Now THIS is an interesting surprise! I had no idea that they had already made this, but the most pleasant surprise is who the director is. When I first saw the link at apple.com and even when I saw the movie site's main page, I thought it might be a satire like Starsky and Hutch, but with Michael Mann directing, not only is there a fitting sense of things coming around full circle, but the anticipation that this might actually be one of the better TV-to-film adaptations, like The Fugitive.
Really cool, espically since the TV show was how Mann got his start. Now as a big time respected action suspense director he returns for the remake. Also notice that the film is shot on the same HD format as Collateral.
Why, God, why?
Michael Mann was executive producer of the TV series (which ran on NBC from 1984-89.) It didn't surprise me that he would direct a big-screen version.
And, Mann had a feature credit (1981's Thief, starring James Caan and Willie Nelson) before returning to TV with Vice. (He also has to his credit a well respected TV movie, The Jericho Mile, starring Peter Strauss.)
Mann didn't create the series, however. Hill Street Blues writer-producer Anthony Yerkovich is the credited creator. However, there is an urban legend that the late Brandon Tartikoff, head of NBC programming at the time, got the basic idea for the show after scrawling the words "MTV Cops" on a cocktail napkin.
Actually, it kinda did surprise me, Adam, partially because of the rare tendency in Hollywood to go back to where one got their big break (or at least, one of his earliest big screen breaks), and partially because MV is sometimes looked at as a dated and quaint product of the 80s and the MTV Effect.
Hannah, it's Michael Mann! Don't you think that gives it a greater chance of being good? Do you not like Michael Mann films? (Heat is one of my faves.)
If the Miami Vice series is considered dated and quaint, it's sure getting a lot of exposure of late. It's currently seen on the "Sleuth" cable channel, and TV Land ran a marathon of episodes this past weekend.
And, the budget for this film (at least what Universal admits to) is $125 million. Supposedly, it's closer to $150 million. More on MV here and here (scroll down).
And, it got an "R" rating. No bloody "PG-13" this time. But, it's also kind of long (146 minutes.) On the good side, Anthony Yerkovich is one of the credited Executive Producers.
On the ads, Colin Farrell is almost indistinguisable from Don Johnson in his MV days.
Also, the movie's plot seems to ignore the continuity of the TV series, where a disgusted Crockett and Tubbs chucked it all, and quit the Miami police force at the end of the series.
Of course it ignores the continuity of the series. It's remake about a young Crockett and Tubbs in their glory days. If it followed the series it would be about Don Johnson returning as an older guy.
The Miami Vice series is considered dated and quaint, it's sure getting a lot of exposure of late...
NBC is running the original pilot this Saturday, 7/22, in a plug for the Miami Vice movie. (Plus, it's free programming, since NBC/Universal just has to dip into their vault of old shows.) Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx will host, but my problem is that they really have to do some padding, since the original two-hour pilot (about 95 minutes minus commercials) will be stretched for a three-hour (8-11 p.m. ET) time slot.
At least two critics (Jess Kagel of WCBS-TV, and Jack Mathews of the Daily News) gave Michael Mann credit for creating the series. See my post above, or the series page on IMDB, for the real deal.
This is surprising, there are no nits yet. I am a fan of the series but I missed many episodes. I don't know if this is the director's style, as I don't pay attention to such things, but it felt as if I came into the middle of a really long episode. There were no opening credits, nor was there any background stories in the entire movie, besides a little from the Asian woman.
Was the "mole" within the feds ever found?
Concerning the final gun-battle scene, why did the snipers only shoot the other bad-guy snipers and nobody else? They probably could've taken out most of the baddies themselves. Also, the cover the sniper on the ship used would not've protected him from a thermal imager.
When the team went on their rescue mission, the entry was very poorly excecuted. The white guy who grabbed the detonator should've been shot the moment he went for it. Why were they remaining in the neighbood too?
I am a fan of the series but I missed many episodes.
If you have the "Sleuth" cable channel, an episode from the series is run four times daily, at 8 and 11 p.m., and again at 2 and 5 a.m. (E.T.) I don't know if they're running in sequence, though.
I started a discussion on the "Crime and Justice Shows" board; it's under "Classic C&J Shows."
Speaking of the rescue scene, the female officer (can't remember her name) completely blows the pronunciation of 'medulla' during her big line.
Farrell wears a mustache as Crockett, something Don Johnson never did. (Johnson's Sonny Crockett was famous for his three-day stubble). Farrell also has a soul patch. Which disappears and reappears about 2/3 of the way through the movie. Re-shoots, anyone?
Here's some behind the scenes info. Colin Farrell stated that he doesn't remember shooting a single frame of this film. (No doubt due to his problems with drugs and alcohol at the time.) Foxx and Michael Mann haven't worked together since this film's shoot.
Another movie adaptation that didn't need to be made.
It's no longer the 1980's.
Off topic a bit, but - A film version of the eighties series The Fall Guy opens May 2. Ryan Gosling steps into Lee Majors' role of Colt Seavers. I don't recall an overwhelming demand for a movie based on a pretty much forgotten series, but...
No one demanded this.
Well, at least one individual demanded it since it's being made.
As long as the movie studios corporations have a franchise barrel bottom that needs scraping so they can make money... ;-)
On the other hand if the movie had been about an 85 year old Colt Seavers (played by Lee Majors) having to get back into the stunt man business... that might have been an interesting idea. ;-)
Starts with him going "MY HEART!" and keeling over.