Miami Vice Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Miami Vice Blu-ray Movie Review

Mill Creek has released Director Michael Mann's 2006 film 'Miami Vice' to Blu-ray. Universal originally released the film to the high definition format 15 years ago. From an A/V perspective there's not much difference here -- Mill Creek's disc holds to the same 'digitally gritty' look inherent to the film, full of noise and flickering and a generally messy appearance -- but this presentation does ditch all of the extras from the Universal presentation. It is currently also only available from Mill Creek as part of a two film bundle with 'The Kingdom.'

Note that this disc only includes the 132-minute cut of the film.

Miami Vice Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Normally, something that looks as poor as Miami Vice would instantly draw the collective videophile world's ire and anger. The movie does not look "good" by any stretch of the imagination. Is it another lower grade Mill Creek transfer? No, this is Michael Mann's vision for the film, for better or for worse. Flickering is commonplace, soft focus and smeary edges abound, and dense noise permeates the entire frame in virtually every shot. Honestly, it looks like a botch job, but this is more or less the picture Director Michael Mann and Cinematographer Dion Beebe composed and shot for the film. The original Universal Blu-ray looks very similar. Dating all the way back to 2006, the Blu-ray.com review states, "much has been made of the visual look at this movie and complaints have echoed across just about every internet forum where Miami Vice has been mentioned. Michael Mann and cinematographer Dion Bebee shot the movie entirely on HD video, much like Mann's prior film Collateral. The outrage that has erupted over Miami Vice seems to stem from its noisy and gritty look. Indeed, it is a messy looking movie." "Messy" is certainty an apt description, and with a picture that is so inherently sloppy, by design, it's difficult to "fault" any step of the process beyond the source. But if this is Miami Vice as Mann intended, and it most certainly all but is, all criticism can essentially be thrown out the window. Integrity to the source is always the most desirable yield from a Blu-ray.

Detail is hardly what one would consider "robust." On Blu-ray, the picture's best asset is its resolution. The 1080p horsepower at least brings a level of essential clarity to the proceedings, as oftentimes hindered by its own stylistic choices as it may be. Blu-ray allows what's here to look as crisp and well defined as possible, but viewers can forget about finding truly intimate detail and finely defined textures even in close-up. Basic hair and stubble definition, pores, and clothing materials show basic detail without diving deep into what's really there. Colors are likewise all over the place, from subdued to hot. Contrast fluctuates from scene to scene under any and all lighting conditions. Black levels are soupy and sloppy, absorbing and crushing detail in some scenes and looking pale and flat in others. The movie is all over the map, visually. Whether this is identical to the Universal disc is unclear, but it's awfully close if it's anything. It's likely the Mill Creek disc's compression is not up to par, if only for the fact that it shares a disc with another full-length film, but with a movie as aggressively messy as this to begin with, spotting any additional issues is a difficult proposition.

Do note that this disc is encoded in MPEG-4 AVC; the Universal release is presented in VC-1.

Miami Vice Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is likewise similar to Universal's. While it lacks polish and sophistication it's appropriately robust and detailed, offering expressive world details, pulse-pounding music, and hard-hitting gunfire. Much of the track's best can be found in the first act. A club sequence to open the film makes for a stellar listening experience: the deep, penetrating beats; the high volume output; and the wide front and surround engaging spacing make for a sonically vivid and satisfying experience. A few minutes later, .50 caliber rifle shots and small arms fire rip through the stage -- and a car and flesh -- with intense depth and power, not to mention full-stage saturation. The track hits hard as necessary, offers finer environmental ambience and lighter score as the situation warrants, and delivers clear, well prioritized, and center positioned dialogue for the duration.

Miami Vice Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Universal's Blu-ray release of Miami Vice included an assortment of extras, including a commentary, featurettes, and a PiP supplement. But as is standard practice for Mill Creek double features (and most releases in general), all of the extras have been dropped; there's nothing here. As it is bundled in the above referenced two pack no DVD or digital copies are included, either.

Miami Vice Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mann's Miami Vice is a visually unstable experience that Mill Creek brings to Blu-ray with acceptable picture quality. Whatever flaws might have been added through compression shortcomings -- a signature of most Mill Creek releases -- are rendered virtually null and void by the movie's inherently messy look. The audio track is fine. None of the many extras from the 2006 Universal disc are included. Recommended only for new buyers and for those who don't care about extras; otherwise there's no reason to ditch the original Universal disc for this one.