Review of Miami Vice

Introduction

Miami Vice is one of the most important television series of the 80s, a massive success both critically and in terms of audience. In the UK, the series received a great deal of criticism for what was deemed to be excessive violence, but it was still a huge hit with viewers.

Miami Vice was a TV cop series like nothing that went before, with Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas starring as Crockett and Tubbs, both super-cool, with a Ferrari convertible and speedboat as their transport. Add great action, a superb supporting cast and great music, and it`s easy to see why Michael Mann`s stylish show was a winner.

This DVD contains the feature length pilot episode, plus a two-part episode "Golden Triangle", giving a running time of just over three hours. The pilot was originally broadcast on 18th September 1984, with "Golden Triangle" shown on 23rd March 1985.

Video

Video is presented in full-frame, and is of better than average quality. Some scenes are a little dark, and there is some dirt on the print, but overall the quality is perfectly acceptable.

Miami Vice was famous for style, and the cinematography (by Robert E. Collins for the pilot episode and Duke Callaghan, James A. Contner, Tom Priestley Jr. and Oliver Wood for the rest of the series) still looks very good, even if some of the clothing is very dodgy! The production values are more akin to the big screen giving Miami Vice a quality feel.

Audio

The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is best described as adequate. In some scenes, voices get a little lost, and the TV origins have led to a slight lack of dynamic range in the soundtrack (particularly in the pilot episode). The music still sounds very good despite the slight vocal shortcomings at times.

Aside from the above, Miami Vice still sounds good, with Jan Hammer`s score accompanied by some excellent 80s music. I even remember Jan Hammer on Top of the Pops performing "Crockett`s Theme".

Features

The extras consist of "Vice Notes" - text information about the series.

Unlike others in the Playback series, the menus didn`t cause my Pioneer DV525 any problems.

The disc is packaged in a black Amaray case, which contains an insert with information on the episodes along with some background information on the show.

Conclusion

As a big fan of Miami Vice, who rarely missed an episode when the series was originally broadcast, I loved this DVD.

The pilot episode is better than many films, and the two-part "Golden Triangle" episode is also very strong.

Video and sound aren`t too bad, and the low £12.99 price for 3 hours of fun makes this disc good value.

I just wish that the whole series was available!