Based on the 1980s TV action/drama, this update focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.Based on the 1980s TV action/drama, this update focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.Based on the 1980s TV action/drama, this update focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.
- Awards
- 1 win & 9 nominations
Isaach De Bankolé
- Neptune
- (as Isaach De Bankole)
Mario Ernesto Sánchez
- El Tiburon
- (as Mario Ernesto Sanchez)
Frankie J. Allison
- Deep-Chested Aryan Brother
- (as Frankie Jay Allison)
Tony Curran
- Aryan Brother
- (as Anthony Curran)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMichael Mann had his actors train with real-life undercover law enforcement officers. Both Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell observed undercover operations from a safe distance. Farrell was told he'd learned so much, he was welcome to participate in a real sting operation. During the operation (caught on video, excerpts of which are shown in the DVD extra), guns were drawn and the officers identities questioned. Farrell reports being scared for his life. He spontaneously ripped open his shirt to demonstrate he wasn't wearing a wire, an act the agent-in-charge later commended for being realistic, quick-witted improvisation. After suffering anxiety and insomnia that night, Farrell contacted the agent-in-charge and was told that the sting operation was staged, and he was never in any danger. He was to be told the next morning during a debrief.
- GoofsDuring the last gunfight, the headlights on Sonny's car are shot out. They are working in the next scene.
- Quotes
Deep-Chested Aryan Brother: [Holding detonator] Shoot me, she dies. Shoot me, go ahead. Fuck it, we can all go. That's cool.
Det. Gina Calabrese: That's not what happens. What will happen is... what will happen is I will put a round at twenty-seven hundred feet per second into the medulla at the base of your brain. And you will be dead from the neck down before your body knows it. Your finger won't even twitch. Only you get dead. So tell me, sport, do you believe that?
Deep-Chested Aryan Brother: Hey, fu...
[Calabrese shoots him through the head]
- Crazy creditsAlthough there were no opening credits in the theatrical release, the Unrated Director's Cut contains credits over a new sequence that opens the film. Once the credits are done, the film begins in the nightclub scene that opened the theatrical version.
- Alternate versionsReleased on Blu-ray in 2008, the Director's Cut features just over eleven minutes of additional material and has just under four minutes of content removed, running roughly seven minutes longer than the Theatrical Cut. In the Director's Cut,
- There is a new opening scene showing Det. Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Det. Rico Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) in a go-fast race. This sequence also features opening credits, which are completely absent in any form in the Theatrical Cut. After the race is over, Crockett and Tubbs watch as an undercover Det. Stan Switek (Domenick Lombardozzi) makes arrangements with Neptune (Isaach De Bankolé) to bring some girls to the club for the purposes of solicitation. This sequence serves to contextualize the opening scene of the Theatrical Cut (03:56).
- After Crockett, Tubbs, and Lt. Martin Castillo (Barry Shabaka Henley) meet with Agent John Fujima (Ciarán Hinds), they are discussing the FLIR images of the two go-fast boats speeding next to one another in pitch darkness. Crockett's line, "those are skill sets" has been removed (-00:03).
- After the vice team go to see Nicholas (Eddie Marsan, there is a scene where he rings José Yero (John Ortiz) to arrange a meet and to vouch for Burnett and Cooper (00:38).
- Immediately after the above, the shot of Rico in the shower is from a different and shorter take than that used in the Theatrical Cut (-00:05).
- When the film first cuts to Ciudad Del Este, there is a shot of a USB drive being taken out of a computer. The film then cuts to the first courier carrying the drive (00:03).
- After Crockett and Tubbs have met with Yero for the first time, they go back to their hotel room and wait for a call. After Tubbs says, "that was fast", the Director's Cut cuts straight to them heading for the meet with Arcángel Montoya (Luis Tosar). The scene from the Theatrical Cut where Crockett, Tubbs, and Larry Zito (Justin Theroux) go to a pier to await further instructions is absent, as is the following scene when they return to the hotel to find Isabella (Gong Li) and her men in their room (-01:36).
- After the meeting with Montoya, as Crockett watches Isabella driving away, there are several additional shots of Tubbs trying to contact Trudy Joplin (Naomie Harris) before he can get a signal on his phone (00:14).
- Immediately after the above, when Tubbs manages to get through to Trudy. He tentatively asks her if she is okay, and she says she is, she's just bored. She then thanks him for the flowers. He asks her what flowers she's talking about, and if there is a card with them. The card reads, "Salutations from your friends in the South". As Trudy realizes the flowers didn't come from Tubbs, she looks out the window and takes her service revolver out of its holster (01:54).
- Immediately after the above, there is another additional scene in a diner. Tubbs meets with Trudy as she points out it took the FBI testers a week to get access to Burnett and Cooper's criminal history and personal details, whilst it took Montoya's people only three hours. She notes that the flowers mean they're saying, "we can reach out and touch you". Tubbs tells her to trust the layers of fabricated identities that she built and that everything is fine. She then realizes that he's worried about her. She points out that she's safe, can call 911, she has friends, etc whereas Crockett and Tubbs are operating off-grid. She says, "if your focus is on me, if your attention is distracted you will miss something coming at you. I'd die if anything happened to you on account of me. You worry about you. You and Sonny. And I'm fine. They sent us some flowers. Big deal. Thanks for the flowers" (01:45).
- When Crockett and Isabella go to Havana, there is an additional scene the next morning. As they stand on the balcony, Isabella says this was the house she grew up in and mentions that her mother was a surgeon who moved to Angola. Crockett asks her if she's still there, but Isabella says she died in Angola when Isabella was 16 (01:08).
- Right after the above addition, during the scene in the cafe, the Director's Cut cuts from Crockett asking Isabella if she looks like her mother, to her saying she will show him a photo. The line where she says that her mother died in Angola when Isabella was 16 has been removed (-00:06).
- After Crockett and Isabella return from the cafe, she gets a picture of her mother and brings it upstairs to show him. A shot of her ascending the stairs has been removed (-00:05).
- At the end of the scene on the pier when Crockett tells Isabella she should get out of the drug trade, the last few shots of her walking away are edited differently (-00:03).
- After unloading the freighter, as Isabella gets into the car and sees Crockett on the boat, there is an additional shot of him waving at her. A few seconds later, there is another additional shot of him looking at her (00:05).
- A very brief shot of Tubbs looking up from the laptop after receiving Yero's email has been removed (-00:01).
- After sending Crockett and Tubbs the proof of life that Trudy is still alive, there is a scene where Coleman (Tom Towles) calls them and gives them instructions. This is followed by a scene where he calls Yero and tells him that everything is going according to plan. In the Director's Cut, these two phone calls have been reversed - Coleman calls Yero and then Crockett and Tubbs. There are also several additional close-up shots of him making the call, and the shot of him hanging up has been shortened slightly (00:04).
- As they make their way to the trailer park to rescue Trudy, Crockett calls Isabella to ask her what's happening, and she says that Yero is behind the abduction. In the Theatrical Cut, she says, "It's Yero, not the buyer. He wants to kill you. I do not know what shit he's pulling." In the Director's Cut, she says, "It's Yero, not the buyer. Yero's acting alone. I do not know what shit he's pulling" (there is no time differentiation).
- After Yero has Isabella's bodyguard killed, there is an alternate shot of him sitting at the table and looking at her (00:01).
- At the opening of the scene where Crockett and Tubbs talk about their work, a line of dialogue that occurs off-camera in the Theatrical Cut ("arrests get made") occurs on camera in the Director's Cut (00:03).
- Beginning during the montage before the final shootout, Nonpoint's 2004 cover of Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight" plays across multiple scenes, starting when Crockett and Tubbs head out from the hanger and playing up until Castillo locates the two snipers and opens fire. This is an obvious homage to the pilot episode of the TV show, where Collins's original song was used as Crockett (Don Johnson) and Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) drove to a potentially fatal meeting with Calderone (Miguel Pinero). In the Theatrical Cut, these scenes are mainly quiet, with the occasional bit of John Murphy's score heard in the background (there is no time differentiation or visual alterations).
- As the shootout winds down, and Isabella realizes that Crockett is an undercover cop, she walks towards him mumbling "who are you?" This walk has been extended, with an additional shot from behind her that is absent in the Theatrical Cut (00:04).
- The sequence where Crockett drags Isabella over to her car, and he and Tubbs acknowledge one another has been edited differently, with the shots in a different order, the shot of Crockett approaching the car is longer, and the shot of Tubbs nodding has been removed. The music cues are also slightly different in this sequence (00:02).
- The first part of the scene where Crockett drives Isabella away from the shootout has been edited differently, with the shots in a different order, and several of them trimmed (-00:03).
- Immediately after the above, there is an additional scene where Isabella attacks Crockett as he drives. The car spins out of control and Crockett handcuffs her as she shouts at him. They then continue on their journey, each refusing to look at the other (01:14).
- When they arrive at the safe house, there is an additional shot of Crockett taking off Isabella's cuffs (00:12).
- The closing credits are shorter (due to the use of opening credits) and the music is different. In the Theatrical Cut, Nonpoint's "In the Air Tonight" plays over the first half of the credits; in the Director's Cut, "One of These Mornings" by Moby plays (-00:54).
- ConnectionsEdited into Going Deep Undercover with 'Miami Vice' (2006)
- SoundtracksOne of These Mornings
Written and Produced by Moby
Patti LaBelle vocal produced by Mark Batson
Performed by Moby featuring Patti LaBelle
Courtesy of V2 Records / Mute Ltd.
Featured review
Due to Michael Mann's track record it was hard to go into this movie without very high expectations. After all, we are talking about the creator of arguably the greatest crime drama/thriller ever made with "Heat", as well as the highly entertaining "Collateral". But "Miami Vice" fails to live up to Mann's past success in the crime genre.
The plot is completely ordinary and doesn't offer up any unexpected twists and turns along the way. Because of this, the movie lacks intensity through much of the first and second acts, when everything that's happening is completely predictable.
However, pedestrian plot aside, the biggest disappointment was the manner in which the characters were developed. Both "Collateral" and "Heat" were notable for the way in which they delved deep into the psyche of the central characters, providing compelling personal drama to go along with the heists, hits and gunplay. But in "Miami Vice", we never really get to know the characters or their motivations beyond the surface level. And to make matters worse, Foxx and Farrell never develop the kind of rapport that's necessary to make a movie like this work on a high level. Compare Foxx and Farrell to Johnson and Thomas, or Gibson and Glover, and you'll see what I mean. Even though the "Miami Vice" movie aspires to be darker and grittier than "Lethal Weapon", which it is, it fails to be as dramatic because we never really come to care about the characters all that much. While there was clearly a conscious decision to downplay the "buddy" elements of the movie, the result is that Crockett and Tubbs seem so disconnected from each other on a personal level that it's hard to buy that they would die for each other, which we are expected to believe. The only relationship that is at all convincing or fleshed out is between Crockett and Isabella. The rest seem decidedly distant and undercooked.
What saves the film from being a bust is the visual splendor and great action sets. Mann once again proves that when it comes to creating a gritty atmosphere and staging shootouts, he's among the best in the business. When it comes to style, visuals, and atmosphere, "Miami Vice" is top notch.
In the end perhaps what hurt this movie most was studio deadlines and delays while shooting. It's been widely reported that Michael Mann had to feverishly edit this film just to get it into theaters on time, and in many ways that shows. There are multiple loose ends that are never tied up or explained, and several plot threads seem underdeveloped. I'm sure some day we will see a director's cut which approaches the 3 hour mark just like "Heat", and perhaps that version will overcome of the issues involving character development and plot holes in the theatrical version. Until then, "Miami Vice" is a movie that, while far from being a total failure, is none-the-less disappointing in that it had the potential to be a much more complete film than it is.
The plot is completely ordinary and doesn't offer up any unexpected twists and turns along the way. Because of this, the movie lacks intensity through much of the first and second acts, when everything that's happening is completely predictable.
However, pedestrian plot aside, the biggest disappointment was the manner in which the characters were developed. Both "Collateral" and "Heat" were notable for the way in which they delved deep into the psyche of the central characters, providing compelling personal drama to go along with the heists, hits and gunplay. But in "Miami Vice", we never really get to know the characters or their motivations beyond the surface level. And to make matters worse, Foxx and Farrell never develop the kind of rapport that's necessary to make a movie like this work on a high level. Compare Foxx and Farrell to Johnson and Thomas, or Gibson and Glover, and you'll see what I mean. Even though the "Miami Vice" movie aspires to be darker and grittier than "Lethal Weapon", which it is, it fails to be as dramatic because we never really come to care about the characters all that much. While there was clearly a conscious decision to downplay the "buddy" elements of the movie, the result is that Crockett and Tubbs seem so disconnected from each other on a personal level that it's hard to buy that they would die for each other, which we are expected to believe. The only relationship that is at all convincing or fleshed out is between Crockett and Isabella. The rest seem decidedly distant and undercooked.
What saves the film from being a bust is the visual splendor and great action sets. Mann once again proves that when it comes to creating a gritty atmosphere and staging shootouts, he's among the best in the business. When it comes to style, visuals, and atmosphere, "Miami Vice" is top notch.
In the end perhaps what hurt this movie most was studio deadlines and delays while shooting. It's been widely reported that Michael Mann had to feverishly edit this film just to get it into theaters on time, and in many ways that shows. There are multiple loose ends that are never tied up or explained, and several plot threads seem underdeveloped. I'm sure some day we will see a director's cut which approaches the 3 hour mark just like "Heat", and perhaps that version will overcome of the issues involving character development and plot holes in the theatrical version. Until then, "Miami Vice" is a movie that, while far from being a total failure, is none-the-less disappointing in that it had the potential to be a much more complete film than it is.
- maxwellsmart
- Jul 28, 2006
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Chuyên Án Miami
- Filming locations
- Old City, Montevideo, Uruguay(as a bank in Geneva, Switzerland, only exterior)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $135,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $63,450,470
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $25,723,815
- Jul 30, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $163,794,509
- Runtime2 hours 12 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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