Apr 20

Apr 20 Revisiting Miami Vice: The TV Series and Film Share More Than a Name

Since I grew up in the eighties and love boats, it is only natural that I’m a huge fan of the TV show Miami Vice. When the feature film debuted in 2006, I was pretty excited to say the least. Before the movie came out there were trailers with great boat scenes and articles talking about the boats in the movie which was pretty exciting. The best part was the fact that Michael Mann wrote and directed it. Mann executive produced the original show and went on to direct some incredible films over the years including, The Insider, Heat, Ali, The Last of the Mohicans, and Manhunter to name a few. The original TV show and story was created by Anthony Yerkovich. What is interesting is looking at how Mann wrote the film by using the main storyline from “Smuggler’s Blues,” the 15th episode of season one, and repurposing lines from throughout the TV series’ first season. I found a great summary video of the comparison I will link to at the end. After review, I had not realized how close Mann kept the characterization and dialogue from the series to the film.

To be fair, the film was met with heavy criticism for a few reasons but primarily the dialogue was a little awkward at times and many thought it was a bit dark. To me, I agree that the dialogue was overly descriptive at times, but the cinemaphotography was really good, and the story worked for the most part. There are some epic scenes, including some great night shots of two Donzi’s running down Government Cut in Miami, as well as the MTI running to Cuba for mojitos. I wonder if the film wasn’t called Miami Vice if it would’ve been reviewed more favorably. As a franchise, a Miami Vice film would have high expectations and a lot of baggage. For this reason, I say it’s definitely worth a watch for any film fan. If Michael Mann toned it down a little bit and the dialogue was a little more natural, the Miami Vice film would’ve been on a top ten all time crime drama list by anyone’s standard.

For the boat highlights, the main scenes include a black Donzi 38 ZR and a metallic blue 43 ZR. The main boat used in the opening race scene, which was in the DVD only, and the Cuba run was a 39’ MTI with “Mojo” racing graphics over pearl white. I believe the MTI was powered by 575 SCi engines and #6 drives. One thing that Michael Mann is known for is editing his movies himself, which is unusual for directors and that the theater version is always different than the consumer version. In this case, the opening theater scene is the nightclub scene, the consumer version is the race scene and the ending is slightly different as well. Mann used a cover version of the iconic Phil Collins song “In the Air Tonight,” which obviously has significant relations to the series. Collins himself was a guest star in one episode.

Some boat enthusiasts thought the film didn’t have enough boat scenes in it, but to me it was just right. Part of me wishes there were more but when you consider most movie goers are there for different reasons and you don’t want the film looking like a gratuitous boat montage. The scenes were tasteful, and the they got the audio right for once. Sound designers usually dub in completely ridiculous engine sounds in lieu of accurate ones. Mann’s sound guys created audio tracks from the actual boats, so they are authentic.

The 39’ MTI “Mojo” used in the 2006 film.

A few facts. John Tomlinson trained the cast that were driving the boats, including Collin Farrell, Jamie Foxx and Domenick Lombardozzi. Tomlinson drove in some of the scenes as well. Don Johnson from the original show was a boat enthusiast and raced offshore for a few years. We did a story about him racing Chuck Norris. Link Here . The first season featured a Chris Craft Stinger 390, then they made a switch to the Scarab 38 which was a huge boost for Scarab sales.

Gong Li and Colin Farrell head to Cuba for Mojitos.

The video below from YouTube user Lazerus A. Game (love that name) really highlights the similarities not only in the story but the actual dialogue. There are lines that are almost verbatim from the original used in the film. This is a great summary. If you’ve been incarcerated for 40 years or living in the wilderness and you haven’t seen the series or the movie, I highly recommend both.