A moment so remarkable, that it got tied to an already powerful song and years later the same track is still used in TV ads, series, videogames, movies, sports events and so on, to the point it became a cultural standard; from the top of my head, I recall the series ‘Halo’ trailer with Collins’ creation. The images mentioned above go beyond the ‘MTV Cops’ as ‘Miami Vice’ was described but are more akin to the works of Italian maestro Michelangelo Antonioni (The Eclipse, 1962), in the way he shot landscapes and spatial relationships between characters, but aimed for America’s mainstream audiences.

The cinematography and sound were adjusted by the rise of the New Wave culture giving it a fresh vibe while the Art Deco revival made it easier to differentiate Miami from other cities. The premiere season had fifteen Emmy Awards nominations, turning the pastels clad Johnson and Thomas into global superstars.

As a neo-noir tale, it was influenced by the noir pictures from the past but also by European arthouse, westerns, samurai and blaxploitation films, the last exemplified by the recurring appearances of Pam Grier as Tubbs’ unfulfilled love interest, and to stay on the diversity department, it was ahead of the curve considering the racial and ethnic demographic of Miami.

Known faces showed up as an upcoming Bruce Willis in his first role or the already legendary Eartha Kitt, Bringing her credibility. The soundtrack features heavy hitters like Tina Turner and Depeche Mode, record companies and musicians wanted to have their work on the show, but the main name behind its sonorous success is Czech American musician Jan Hammer who achieved Billboard #1 with the synth-pop show’s theme. 80s South Florida was the place to be.

Not only did the show have numerous famous guest actors, but a budget of around US$ 1.3 million per episode, one of the most expensive of its era. This expense is reflected in the show’s soundtrack, wardrobe and production design costs. Miami Vice feels like the real start of colour TV with pioneering visual and sound narratives. 

Although having great popularity during its day and being a beloved document of 80’s society and culture, Miami Vice fell into obscurity being unfairly pigeonholed as the face of the decade’s excesses and shallowness.

A Cultural Event Influential To This Day

Nevertheless, in 2006, New York Times critic Alessandra Stanley pointed it out as “a revolutionary series” and its impact on cinematography and soundtrack usage can be felt in the modern era. The product is closer to artistry pictures than to its contemporary action-driven outings, its influence is not only on movies and TV but also on fashion, architecture, aesthetics, video gaming, and sports and can be felt in the city of Miami itself. 

Still, the show is way more layered than what critics labelled ‘style over substance,’ because as Stanley puts it: “Television has lost an 80’s attribute that Miami Vice epitomized: the ability to be serious and playful at the same time.” It touches on serious subjects such as LGBTQIA+ identity, racism and suicide without being lecturing or preachy as happens in our divisive times. 

One of the contributions of Miami Vice is showing that a cast composed of diverse talent can enhance the experience and it is a formula ahead of its time which is now part of the blockbusters that are aiming for global success.

Still, Miami Vice’s main contribution might be felt on cinema and prestige TV such as in scenes where the background is replaced by a soundtrack as in Mann’s pictures like ‘Heat,’ ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ and ‘Collateral’ and Mann is also known for showing how a stressful work-life can damage the psychological aspects of humans as in the series and in his picture ‘The Insider.’

In TV, one example of Vice’s grasp happens in ‘Euphoria’s (2019 – ) choice of tunes such as when it plays Depeche Mode’s ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ to portray the relationship between two young characters. Moments that can tell a powerful story by relying on cinematography, soundtrack and actors capable of acting with few words as Johnson and Thomas making those minutes more than just a video clip but a complete narration.

Michael Mann is one of the best auteurs from American cinema and the way he utilizes sound and cinematography which went on to influence other filmmakers shows how influential Miami Vice is and without it the landscape would sound and feel completely different.

Also Read: The Evolution of the Murder Mystery

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The Trailer

I remember seeing the trailer for Escape From L.A. and was very interested. It started with what appeared to be an information film before the start of the movie, reminding people there was no talking allowed, and then it moved onto red meat, and freedom of religion and your marriage had to be approved. The start of the trailer was a piece of world-building and I think this was quite a clever idea and not something I had come across before.

The Plot – Such As It Is

Escape From L.A. is a sequel that is part of a particular type of sequel, give them the same film again but make it bigger. So this time the prison-city is L.A, and Snake is again tasked with going in and getting something out, and again, he has a strict deadline. The film really could have been called Escape from L.A. With a MacGuffin. This time Snake is infected with a virus that will kill him in 24 hours should he not successfully complete and mission and return. But this is a film that isn’t really about a plot or story, or even really characters, it’s about how bad-ass Snake Plisken is.

Memorable Scenes

To take an unusual step I will not discuss the film as a whole but rather three scenes that have stuck in my head very clearly. I do this in part because this does not feel like a film but rather a series of supercool badass moments the filmmakers have strung together. The first – the “Bangkok Rules” scene. Here Snake is confronted by several bad guys, each person has their hands on their guns and clearly a vicious gunfight is about to break out. Snake suggested settling it in the Bangkok Rules Style, which means you throw a can in the air when it hits the ground, you all draw. Snake throws the can and the bad guys keep their eyes on the can and Snake draws and shoot them all while their attention is elsewhere. I have never been able to work out why the bad guys, who outnumbered Snake, would agree to any contest that would level the playing field.

Second, a truly ridiculous scene, a scene that was of particular prominence in 80s and 90s action films. Snake is chasing the Villain (there is no point in giving the name of any other character, they barely exist as characters) and he steals a motorbike. What follows is a minute of the stupidest henchmen in the history of supervillainy and a showcase of a society that has thought it a good idea to place barrels and boxes filled with some hereto unknown super-flammable material that explodes should a feather land on them. There are henchmen who fall for the old “appear between two henchmen, have them fire at you, but you’ve slowed down so they shoot each other” trick. The high/low point of the scene comes from one of the worst examples of SFX in cinema history. Snake rides across a conveniently placed ramp and lands on the back of a pickup truck which not only does not look real but defies the laws of physics and common sense (a tradition which the Fast & Furious films continue to this day).

Finally, the absolutely legendary basketball scene. Captured by the Villain, Snake is sentenced to play basketball and if he loses, he dies. Basically, Snake needs to get a basket, then score in the opposite basket, and only has ten seconds to do this, should he fail, he dies. Snake runs back and forth, each time getting a bit slower, and shooting from further away. Come the final basket Snake is practically at the other end of the court, and so with nothing else to do he throws the basketball as hard as he can…and scores! What’s even better, Kurt Russell insisted it was done for real and spent a lot of time practising so he could do it. I will forgive this film for pretty much all of its many mistakes and bad ideas for this scene, a moment of audacious action hero awesomeness rarely equalled in cinema. It is odd that Russell insisted on this moment of cinematic reality but was happy with the assault on realism that was his motorbike stunt.

So is Escape From L.A. really that bad? Sadly yes it is. It’s worth pointing out that Last Action Hero was released three years before this one, a film that pointed out much of the action hero ridiculousness exhibited here so there really is no excuse. And if you think ridiculous is too harsh in mind you should know I didn’t even talk about the scene where Snake chases down a car while surfing.

Also Read: Was It Really That Bad?: Waterworld

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