Full SPOILERS follow for all three versions of Michael Mann’s Miami Vice movie.
Miami Vice: The Director’s Final Cut premiered at Beyond Fest on Saturday. With the exception of the reordering of a few moments at the very end — and the omission of Nonpoint’s cover of “In the Air Tonight” — this version is largely the same as the Unrated Director’s Edition that was released on Blu-ray years ago. But the Final Cut’s rejiggered ending is enough to invite a slightly darker interpretation of the story than was evident in either of the film’s past versions, especially when considered with what writer-director Michael Mann revealed about the fact-based origins of his screenplay at the post-premiere Q&A.
Mann’s film version of the iconic 1980s TV series, which he executive produced but did not create, has been a love it or hate it affair since it came out in 2006. If you haven’t seen the Unrated Director’s Edition and are only familiar with the theatrical cut, then you will find much to unpack with this Director’s Final Cut when it arrives on 4K UHD and Blu-ray on December 15.
All three versions of Mann’s Miami Vice follow Miami-Dade P.D. undercover detectives James "Sonny" Crockett (a gruff, mustachioed Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (a no-nonsense Jamie Foxx), who are recruited to infiltrate a Latin American narco-trafficking network after a mole has been discovered inside a joint Federal task force. Crockett and Tubbs sneak into South America by air and, once there, meet with sinister middleman Jose Yero (a scene-stealing John Ortiz). They succeed in insinuating themselves into Yero and his boss Montoya’s operation.
Crockett also falls for Isabella (Gong Li), a businesswoman who serves as the financial brains of Montoya’s operation. Crockett romances Isabella in the hopes of acquiring information (and she from him) but they soon genuinely fall for each other. It is not meant to be. She discovers during the climactic shootout that "Sonny Burnett" is actually cop Sonny Crockett. But Crockett can’t bring himself to arrest Isabella, instead arranging for her to escape via boat and start her life over elsewhere. All of that remains in the Final Cut, but the use of the song “In the Air Tonight,” the scene of Montoya’s empty compound being raided, and the very last shot of Crockett returning to the hospital where wounded fellow detective Trudy Joplin (Naomie Harris) is have all been removed in this version.
Mann’s Miami Vice was a legendarily difficult production, culminating in the abrupt departure of Jamie Foxx, who abandoned the film during shooting in the Dominican Republic, a move that forced Mann to change the movie’s ending. Mann never shot what he needed to end the story as he had originally envisioned.
Both the theatrical cut and the earlier Unrated Director’s Edition end with Crockett returning to the hospital where badly injured Vice cop Trudy, comforted by Tubbs, emerges from her coma. Although he let Isabella escape, Crockett ultimately returns to his police family in both previous versions. Closing those versions with a shot of Crockett walking into the hospital always made for an awkward ending, but it communicated that Crockett ultimately remembers whose side he’s on.
But the Director’s Final Cut instead ends with Crockett walking back to his car while Isabella flees before cutting to the end credits. The viewer is left to wonder what Crockett does next after letting a key player in their undercover operation escape justice. Mann’s revision of those closing moments suggests a reading of the film where Crockett’s future is uncertain.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/miami-vice-final-directors-cut-ending-explained
