The Bottom Line
Pros
- Visually stylish movie shot in unusual locations
- Intriguing depiction of drug trafficking as big international business
- Interesting look at law enforcement personnel under deep cover
Cons
- Many fans of 1980s TV series are displeased that feature film is so different
- Movie is brooding and deliberately paced with only sporadic action (could be a pro)
- Film has neither strong narrative drive nor fully engaging characters
Description
- DVD containing unrated director's version of crime drama Miami Vice (2006)
- Movie stars Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell and Gong Li
- Film written and directed by Michael Mann, loosely based on 1980s TV series
- DVD provides feature-length audio commentary by writer-director Michael Mann
- DVD contains 46 minutes of behind-the-scenes extras, including interviews with cast and crew
- MPAA rating: Unrated (The R-rated theatrical version is also available on DVD.)
- Feature film run time: 2 hours 19 minutes
- DVD release date: December 5, 2006
Guide Review - Miami Vice DVD Review (Unrated Director's Edition)
Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell and Gong Li star in Miami Vice, a pulpy, operatic, visually stylish crime drama written and directed by Michael Mann. The film is brooding and deliberately paced with sporadic sequences of action and violence that are well-integrated into the story. Although the movie is loosely based on the 1980s TV series, many fans of that show are displeased that the film is so different.
In the movie, which is set in 2006, Miami-Dade police detectives Sonny Crockett (Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) go undercover and infiltrate a Latin American drug ring that operates like a big business. The job takes them to both glitzy places and mean streets, sometimes speeding around in snazzy planes and boats as they travel to Paraguay, Haiti and Colombia. Also, Crockett takes a side trip to Havana to drink mojitos with a beautiful money launderer (Gong Li), and this is the beginning of forbidden love. But eventually everything gets resolved in a massive shoot-out back in South Florida.
The DVD I'm reviewing here contains an unrated director's version of Miami Vice and provides an excellent audio commentary by writer-director Michael Mann. In his commentary, Mann talks about the differences between this version and the one shown in theaters—basically he's just added a little footage here and trimmed a little there.
The DVD contains about 46 minutes of other extras: 13 minutes on undercover law enforcement, 10 minutes on location shooting in Paraguay, Uruguay and Dominican Republic, 13 minutes on the look of the film, and 10 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
The bonus materials on the DVD enhanced my enjoyment and understanding of the movie, but Miami Vice is worth renting for the entertainment value of the feature film alone.
