Miami Vice

[Wasabiak]

Dude, that that Phil Collins remake by Nonpoint, which is on the movie soundtrack, ROCKS. LLLLOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEE IT!

[Cringer]

Dude, that that Phil Collins remake by Nonpoint, which is on the movie soundtrack, ROCKS. LLLLOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEE IT!

Do you only stutter when you get excited? Or is it a normal thing?

[Wasabiak]

Do you only stutter when you get excited? Or is it a normal thing?

Only when I'm excited.......Oh, and when I'm playing Maximum Foolsball.

[Buccaneer]

'Miami Vice' Theme: Axed, but Alive (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/)
Imagine "Mission: Impossible" or "The Addams Family" without their TV theme music transferred to the movies.
Even the disastrous big-screen version of "Bewitched" took its original theme music along, as did "The Wild Wild West," "The Brady Bunch" movies, "Star Trek" and countless other films that came from television series.

But not "Miami Vice." When the movie opens on Friday, there won’t be a hint of Jan Hammer’s colossally successful, Grammy award-winning theme music.
The reason? Apparently director Michael Mann just didn’t want it, simple as that.
Hammer, however, has the last laugh. His updated version of the theme, released on his own indie label with manager Elliott Sears, is already the most-added record on adult contemporary radio (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,205416,00.html#) for the last three weeks.
Hammer’s original hit record has many distinctions: it was the only TV theme instrumental to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts when it debuted back in November 1985.
It went on to win two Grammy awards the following winter, for pop instrumental composition and performance.
Hammer, if you didn't know, was a member of the groundbreaking Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, with John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Neben McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman and Rick Laird.
But when it came time to record a score for the "Miami Vice" movie, Hammer was snubbed by Mann.
He wasn’t the only one: Phil Collins, Glenn Frey and other musicians whose records made "Miami Vice" so memorable 20 years ago are also absent from the soundtrack.
Instead, Collins’ "In the Air Tonight" is heard as a remake by an unknown group. Two tracks are by Moby (one features Patti LaBelle), and the rest are all by unknowns.
None of this can be good for "Miami Vice," which was politely dismissed yesterday in the trade papers. The big screen incarnation of the famed TV show has already been considered a flop, even before its opening on Friday.
I told you exclusively in this column a few weeks ago that top Universal execs had already given up on this expensive mess.
The movie, directed by Mann, stars Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as Crockett and Tubbs, originally played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas.
Otherwise, everything else about the movie is different, including the music. And that’s what’s causing the latest problems.
According to Sears, Mann didn’t want any association with the TV series.
Universal execs are said to be upset about Mann’s decision to exclude the music. Sears told me that the studio was forwarded "thousands" of e-mails from "Miami Vice" fans begging the director to stick with the original.
"Universal told him, you’ve got to use the theme even if someone else records it," Sears said, "but he said no."
Hammer told me he knew Mann wasn’t interested in him as a composer when the movie was announced and no one called him.
Still, he said, "I was completely surprised they didn’t have a remake of it. I think it’s a matter of being too cool for school."
But Universal is in a unique situation with "Miami Vice." Since the series was made, the studio merged with NBC, the show’s original network. Last Saturday, NBC — at the behest of panicked Universal execs — interrupted scheduled programming and rebroadcast Mann’s two-hour TV pilot from 1984.
Stars Foxx and Farrell hosted the show with Mann, which was followed by clip from the new movie.
"What’s happening is everyone realizes too late that there’s no association between the movie and the show," Sears said. "They’re trying at the last minute to make a connection."
Sears and Hammer are about to release another updated version of a popular track of theirs from the TV series, "Crockett’s Theme," on Aug. 11.

I think they need to stop having morons make movies.

[Subby]

Bite your tongue, sir.

[Draft Dodger]

I think they need to stop having morons make movies.

you're talking about one of the better directors in Hollywood today. I agree, seems like some dubious decisions there, but, then again, not as dubious as remaking a fucking stupid TV show like this in the first place.

[Draft Dodger]

oh, and as for the Nonpoint version. Not bad, but nowhere near as good as the original. Heck, I think I'd take lil' Kim's version over it.

[Cringer]

you're talking about one of the better directors in Hollywood today. I agree, seems like some dubious decisions there, but, then again, not as dubious as remaking a fucking stupid TV show like this in the first place.

Looking at his IMDB page, he has done a couple decent to good movies, but that list hardly makes him untouchable. I'm not that impressed.

[Draft Dodger]

Looking at his IMDB page, he has done a couple decent to good movies, but that list hardly makes him untouchable. I'm not that impressed.

I'm unimpressed with your unimpressedness

[M GO BLUE!!!]

According to Sears, Mann didn’t want any association with the TV series.

Makes perfect sense. Make a movie based on a great and popular tv show, but try not to associate it with the show. Umm... doesn't the title kinda blow that attempt away?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm not that impressed.

You are not alone.

Although Manhunter was a damned good movie.

[John Galt]

Looking at Mann's movies on IMDB, it's kind of amazing that there isn't a clunker in the bunch. I don't think any of his movies are great. Heat and the Insider were the closest to "great," IMO. I thought Collateral was regarded too highly, but was still a decent movie. These are his movies since leaving TV:

Collateral (2004)
Ali (2001)
The Insider (1999)
Heat (1995)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Manhunter (1986)

That's not a bad track record at all. He seems to make very stylized movies that value style over substance but never completely sacrifice the substance. I think music also figures prominently in his movies (he revolutioned the use of music on TV), so I would trust his judgment on moving to more modern tunes. So, based on his history, I think Miami Vice will probably be a good, but not great movie. I guess we'll see.

[Desnudo]

I actually think that both "In the Air Tonight" and the theme song have stood the test of time. Maybe update the sound a little, but I think they are missing who their core audience will be.

[Draft Dodger]

Makes perfect sense. Make a movie based on a great and popular tv show, but try not to associate it with the show. Umm... doesn't the title kinda blow that attempt away?

not to mention a movie based on a show you produced.

[John Galt]

FWIW, the early reviews (and it is very early) on Rottentomatoes show 82% overall and 86% cream of the crop.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Collateral (2004)
Ali (2001)
The Insider (1999)
Heat (1995)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Manhunter (1986)


Collateral:
The movie was ok. I didn't really like the ending all that much. From the moment just after Tom Cruise shot all that dude in the club until the end, the movie pretty much sucked. (Sorry for the spoilers, but the movie is old.)

Ali:
Never saw it.

The Insider:
Saw parts of it. I was impressed with the parts I saw.

Heat:
Some very cool scenes, but overall the movie failed. Pacino was at his over-the-top worst and the pacing of the movie was pretty awful. That shoot-out following the bank robbery is still one of the best-filmed gunfights ever to grace the silver screen. Too bad there was like two and a half hours left of movie to be watched.

The Last of the Mohicans:
A highly underrated film. This is a good movie. Good acting, great cinematography, and one of my favorite movie scores ever. I love the soundtrack (rates up there with Peter Gabriel's "Passion"). The last 20 minutes of this movie are perhaps the best last 20 minutes of any movie ever. Two main characters sort of fade into the background while all the minor characters get to do amazingly cool things. I've never seen this happen in a movie before and enjoyed it immensley. I will still watch this movie whenever it's on.

Manhunter:
A great movie. Better than the "remake" the "Red Dragon." William Peterson was very good in this. Another underrated film.

Conclusion:
Michael Mann has more talent than most directors in Hollywood. He's not perfect (none are), but he's highly proficient and all of his films quite stylized though not ridiculously so like, for example, the latest works of the Brothers Scott (Ridley and Tony) or anything Oilver Stone has done since 1990. He's got some fine skills and good movies to his credit, though he falters a bit at times too.

Oh, yes, it would be remiss of us to overlook his fine, fine work on the small screen. "Crime Story" was a great series.

Verdict:
Thumbs up for Michael Mann.

[Anthony]

no white suit?
no pink shirt?
not interested.

[Surtt]

I can see why Mann did this.

Miami Vice was a very "stylish" and "trendy" show, cutting edge in it's day.
It would be impossible to recapture that "feel" by using 20 year old 80's music and styles.

He was dammed if he did, dammed if he didn't.
The whole thing was a bad idea.

[stevew]

I kind of figured that Mann wanted to do a vice type movie, and the only way he could get the financing he wanted was to "brand" it with the MV label. Gets more exposure, should help the overall box office gross.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

The Last of the Mohicans:
A highly underrated film. This is a good movie. Good acting, great cinematography, and one of my favorite movie scores ever. I love the soundtrack (rates up there with Peter Gabriel's "Passion"). The last 20 minutes of this movie are perhaps the best last 20 minutes of any movie ever. Two main characters sort of fade into the background while all the minor characters get to do amazingly cool things. I've never seen this happen in a movie before and enjoyed it immensley. I will still watch this movie whenever it's on.


I agree completely. I thought the acting all around was excellent too. It is my favorite movie.

Edit: I should add that except for the last minute or so, there is virtually no dialogue in that last 15-20 minutes or so. And it works great.

[cthomer5000]

Heat was the shit. Don't mess with it.

[Desnudo]

I agree completely. I thought the acting all around was excellent too. It is my favorite movie.

Stay alive! I will find you!

Thirded.