salary, something Foxx felt did not reflect his new status as an Oscar winner. Foxx received an increase in salary to match Farrell's. It was also reported that Foxx demanded top billing after winning an Oscar.
Mann wanted a film that was as real as it was stylish and even put Colin Farrell in jeopardy by bringing him along (with real FBI drug squads) to drug busts so Farrell could build up the character of Crockett even more. It was later revealed that these busts were faked by Mann.
Sal Magluta, the drug trafficker identified by Tubbs running Go-Fast boats in the opening scenes of the film, is in fact one of Miami's real-life reputed "Cocaine Cowboys" and is currently serving a life sentence for money laundering.
Although Mann set out to craft entirely new characters and story, there were still very subtle references to the television show on which it is based. The plot shares many elements with the episode "Smuggler's Blues":
- In the film, Tubbs tells drug-dealing Yero: "We can close each others' eyes real fast, but then nobody's gonna make no money." This is a nod to a line in the episode "Smugglers Blues" in which the drug-dealing Grossero tells Tubbs: "You and I are businessmen. We have business to look forward to which we will never see if we close each other's eyes."
- In that same episode, Sonny says: "Why is he donating to the good and the welfare?" In the film, Rico asks the same thing while inside of Yero's disco.
- Both the episode and the film include a sub-plot where Trudy is held hostage in a trailer which is rigged with explosives.
The first
teaser trailerA teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
to appear for the film featured the
Linkin ParkLinkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
/
Jay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
song "
Numb/Encore"Numb/Encore" is a song by American rapper Jay-Z and rock band Linkin Park from their album Collision Course, . It was released as a single on November 16, 2004, by Warner Bros. and Roc-A-Fella Records...
". This trailer was attached to the release of
King KongKing Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....
in theaters. For several months before its release, the official web site hosted the first teaser trailer for download as a
High-DefinitionHigh-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
WMV download, which is still available at
the official site.
Merchandising
Several companies cross-advertised with Miami Vice or had
products showcasedProduct placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
in them. These companies included IWC, Adam Airplanes, Bacardi, Motorola, Nokia, BMW, Donzi, MTI (Marine Technology, Inc.), Benelli, and Ferrari among others
Their products are seen throughout the film:
- Crockett (Colin Farrell) is seen ordering and drinking a "Bacardi Mojito
Mojito is a traditional Cuban highball.Traditionally, a Mojito is not very strong and made of five ingredients: white rum, sugar , lime juice, sparkling water and mint. The original Cuban recipe uses spearmint or yerba buena, a mint variety very popular on the island...
" from the bartender in the very first scene of the film and drinks a couple throughout the remainder of the film.
- Zito uses a Nokia video phone to spy on his partner, Switek, as he goes undercover to bust prostitutes inside of The Mansion nightclub.
- Crockett and Tubbs use a Motorola Rugged Notebook at their initial meeting with Martin Castillo and James Fujima
- The three boats in the drug running scene are a Donzi 38 ZF Daytona, a Donzi 38 ZR, and a Donzi 43 ZR.
- Tubbs uses a Benelli M4 Super 90 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun at the end of the film.
- Crockett's Boat (white paint and labeled "Mojo") is a MTI (Marine Technology Inc.) 40 Series with two Mercury 575 hp Engines fitted. 160 mi/h. In the correct sense it is an Offshore Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
.
- The (first) distinctive plane featured in the film is the Adam A500
The Adam A500 is a six-seat civil utility aircraft that was produced by Adam Aircraft Industries. The aircraft is of pod-and-boom, push-pull configuration with its two Continental TSIO-550-E piston engines mounted to provide centerline thrust....
. There is another characteristic plane in the film, a Piaggio P180 AvantiThe Piaggio P180 Avanti is an Italian twin-engine turboprop aircraft produced by Piaggio Aero. It seats up to nine passengers in a pressurized cabin, and may be flown by one or two pilots....
, which brings Isabella at the Barranquilla airport, Colombia.
- Like in the original TV series, Crockett and Tubbs drive around in a Ferrari. The model in the film is a Ferrari F430
The Ferrari F430 is a sports car that was produced by the Italian automaker Ferrari from 2004 to 2009, as a successor to the 360. It debuted at the 2004 Paris Motor Show...
. Later in the film, they drive a white BMW 645i CoupeThe BMW E63/E64 is the current model of the BMW 6 Series of luxury coupés, introduced in Autumn 2003 in Frankfurt Motor Show by German car manufacturer BMW. It comes as either a coupé or cabriolet and in several engine variants ranging from a 3 litre straight-6 to 5 litre V10 in the M6 model...
, a possible tribute to a white Mercedes Benz they had during the first season.
Music
The original Miami Vice television series composer,
Jan HammerJan Hammer is a composer, pianist and keyboardist. He first gained his most visible audience while playing keyboards with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, as well as his film scores for television and film including "Miami Vice Theme" and "Crockett's Theme", from the popular 1980s...
, is completely absent from the film and soundtrack. Michael Mann did not want to use the
theme songThe musical piece Miami Vice Theme was created and performed by Jan Hammer as the theme to the television series Miami Vice. It was first presented as part of the television broadcast of the show in September 1984 and released as a single in 1985, peaking at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot...
in the film. Furthermore Mann didn’t want any association with the TV series at the behest of
UniversalUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
executives. Fans of the series e-mailed Universal thousands of letters to include the theme, but ultimately Mann said no. As Hammer put it: "I was completely surprised they didn’t have a remake of it. I think it’s a matter of being too cool for school."
Phil Collins Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
' famous hit "
In the Air Tonight"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...
", which was featured in the
debut episode"Brother's Keeper" is the pilot episode of Miami Vice's first season. The episode premiered on September 16, 1984 with a two hour season premiere...
of the television series, is featured in the original film as a cover done by Miami-based rock band
NonpointNonpoint is an American nu metal band formed in 1997. The band consists of Elias Soriano and Rob Rivera . Currently they are signed to Razor & Tie and working on new a record which is expected to be released in Spring 2012....
. during the closing credits and on the soundtrack. Mann's "Director's Edit" released on DVD places the song in the film just prior to the climactic gun battle as suggested by members of the production crew during post-production.
- Nonpoint
Nonpoint is an American nu metal band formed in 1997. The band consists of Elias Soriano and Rob Rivera . Currently they are signed to Razor & Tie and working on new a record which is expected to be released in Spring 2012....
- "In the Air Tonight"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...
"
- Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
featuring Patti LaBellePatricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
- "One of These Mornings"
- Mogwai
The word mogwai is the transliteration of the Cantonese word 魔怪 meaning "monster", "evil spirit", "devil" or "demon".-Mogwai/Mogui in Chinese culture:...
- "We're No Here"We're No Here" is a song by Glaswegian Post-rock band, Mogwai.-Overview:It is one of the more basic, heavier, rock-oriented songs from Mr...
"
- Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
- "Sinnerman (Felix da HousecatFelix da Housecat is an American DJ and record producer, mostly known for house music and electroclash. His name was inspired by Felix the Cat....
's Heavenly House Mix)"
- Mogwai - "Auto Rock
"Auto Rock" is a song by Scottish post-rock band Mogwai that appears as the first track on their album Mr. Beast.-Musical structure:The song is built around a piano riff played by Barry Burns, and march-like drums, which slowly builds in volume and intensity...
"
- Manzanita - "Arranca"
- India.Arie
India.Arie is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and record producer . She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 21 nominations, including Best R&B Album.-Background:Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado...
- "Ready for Love"
- Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, England, that consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory ....
- "Strict Machine"Strict Machine" is an electronic dance song written by British group Goldfrapp and Nick Batt for their second studio album Black Cherry . It was produced by Goldfrapp and describes laboratory rats in neuroscience experiments...
"
- Emilio Estefan
Emilio Estefan, Jr. is a Cuban-American of Lebanese ancestry who is a musician and producer. Estefan's first taste of celebrity came as a member of the Miami Sound Machine, but he is also recognized as the producer of many famous singers. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan...
- "Pennies in My Pocket"In My Pocket" is a song performed by American recording artist Mandy Moore from her self-titled third studio album. The song was released as the first single by Epic Records on May 29, 2001. It was written by Randall Barlow, Emilio Estefan, Liza Quintana, and Gian Marco Zignago. It was produced...
"
- King Britt
King Britt is an American DJ and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.King Britt is his actual legal name.- 1987: Tower Records Years :...
- "New World in My View"
- Blue Foundation
-History:Blue Foundation started out in 2000 based on Tobias Wilner, aka Bichi's cooperation with various artists and musicians; his work with Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg and Bo Rande has been especially characteristic for the Blue Foundation sound. The music can be described as a mix of melodic...
- "Sweep"
- Moby - "Anthem"
- Freaky Chakra
Freaky Chakra is a project by Daum Bentley, an American artist that produces rhythm-based techno music.In the mid-1990s, Freaky Chakra went on tour, performing live with Single Cell Orchestra. Their performances led to the Astralwerks release, Freaky Chakra vs. Single Cell Orchestra. In early...
- "Blacklight Fantasy"
- John Murphy
John Murphy is an English film composer. He is a self taught multi-instrumental musician who began his career in the 1980s working notably with The Lotus Eaters, Thomas Lang and Claudia Brücken....
- "Mercado Nuevo"
- John Murphy
John Murphy is an English film composer. He is a self taught multi-instrumental musician who began his career in the 1980s working notably with The Lotus Eaters, Thomas Lang and Claudia Brücken....
- "Who Are You"
- King Britt
King Britt is an American DJ and record producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.King Britt is his actual legal name.- 1987: Tower Records Years :...
& Tim Motzer - "Ramblas"
- Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt is an award-winning German composer, best known for composing film scores.-Life and career:Badelt was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He started his musical career composing for many successful movies and commercials in his homeland...
& Mark Batson - "A-500"
The RZARobert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
was supposed to contribute to the film's score but dropped out for unknown reasons. Organized Noise jumped onboard instead.
The music included on the soundtrack has several differences from what was featured in the film:
- Of the first four songs featured in the film's first sequence inside The Mansion nightclub, three are on the soundtrack and Nina Simone's "Sinnerman" is the only song to be featured in its original form. Jay-Z and Linkin Park's "Numb/Encore" is not found on the soundtrack despite being heavily used to promote the film (it was featured in both of the film's trailers) and the fact that it's the first song in the film. Furthermore, the version of Goldfrapp's "Strict Machine" is the "We Are Glitter" remix of the song, and both it and Funky Chakra's "Blacklight Fantasy" are edits from Sasha's
Sasha is a Welsh DJ and record producer. Sasha began his career playing acid house dance music in the late 1980s...
mix albumA DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track. When a DJ mix or DJ mixset is recorded onto some medium, it is often referred to as a mix tape...
Fundacion NYCFundacion NYC is a progressive house mix compilation by Sasha. This album is recorded using the Ableton Live software and the album bears the name of his monthly residency nights in New York and Los Angeles.-Track listing:...
. Neither version appears on the soundtrack.
- Clips of two Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello , Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk...
songs, "Wide Awake" and "Shape of Things to Come", are featured in the film, but the songs do not appear on the soundtrack. This was possibly because the two songs were brand new and were set to be featured on Audioslave's new album Revelations, which had a release date close to the film.
- The version of Moby's "Anthem" on the soundtrack does not appear in the film. Instead, prominent placement is given to Moby's "Cinematic Version" of the song.
- King Britt's "New World in My View" is featured in the film but is missing the spoken-word lyrics of Sister Gertrude. The song plays instrumentally in the background at one point in the film.
Theatrical run
Miami Vice opened at No. 1 in the United States, knocking
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...
out of the number one position at the box office that weekend, after Pirates led the box office for almost a full month. In its opening weekend, the film grossed over $25.7 million at 3,021 theaters nationwide, with an average gross of $8,515 per theater. The film would go on to earn $63.5 million domestically. Miami Vice would fare better internationally. The films aired in 77 countries overseas, grossing $100,344,039 in its international run. Overall the film grossed $164 million worldwide helping to further surpass the reported $135 million budget.
The film stands as one of Michael Mann's top three most financially successful films, next to Heat and
CollateralCollateral is a 2004 crime thriller film starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie. It was Mann's first feature film to be shot mostly with high-definition cameras. Mann had previously used the format for portions of Ali and for his CBS drama...
.
Home release
Miami Vice was released to DVD on December 12, 2006. It contained many extra features the theatrical version did not include an extended cut of the film itself. It is one of the first
HD DVDHD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
/
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
combo discs to be released by
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. Miami Vice
's HD-DVD was one of the best selling DVDs of 2006. The DVD debuted in third place (behind
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...
and
Superman ReturnsSuperman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
) and managed to sell over a million copies (equivalent to $7.91 million) in its first week alone. As of February 11, 2007, Miami Vice had grossed over $36.45 million in rentals.
On August 26, 2008,
Universal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
released Miami Vice on
Blu-rayBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
.
Critical reception
Response to Miami Vice has been split. On
MetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
it holds a 65 "Generally Favorable Reviews", while on
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
it holds a 48% "rotten" rating. However, it also holds a markedly higher 67% "fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop reviewers.
Miami Vice received positive notices from major publications including
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
,
EmpireEmpire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
,
VarietyVariety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
,
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
,
New YorkNew York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
,
The Village VoiceThe Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
,
The Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
,
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, and film critic
Richard RoeperRichard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
on the television program Ebert & Roeper. New York Times critic
Manohla DargisManohla Dargis is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice. She has written for a variety of publications, including Film Comment and...
declared it "glorious entertainment" in her year-end wrap-up and praised its innovative use of digital photography.
The film received negative reviews from
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and the
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, focusing in part on comparisons with the 1980s series and on the plot.
It was included in the top ten of 2006 by Scott Foundas (
LA WeeklyLA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
) at #7, and by Manohla Dargis at #8. Additionally, in November 2009, the critics of Time Out New York chose Miami Vice as #35 of the fifty best films of the decade, saying:
Writer-director Michael Mann brilliantly rethinks the seminal 1980s TV series on which he made his name. The hi-def videography gives a tactile, scorching sense of the characters’ surroundings, and Colin Farrell and Gong Li’s doomed love affair bears the full tragic brunt of Mann’s mesmerizing on-the-fly narrative.
External links
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