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Title:
Miami Vice: Season One
Region:
One
Genre:
Crime Drama
Episodes
Disc One: “Pilot”, “Heart Of Darkness”, “Cool Runnin’”,
“Calderone’s Return”, “Calderone’s Returns Part II”, “One Eyed
Jack”
Episodes
Disc Two: “No Exit”, “The Great McCarthy”, “Glades”, “Give A
Little, Take A Little”, “Little Prince”, “Milk Run”, “Golden
Triangle”, “Golden Triangle Part II”
Episodes
Disc Three: “Smuggler’s Blue”, “Rites Of Passage”, “The Maze”,
“Made For Each Other”, “The Home Invaders”, “Nobody Lives Forever”,
“Evan”, “Lombard”
Stars: Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, Edward James Olmos, Saundra Santiago, Michael Talbot, John Diehl, and Olivia Brown
Guest
Stars: Gregory Sierra, Bruce Willis, Ed O’Neill, Terry O’Quinn, Michael
Madsen, Burt Young, Charlie Barnett, Joan Chen, Jimmy Smits, Glenn Frey, Ving
Rhames, John Turturro, Pam Grier, Dan Hadaya, William Russ, and Denis Farina
Created
By: Anthony Yerkovich
Executive
Producers: Michael Mann and Anthony Yerkovich
Feature
length: 18 Hours and 25 minutes
Extras:
“The Vibe Of Vice”,
“Building The Perfect Vice”, “The Style Of Vice”, “The Music Of
Vice”, “Miami After Vice”
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Three-Disc Digipack Gatefold Within Glossy Cardboard Slip Cover
Chapter
Stops: 4 Per Episode/88 Total
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast: 1984-1985/DVD Release: 2005
Home
Video Distributor: Universal Studios Home Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
When
I was in high school, “Miami Vice” was one of the coolest shows on
television. If one were stuck home on a Friday night, the prospect of a brand
new episode airing on NBC gave one something to look forward to. By the time the
series aired its second season, the look of “Miami Vice” had infiltrated
clothing stores and suddenly it was acceptable for a guy to where pastel colors
to class and not be made fun of. When I look back at photos from my high school
yearbook, I am amazed at just how much clothes the students were wearing that
was inspired by “Miami Vice.” By this time one did not have to break the
bank in order to acquire the look since malls everywhere were selling clothes
targeted toward middle class Americans, who were not inclined to spend thousands
of dollars on Crocket’s (Don Johnson) signature white jacket, but might spend
one hundred dollars on something that looked the same, but was produced by a
mass market provider. It is easy to forget the impact “Miami Vice” has had
on contemporary television. Almost every drama now uses music from contemporary
artists to generate an emotional response from the viewer and many shows that
have followed have influenced how people of all ages dress. The phrase, “Life
imitates art,” seems somewhat understated since now more than ever I think art
manipulates life. How many TV programs and television commercials consciously
reflect back upon the look of “Miami Vice” when they want to get across the
idea that we are back in the mid 1980s? Through the use of what was then
contemporary music and fashion mixed in with visual setups that were more
theatrical than what one might normally see on TV back then, “Miami Vice”
was, at it’s height, a show that changed television forever.
There
are many shows that have had an impact on television since “Miami Vice.”
David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” opened the door for more surrealistic
programming like “The X-Files,” a show that I think single handedly sold
more cell phones to the general public than any one advertisement. Other
visionary dramatic series like “NYPD Blue” and “E.R.” to name just a few
have shown viewers and programmers what the medium of television can do by
pushing the boundaries. However back in 1984, no one had ever seen a program
quite like “Miami Vice.” The series itself lasted a total of five seasons.
The first two seasons are my favorites because there was still something fresh
about the show and the storylines were quite interesting. Very often things are
only implied on “Miami Vice,” but never said. Many of the first season
episodes end somewhat unresolved or in tragedy too. Yet in leaving things up in
the air for viewers to fill in the blanks themselves, “Miami Vice” seemed
more realistic even if there is a ton of clichés the series just seemed to use
over and over again. Edward James Olmos’ performance as Castillo was often so
grim that eventually any gravity the character may have had on the show seemed
to become more and more diluted as the series progressed. Saundra Santiago and
Olivia Brown were never fully developed either. Usually they were dressed up to
look like Miami hookers and after awhile not only did one not care about the
characters, but it served as fodder to make fun of the show too. Sonny
Crocket’s pet alligator was also nothing short of complete bullshit as if the
character was so cool that even a carnivorous lizard would yield to him. Sonny
Crocket also keeps using the same alias in all of his dealings to a point where
one might think, wouldn’t someone in the underworld be able to pin him out
based on the fake name alone? Philip Michael Thomas in my opinion was underused
in the series. Watching these season one episodes I found myself appreciating
his work more than I did when I was a teenager. Thomas seemed to be a
multitalented Actor and yet when I think about the show all I can associate with
his character was that Thomas was “Tubbs,” Crocket’s partner, and
frequently he would go undercover using some variation of a Caribbean accent
that is supposed to make viewers find him compelling, but ultimately turned his
character into another “Miami Vice” cliché as well.
Don
Johnson may have gotten top billing, but I think Thomas definitely deserves more
recognition for his work on the show because lets face it, you can’t have a
duo like Crocket & Tubbs without him. There are some great guest stars in
season one. Bruce Willis is terrific as a weapons supplier in the episode “No
Exit,” which was directed by David Soul of “Starsky & Hutch.” Gregory
Sierra (Barney Miller & Sanford & Son) appears in the first few episodes
as Crocket and Tubbs’ boss before Edward James Olmos first appeared in the
episode “One Eyed Jack.” The pilot features a very young Jimmy Smits (LA Law
& NYPD Blue) as Crocket’s ill-fated partner. Joan Chen (Twin Peaks),
Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Burt Young (Rocky), Dan Hadaya (Cheers), Denis
Farina (Manhunter), Ed O’Neill (Married With Children), John Turturro (Do The
Right Thing), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), and Terry O’Quinn (Lost) are just a
few of the recognizable television and feature film actors one will see in the
season one episodes. One of my favorite episodes from season one entitled
“Evan” features William Russ in a spectacular performance as an undercover
ATF agent walking on the edge with a shared history with Crocket. The use of
Peter Gabrielle’s song “Biko” in the episode’s finale is among the best
pairing of contemporary music and action ever used on “Miami Vice.”
All
twenty-two season one episodes of “Miami Vice” are presented in their
original (1.33:1) broadcast aspect ratio with a new remastered English Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack and optional English Captions for the hearing
impared as well as French and Spanish Language Subtitles. The picture quality is
a bit of a disappointment. There are some flecks and other imperfections visible
throughout much of the early season one episodes though the clarity does improve
with the later installments. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack
is definitely an improvement over any stereo or monaural television broadcasts
and is a nice effort on behalf of the studio too. Unfortunately there are no
audio commentary tracks or newly recorded interviews in any of the extra value
features with the exception of series creator Anthony Yerkovich and composer Jan
Hammer. There are five featurettes that cover the show’s impact on
contemporary culture (5:11), how the series was produced, which sheds light on
the famous “MTV Cops” story (7:51), the fashion (5:58) and music (6:45) of
the show as well as a look at Miami 20 years after the series first aired
(2:24).
An
onscreen synopsis for each episode is present for every installment and the
episodes can be viewed individually or in succession using the “Play All”
feature. The average length of an episode is between 48 and 49 minutes except
for the pilot, which has a running time of approximately 97 minutes. Trailers
for the first season of “Las Vegas”, season two of “Quantum Leap”, and
the film “Ray precede the opening menus on disc one. The interactive menus are
well rendered and easy to navigate. “Miami Vice: Season One” DVD box set is
available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Universal Studios Home
Video.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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