I don’t remember much about the show but that’s not really necessary for the 2006 motion picture update of this story about 2 Miami-Dade undercover cops that know their way around the darker, more dangerous circles of the beat they’ve been assigned to. In fact, anyone born in the 90’s will probably see this movie as yet another awesome action foray in celluloid without knowing the story’s TV roots and in the end it doesn’t really matter: the only things the TV show and and the movie have in common are the names of the main characters and other members of their unit. Everything else that composes it is built around the premise that this ain’t no kids game and there are no apologies made about it. The result? Michael Mann’s version of “Bad Boys,” and I use the punch-worthy comparison so that I can put people who haven’t seen the movie yet under the right perspective but trust me, you’ll get kicked in the crotch by this visceral portrayal of the drug world and the cops that are hellbent on shutting it down.

Michael Mann takes 2 of the things that made his previous movie (”Collateral,” with Tom Cruise playing a hitman) work and uses them to great effect in this one: the use of digital cameras to shoot the scenes, and Jamie Foxx as Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs. The reported problems on the set during production due to Foxx’s “diva-like behavior” don’t harm the movie as he’s supposed to be the “quirky, funny and suave” half of the pair and in that regard he’s a shoe-in for this kind of role. But to say he’s the funny one here is not quite covering it; the movie is dead serious, a far departure from the pastel-colored, easy-going TV show Michael Mann himself produced back in 1984. In fact, I’ve read roundtable interviews were both him and Jamie Foxx (with the somewhat proprietary manner he tends to project whenever he speaks, kind of like his role as Wille Beamen in “Any Given Sunday,” ironically) give out the sense that they want audiences to detach themselves from the TV show as much as humanly possible. And I can see why they’d be so adamant about it given how much of a benchmark in TV history the show is; as the movie rolled out and the nostalgia machine started working its gears (something that Mann, as I said just a few moments ago, doesn’t want it to be a part of this particular party) things started to come out about the show and how my memories of it are somewhat skewed to how things actually were. “Miami Vice,” the show, was revolutionary in many aspects; for starters it paved the way for other cop shows to prosper in the 80’s and incorporated popular music into the mainstream, showcasing the most popular tunes of the time in pivotal scenes of the show’s episodes… it’s a practice that’s still done today, specially with shows like “Smallville” and “The O.C.” Also, the show influenced fashion, the way TV shows are produced and left its imprint all over pop culture, whether you know it or not. I now direct you to a rather comprehensive Wikipedia quote:

Storylines

The storylines of the series differed from those of police shows from earlier decades, simultaneously reflecting the more glitzy and gritty feel of 1980s “New Wave” culture; cocaine trafficking and culture, for instance, were common themes in many episodes, and the graphic, casual violence and the relatively exotic, subtropical urban setting of Miami (the series was shot on location) were significant departures from most earlier cop shows. The locale gave the series a pronounced internationalist Latin American and Caribbean flavor, which occasional location shoots in Latin America intensified.

Style

The truly revolutionary aspects of Miami Vice, however, lay in its music, cinematography, and imagery, which made large segments of each episode resemble a protracted music video. As Lee Katkin, one of the series’ directors, once stated, “The show is written for an MTV audience, which is more interested in images, emotions and energy than plot and character.” These elements made the series into an instant hit, and its first season saw an unprecedented number of Emmy Award nominations. While the first few episodes contain some echoes of cop show convention, the producers soon abandoned them and fully developed the trademark Vice style. One key to the complete transformation was the early death of Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez (Gregory Sierra) and introduction of the Vice Division’s new commander, former DEA agent Lieutenant Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos in an Emmy-winning performance). Distant, imposing, and utterly competent and professional, Castillo was an intriguing character with a somewhat mysterious background and a highly distinctive style that perfectly counterbalanced the flamboyancy of Crockett and Tubbs.

Music

Miami Vice was noted for its innovative use of music, particularly countless pop and rock hits of the 1980s and the distinctive, synthesized instrumental music of Jan Hammer. Among the many well-known bands and artists who contributed their music to the show were Jackson Browne, Phil Collins, Bryan Adams, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel, ZZ Top, Dire Straits, Depeche Mode, The Hooters, Glenn Frey, U2, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Foreigner, The Police, Laura Branigan, Ted Nugent, Suicidal Tendencies and Billy Idol. Some of them even guest-starred in episodes, such as Phil Collins, Glenn Frey, and Willie Nelson.

The integration of music (particularly the hits of the 1980s) and carefully selected scenes made each episode seem like a short film or movie that was unique compared to other dramas at the time.

One of the most famous scenes that perhaps differentiated Miami Vice from the rest started in the second part of the pilot episode named “Brother’s Keeper.” This scene involved Crockett and Tubbs travelling through the streets of Miami at night in their black Ferrari Daytona Spyder whilst the song “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins (Collins’ later hit “Take Me Home” was used in the premiere of the second season) was played in the background. The combination of the memorable camera angles of the car (view of the front wheel and the hood) and the removal of background noise to accommodate the song culminated in a surreal and perhaps eerie atmosphere. As a result many would consider this as one of the symbols of the 1980s cop show.

Due to such an influential scene those behind the show decided to recreate the effect in the finale episode named “Freefall”. Despite traveling in a white Ferrari Testarossa this time around, once again the combination of the mounted camera angles and the removal of background noise to accommodate the song was applied. Overall to create a sense of nostalgia relating to the pilot episode five years ago. “Bad Attitude” by Honeymoon Suite was the song used this time around.

During the show’s run, three official soundtrack albums with original music from the episodes were released. With the series’ rising popularity, record companies increasingly attempted to get their up-and-coming acts into the episodes.

Jan Hammer showed great versatility and ingenuity in underscoring the series; as stated by him in an interview in the Season 1 DVD Box, then-executive producer Michael Mann gave him a high amount of artistic freedom in doing so. This resulted in some memorable instrumental music pieces, including the show’s title theme, which climbed to the top of the U.S. Billboard charts in 1985, the first TV theme to do so since “Theme from Peter Gunn.” The Miami Vice original soundtrack, featuring Jan Hammer’s #1 hit theme song and Glenn Frey’s “You Belong to the City” (a #2 hit), stayed on the top of the U.S. album chart for 11 weeks in 1985, making it the most successful TV soundtrack of all time, Until 2006 when Disney Channel’s High School Musical beat its record.

“Crockett’s Theme”, another recurring tune from the show, became a #1 hit in several European countries around 1987. Hammer has released several albums with music from the series; among them are Escape from Television (1987), Snapshots (1989) and, after countless requests from loyal fans, Miami Vice: The Complete Collection (2002).

Guest Stars

Many famous actors, musicians, comedians, and other celebrities appeared on the series as well. Willie Nelson once guest-starred as a retired Texas Ranger, Gene Simmons and Ted Nugent played drug dealers, Glenn Frey played a drug smuggler and Frank Zappa appeared as a drug kingpin. Phil Collins played a game show host, Miles Davis played a pimp, Frankie Valli played a mob boss, Danny Sullivan in his acting debut, played a racing driver which was incidentally his actual profession, and Little Richard appeared as a street preacher. In a bizarre move, auto executive Lee Iacocca appeared in one episode as a gun-crazy parks commissioner while G. Gordon Liddy added a realistically political edge to two episodes by starring as a politically-motivated drug runner. Other notable appearances include now well known stars such as Annette Bening, Bruce Willis, Viggo Mortensen, Ben Stiller, Chris Cooper, Wesley Snipes, Liam Neeson, Michael Richards, Chris Rock, Julia Roberts, Helena Bonham Carter, Melanie Griffith and Benicio Del Toro. The show also featured many up-and-coming television and film actors including Michael Madsen, Dennis Farina, Steve Buscemi, John Leguizamo, Charles S. Dutton, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ed O’Neill, Luis Guzmán, Ving Rhames, Jimmy Smits (who appeared in the pilot as Crockett’s ill-fated original partner), Dan Hedaya, Bill Paxton, Bruce McGill, Garcelle Beauvais, Penn Jillette, Nathan Lane, Michael DeLorenzo, Giancarlo Esposito, Esai Morales and Ian McShane.

Fashion

The show had a huge influence on (men’s) fashion at the time, arguably inventing the “T-shirt under Armani jacket”-style. Pastel colors dominated the series in clothes as well as in architecture. Crockett’s perpetually unshaven appearance sparked a minor fashion trend, inspiring men to wear a small amount of beard stubble, also known as five o’clock shadow or “designer stubble”, at all times.

Production

Miami Vice was one of the first American network television programs to be broadcast in stereophonic sound. At that time, stereo production for television (especially location sound) was novel and difficult.

Although all manner of pastel shades were used during the filming of the series, Michael Mann avoided the color red and any earth tones.

Locations

Many episodes of Miami Vice were filmed in the South Beach section of Miami Beach, an area which, at the time, was blighted by poverty and crime. Some street corners of South Beach were so run down that the production crew actually decided to repaint the exterior walls of some buildings before filming. Miami Vice is to some degree credited with causing a wave of support for the preservation of Miami’s famous Art Deco architecture in the mid-to-late 1980s; quite a few of those buildings (among them many beachfront hotels) have been renovated since, making that part of South Beach one of Southern Florida’s most popular places for tourists and celebrities.

Episodes

Several episode scripts were loosely based on actual crimes that occurred in Miami over the years. (Example: “Out Where the Buses Don’t Run”, 1985.) During its course, the series also took a look at controversial political issues like the Northern Ireland conflict (episode “When Irish Eyes Are Crying”), the drug war in South America (e.g. “Prodigal Son”) or child trafficking (episode “Baby Blues”).

Personal issues also arose: Crockett divorced from his wife Caroline early in the series, and later his second wife Caitlin (Sheena Easton) was killed by one of his enemies. In the three episodes “Mirror Image”, “Hostile Takeover” and “Redemption in Blood”, a concussion caused by an explosion caused Crockett to believe he was his undercover alter ego Sonny Burnett, a drug dealer. Tubbs had a running, partly personal vendetta with the Calderone family, a member of which had ordered the death of his brother Raphael, a New York City police detective.

Early Seasons

In the first seasons the tone was often very light, especially when comical characters such as Noogie and Izzy appeared. Later on, the content was almost always quite dark and cynical, with Crockett and Tubbs also having to fight corruption. Typically the darker episodes had no tag sequence, each episode ending abruptly immediately after a climax that almost always involved violence and death, often giving the episodes, especially in later seasons, a despairing and sometimes nihilistic feel despite the trademark glamour and conspicuous wealth. Given its idiosyncratic “dark” feel and touch, Miami Vice is frequently cited as an example of made-for-TV Neo-noir; still today, the show’s executive producer over most of the five years, Michael Mann, is often credited with being one of the most influential modern-day Film Noir or Neo-Noir directors.

Lasting Impact

Miami Vice was one of the best-known shows of the 1980s, and it had a huge impact on the decade’s popular fashions as well as setting the tone for further evolution of police drama. Series such as Homicide: Life on the Street, NYPD Blue, and Law & Order, though being vastly different in style and theme from Miami Vice, followed its lead in breaking the genre’s mold. Although sometimes heavily disputed by their producers, the movies Bad Boys (1995) and Bad Boys 2 (2002) borrowed heavily on the concept of two undercover cops in the glitzy, upscale yet seedy world of southern Florida law enforcement.

The show has been so influential that the style of Miami Vice has often been borrowed or alluded to by much of today’s pop culture in order to indicate or emphasise the 1980s decade. Examples of this includes the episode “The One With All The Thanksgivings” from the American sitcom Friends. Flashback scenes from the 1980s in this episode shows the characters Ross and Chandler in pastel coloured suits with rolled up sleeves like that of Sonny Crockett. Another more obvious example would be the computer and video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which was published by Rockstar Games and is set in a stylised 1980’s Miami. Two undercover police officers appear in a police sports car within the game when three felony stars are obtained by the player. It is believed that the two officers (one white and one black) represent the two leading characters of Miami Vice. One of the main characters, Lance Vance, was actually voiced by Philip Michael Thomas.

Many of the styles popularized by the TV show, such as the t-shirt under pastel suits, no socks, rolled up sleeves, and Rayban sunglasses have today become the standard image of 1980s culture. Ironically, people today will often recognise the decade’s image, yet are unfamiliar with the TV show, despite it being the phenomenon that gave birth to the style in the first place.

However, it must be noted that pastels and the fashion accessories mentioned above were not emblematic of the entire decade, but that they stood for an era during the mid-eighties which lasted about two to three, maybe close to four years. With the show’s popularity notably waning around circa 1988 and different color schemes being adopted by the producers for the third season (1986-1987), “Vice“-themed, pastel-toned clothing went out of style, and fashion in general saw a departure from pastels and linen suits with the advent of bright, harsh neon colors, which became the next fad towards the outset of the 1990s. Likewise, the early 1980s were much more about earthtones in fashion and style.

I found all of this out just under a week ago. I didn’t know my scruffy days are a product of Sony Crockett! That shows what I know about anything… whatever, point is that the movie takes that serious term the series itself took well into its run, with James “Sonny” Crockett and Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs going undercover once again in order to take down a transnational trafficking operation that smuggles everything from drugs, weapons, money and anything else you can think of. Posing as heads of a fool-proof smuggling operation they infiltrate Arcángel de Jesús Montoya’s operation with the hopes of shedding light on it from the inside. Lots of bullets hit moving targets throughout the flick in an appropriate, almost too-real manner. When you have a tough blonde chick shooting at thugs with machine gun that would make the Terminator shed a tear down the side of his face you know you’re in for a great movie, and the way it was shot (digital, a method he used for his previous movie “Collateral…” I mentioned this earlier, people. Keep up!) gives it a very real, almost voyeuristic approach to the goings-on. Natural light, a shaky digital camera that gives the flick a grainy, unapologetic look that makes things much more real and the stakes higher. There are no flashy camera angles and obvious money shots as in, and I’ll bring this one again, “Bad Boys;” the comparisons stop there. These characters, probably due to the way the movie’s been shot, felt more real to me than your standard Michael Bay explosion-fests (which are fine and dandy, mind you. I like mindless action as much as the next guy)… specially Sonny, played by Collin Farrell. It’s weird too, because for all intents and purposes the character is bland… should be, anyway. Somehow, it worked though and his interaction with Rico felt true. It all just seemed more real. Even the gun fights and violence! The violence hits you like a brick early on and sets a precedent that this ain’t no 80’s “Vice.”

The soundtrack was great as well, with Nonpoint’s cover to Phil Collins’ classic “In the Air Tonight” showing up many a time. Both Key-K and I swear up and down it was Audioslave. It doesn’t matter though because I’m definitely getting this soundtrack, completing the trifecta started by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and continued with Superman Returns. The ensemble cast of sorts is great as well and I kept hearing that they were even more interesting than the main characters but I don’t think any of the other storylines were as organically developed as the one that has Sonny getting up close and personal with Montoya’s right hand girl/mistress Isabella, played by Asian hotness Gong Li. For those who have seen the movie and think you’ve seen her somewhere, she was in “Memoirs of a Geisha” playing Hatsumomo, a.k.a the bitch who kept fucking with main character Sayuri, played by the other Asian hotness Zhang Ziyi. I never thought fake chopped-up English could be so damn sexy.

I recommend this flick for anyone who enjoys action flicks, and specially if you know your shit and dig Michael Mann flicks (if you haven’t seen “Heat” and bowed down to its awesomeness I will, in fact, take a hammer and hit your balls with it. Repeatedly) just as much as anyone with half a brain would.

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