In defense of the way the plot flowed, or to add to its persecution depending on how you saw it, this was more or less a a typical ep, of the series blown up to two hours. Mann essentially assumed (too much IMO) that everyone knew who the characters were from the series, what they were about, and just more or less re-cast them and set the story in modern times with modern music and a more realisitic style.
The movie starts with Crockett and Tubbs in a club on the case with music blasting; this is very reflective of the first scenes of most of the series. However, we never get any background on the two, we're just left to assume they are partners and have been for a while. We also get the sports car, music, Crockett falling for the wrong girl, slick visuals, etc. It's like Mann just drops the audience into the middle of an already going story without any setup, and I think he assumed too many people were familiar with Miami Vice and its form of storytelling when he made this movie.

I liked it. In fact, if someone invited me to go see it again I would. I go to movies to be entertained and it was an entertaining movie. I don't go so I can pick them apart and talk about how bad or great certain aspects are. Quite frankly, I'd hate to be one of those people.

Well I enjoyed it alot, but I enjoy the hell out of movies like this...A fun day at the movies and a pretty good summer action flick.

For the love of God man! Am I gonna have to buy this for you?

Sorry, without a doubt my favorite movie ever (heat)!

I go to the movies to be entertained as well, but this was NOT an entertaining movie. It was boring and the story made little sense. Terrible script too.

Trelach, you disproved your own post.... uh not to call you out or anything, but here's your post about The Lake House...sounds like you're talking about the good and bad. I go to movies to be entertained and thrilled, but when movies fail to live up to the promise I feel they make with trailers etc., I like to discuss why I think they missed the mark and DIDN'T fully entertain or thrill me. I also like to discuss movies that DO succeed and why they do... I don't think this is a crime... movies are art and art is meant to be discussed and dissected...

MATT

Have to say I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. A little disorientating at first, but once I got into it I had a hell of a time. A definite BUY on dvd and wouldn't mind seeing a sequel! Yay.

A SOLID GRADE of B.

I was pretty disappointed in this movie. A few cool moments in the beginning and the end but it seemed to me like the whole middle part of the movie was dragged out and that nothing really happens except for two characters hooking up which I didn't really care too much about. The only thing I got out of the middle part was a craving for Mohitos. There was also pretty much no action until the end of the movie which would be fine if the plot and characters were not so lacking. I never really got the sense of the characters going deep undercover and the suspense/moral dilemnas you see in similar movies involving someone going undercover were absent. Maybe the problem was I was expecting something great from the looks of the trailer and having Michael Mann attatched but instead got a mediocre movie. (I loved Heat and would've loved Collateral if not for the lame ending)

Mogwai saved this movie from being an F for me with two badass songs.

Maybe I missed it but,

In all honesty, this is probably the most boring film I've seen in theaters all year.

And this is coming from someone who saw a 75-minute mockumentary at CineVegas that focused on communists in space that consisted of nothing but people talking in Russian over insert shots of space.

"And this is coming from someone who saw a 75-minute mockumentary at CineVegas that focused on communists in space that consisted of nothing but people talking in Russian over insert shots of space."

Wow! I saw that movie too... Miami Vice must be horrible.

Miami Vice isn't horrible, it's just too bloated and there is no need for it be nearly two and a half hours. Maybe with a better script (and maybe even a better director) in place, it would've been a better movie.

After Mann's recent efforts, I don't think he'll ever make a movie as good as Heat again (The Insider was alright though).

It's true, at the start of the Cuba sequence, you can leave, go do an Ace and a Deuce, get a refill of your popcorn and drink, come back, and they are still in frikkin' Cuba!

Saw it Friday. Weak. Pretty to look at, though.

1. The Insider (own it)
2. Heat (own it)
3. Collateral (own it)
4. The Last of the Mohicans (own it)
5. Miami Vice
6. Manhunter
20. Ali

i don't understand how this movie could cost 135 million to make, there is nothing on the screen to justify that expense. Unbelievable amount of money spent on this movie. this movie could easily have cost half that amount and not lost anything. what's bad is that if a movie costs that much money it has to make a ton more money than it should to be considered a success. okay movie, little boring, but after i was done watching this movie i said that cost 135 million dollars, are they insane. this isn't superman returns, x3 or pirates or even mi3, there abolutely nothing big in this movie

I believe a lot of that cost was rebuilding offices, sets, etc. after all the hurricanes that blew through during shooting. There's a VERY interesting article on the making of the film (the trials and tribulations) in last week's Entertainment - cool read.

I enjoyed it a lot. **** out of five.

I didn't have any problems following the story. No one single accent bothered me. It looked great. I liked the casting - if I were to replace anyone it would have been Foxx (I have heard a lot of people mentioning Farrell, but he didn't bother me).

I'm not normally into Asian woman, but Gong Li is stone cold sexy.

My brother-in-law said that the shoot-out had the most realistic gunshots he had ever heard in a movie. My dad concured.

I can't wait to see what it looks/sounds like at home.

I think I might take my wife to it next weekend.

I enjoyed the film for what it was, but it feels like a picture that is about 10 years too late...

The general audience that makes up the bulk of the box office currenty is going to rip this film to death. I actually heard a couple walking out of the theater going... "That wasn't like Bad Boys, there wasn't any humor." It quite a sad commentary that when a film attempts to build a plot (convoluted as many of the original TV episodes...) it get slaughtered by the movie going public.

Ultimately, Miami Vice was probably better suited for the small screen, so you could drag sub-plots out for month or years.

I did find it interesting that all of the original character were included, including Zito, who was killed off in the orignial series when John Deihl wanted to leave the show...

fitprod

I decided to test your theory on my 17-year old son. He's into hip-hop, video games, anime, cars --- typical teenage stuff. I just asked him to rank what he's seen so far this Summer.

Here's his list:

1. Miami Vice
2. Pirates
3. MI3
4. X3
5. Superman

That's right. He put it at the top. Said it was "right up his alley." Then I asked him to compare Miami Vice to the first Bad Boys. He laughed and said that was a hard one. I told him he could take one and only one to his desert island. He took Bad Boys. Said, "so then he could have funny and serious." Then I asked him to explain the plot of Miami Vice. Bless his heart, he couldn't...and believe me, he tried.

Anecdotal, of course. But they're you go.

I believe Mann spends a ton on his locations because he does not like to use sets. He also wants authenticity, I think this is why Ali went over the budget as well. After making Collateral and I think the budget for that was only $70 million, I thought Vice would not go over a $100 million.

Isn't it suppose to be cheaper to shoot in digital?

Just saw it. Felt very bloated; and even still you could tell they cut multiple story threads from it.

Just saw it and I enjoyed it. It wasn't the best Mann film I've seen (Heat gets that honor) but he produced a tough, dark and gritty cop drama. I really liked the closing scene and the music. The only problem I had with the movie was Mann writing the Gong Li character "Isabella" as a Chinese/Hispanic?? I assume he didn't want to get cliched and cast some hot Latina chick as Crockett's love interest. I like Gong Li, but her english is very limited and I think she probably didn't understand any of the lines she read. With a 135M budget, I think it's going to have a very hard time making it's money back. R rated movies tend to drop drastically in the box office in their 2nd weekend.

Yes. The cost of just the film itself on a major blockbuster is around $2-3 million. That's before they do anything to it.

The cost of HD tapes on a major blockbuster is around $20,000 and then it's pretty easy to transfer and edit.