Feature by Justin Camilleri
White suits. Big shades. Blow dried hair. Call it nostalgia, but its all set to make a return this month with Miami Vice, a movie revival of the hugely popular and successful 80s cult TV show.
Helmed by Michael Mann, the creator of the original TV series, Mann’s big screen take promises to be much heavier and darker in both tone and vision than the television series.
Taking over from Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas, donning their pastel jacket sleeves and white Armani suits, are Colin Farrell (Alexander, The New World) as Undercover Miami Cop and ladies man James “Sonny” Crockett and Jamie Foxx (Ray, Jarhead) as the suave, intelligent Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs.
With Mann firing on all four cylinders, Miami Vice 2006-style promises to be this year’s classiest movie. The 80s premise has been updated for today’s generation while still retaining its roots as an adult intelligent thriller that reflects the new 21st century world we live in. In an interview with ‘Entertainment Now’ Michael Mann said: “I’ve been waiting 20 years to do this, we’re not in the 80s world of cocaine cowboys anymore, it’s a world of globalised criminality.”
Co–starring Gong Li (Memoirs of a Geisha) and Ciaran Hinds (Munich) the plot this time will centre on Sonny Crockett (Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) going undercover as offshore boat racers and outlaw smugglers in order to target Chinese drug traffickers. According to Farrell: “The story is about how global crime affects every one of us, about how deep Crockett and Tubbs go undercover and what happens in an operation when your badge doesn’t count.”
Unfortunately, the original stars won’t be making a cameo this time round, in order to keep the new movie as fresh as possible.
Nevertheless, Farrell and Foxx have a hard act to follow, especially since many die hard fans of the original TV series have drawn comparisons on the web (www. Miami-vice.org) between the new leads and the original stars. It cannot be denied that what made the original Miami Vice an iconic success were Johnson’s and Thomas’ onscreen charisma. Their smouldering manly good looks, guaranteed a large female audience second to none.
Despite a 15-year gap between the last season of Miami Vice and the big screen makeover the style, coolness and music has not faded away. With an 80s music revival hitting Europe, 80’s connoisseurs all agree about Miami Vice’s timeless cultural legacy. The Times music journalist Eric Montfort said: “Miami Vice helped define the 80’s era thanks to the clothes that were worn by Don Johnson and the New Romantic electronic music that was played all throughout the show.”
Back in its heyday, Miami Vice was a new sensation of cop show. Policemen were no longer sluggishly dressed in brownish or grey plain clothes as depicted in ‘Kojak’ and ‘The streets of San Francisco’. These new breed of police would go undercover oozing coolness, driving Ferraris and dressing up in bright stylish fashions that reflected the more glitzy feel of 1980’s Pop culture. In fact, Miami Vice had such a tremendous effect on men’s fashion at the time that it brought to life the ‘T-shirt under jacket’ style which became the fashion statement of the day for young men. The show not only launched Don Johnson’s TV career but turned him into a fashion icon overnight. Wearing Ray Ban shades, Johnson’s unshaven appearance inspired a lot of men to wear a small amount of designer beard stubble.
Even the series storylines sparked a new trend in 80’s police thrillers becoming grittier and far more realistic, unlike anything seen before. This time the hero would cross a thin line between his actions and those of the drug lords and gangsters. This theme would be emulated in Michael Mann’sfirst police cinema release Manhunter (1986) starring William Petersen (C.S.I).
The scripts went to great lengths to show how, in order to catch their prey, undercover policemen had to be conversant in the language of the underworld. It finally broke the mould as it was the first police series to have endings where the cops don’t always win their fight against criminality, with episodes focusing on police corruption.
If C.S.I is the current torchbearer for crime thriller drama, back in the 80s it was Miami Vice that gave birth to the genre. TV audiences were hooked on the show because of three innovative characteristics that became known as the Vice style.
The distinctive, synthesized instrumental music by Jan Hammer set the mood and tone to the series. Countless pop and rock hits of the 1980’s by Phil Collins, Tina Turner, Depeche Mode and Billy Idol found themselves in carefully selected scenes. Many fans agree that one of the classic scenes that epitomised Miami Vice, was in the first episode when Crockett and Tubbs are travelling through the streets of Miami at night, in their black Ferrari Daytona Spyder to the strains of Phil Collins’ ‘In the Air Tonight’.
Added to this was the series’ iconic cinematography of quickly edited images, lending the feel of a music video and which became a staple of 80’s cinema, as seen in such decade classics as Footloose, Flashdance and Top Gun. According to Michael Mann: “At the time, the show was written for the new MTV audience, focusing on images that had plenty of emotion and energy rather than only plot and character.”
Last but not least there were the spectacular tropical locations that introduced Miami’s character to the world. Miami Vice helped launch the ocean city’s tourist catalogue iconography of sun scorched beach front hotels, palm trees and beautiful, suntanned women.
Without a shadow of a doubt, fans of the Vice Style, or anyone who was a teenager back in the 80’s, will be anticipating the release of the new movie with nostalgia. The reason for this is that Miami Vice is not just a cop thriller but more importantly it is a timeless attitude of an era that will not be easily forgotten.
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