User Reviews

When Miami Vice began it wasn't just a TV show it was an event; everything about the show seemed cool; fast cars, fast boats, beautiful women and stylish casual suits. This opening episode introduced us to all the key characters the main two being Sonny Crockett, the Miami cop who has just lost his partner and Richard Tubbs, a New York cop who has headed South to catch his brother's killer. They meet when Tubbs meets with Crockett to buy drugs; neither realising that the other is a cop! After that misunderstanding is sorted out they work together to find the murdering drug dealer, Calderone AKA The Columbian. It won't be easy though as Calderone is always one step ahead of the police due to the presence of a mole within the police department.

While it obviously isn't as fresh today as it was then 'Miami Vice' is still very cool and very stylish; this is largely down to the look of the show; lots of pastel shades, jackets worn over T-shirts and shoes worn without sock and a great sound track; mostly music composed for the show by Jam Hammer but also plenty of contemporary hits such as Phil Collins 'In the Air Tonight' which turned what could have been a boring driving scene into something really cool that set the atmosphere for the show.

Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas were great as Crockett and Tubbs; roles that will almost certainly define their careers. Martin Ferrero who will become a series regular as light relief character Izzy appears here as a different character, killer Trini DeSoto, he was entertaining in the role so I can see why the creators wanted to keep him in the show despite his character's death! One thing that does seem surprising watching it in 2012; back when it first aired in the UK the BBC cut it for violence yet people in pale suits get machine-gunned without showing any blood!

Ricardo Tubbs(..the ever smooth and cool Philip Michael Thomas), a cop in New York, traces a Colombian crimelord to Miami(..his brother was murdered by this man's gun-toting henchmen after a transfer of dope money, interfering with their drug sting)where the city's undercover detective Crockett(Don Johnson) has been attempting to catch him as well. Neither know the other is after the same man, both seeking revenge for the murder of a partner(..Crocket's partner was collateral damage when a drug dealer they were playing, having decided to go out on his own, was blown up with a bomb strapped under his truck). Well, Crocket doesn't necessarily carry the same kind of vendetta as Tubbs, he has been working incredibly hard to take this drug-lord down. Tubbs has information for Crockett and his Miami Vice squad, the crimelord's name is Calderone(Miguel Pinero) and his lieutenant, who sets up the drug deals, is named Trini DeSoto(Martin Ferrero). Every time it seems that Crockett gets close to Calderone, somehow he remains one step ahead. Tubbs thinks there's a cop on Calderone's payroll giving him inside information.

No doubt this show not influenced television but movies after it's debut on network television. Normally the show featured Tubbs and Crockett going undercover to take down giant drug cartels, traffickers, and dealers corrupting the Miami streets. This pilot establishes that Crockett is divorced from a woman he still loves, and how life as an undercover cop isn't exactly life-fulfilling. We also see how Crockett and Tubbs' relationship got off to a rocky start, but the groundwork is laid where it's easy to realize how good they work together. Crockett has a pet alligator, was a star football star, and takes his job as a cop very seriously. It's always neat seeing actors we know in early work on Miami Vice such as Jimmy Smits as the partner(..with a pregnant wife)who is killed by the car bomb, and especially Mykelti Williamson, with a Jeri-curl, as a small time drug dealing partner with Calderone. Ferrero is a hoot as a flamboyant, unflappable Cuban "arranger"(..the one who negotiates deals between a new party and Calderone), in well tailored suits(..very Scarface in how he talks)who very much enjoys the life of a criminal living large thanks to his career. Plenty of style, Miami atmosphere, cop melodramatics, rockin' Jan Hammer musical arrangements, 80's pop, and attitude to spare.

Crockett has a potential love interest in detective Gina Calabrese(Saundra Santiago), but it's a bit dodgy due to his broken marriage. Bill Smitrovich is Crockett's former partner, Scott Wheeler, now with the DEA, and there's an important development/revelation that will forever fracture their long-time camaraderie. Very much, Miami Vice is a product of it's time, with plenty of sweet cars and hot women, lots of beach and sand, streets and crime..my kind of show. Thomas' Jamaican accent(..his undercover role is a Jamaican with ties to a criminal organization in New York)is rather amusing, as is his work opposite Crockett's alligator. I don't know what it is, but I have always admired the Crockett style, the white coat and pants, colorful T-shirt, and designer shoes, he's no ordinary undercover detective, that's for sure.

An iconic introduction, with iconic scenes and iconic music. The editing and the plot is just outstanding, and except for the slow pace in some parts, it's almost perfect.

It was a superb introduction to the series, because it had cool music (In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins for example), amazing actors and amazing scenery. Also, I liked the part when Crockett and Tubbs face each other, but after that they realized it is important to work together on a ''temporary work relationship" as Crockett pointed out later in the episode. Very nice job to all cast and crew!

WOW! This is one heck of a t.v series. I got an episode of this with the paper and it is the most 80's thing I have ever seen right down to the Micheal Mann productions logo. And the best bit is that they are going to make a Movie out of it some time in 2006 with Micheal Mann himself directing it. If scarface was to be made into a television series this this would be it, the cloths, the cars, the buildings and those speed boats are all so stylised. Heck this show is better than the A-team. The total feel of Miami it embodied in the show and you have to embrace it, in the episode I viewed there was a arms deal with a Cuban guy(who i swear was the drug dealer with the chainsaw in scarface) and he had a real cool suit on but I won't tell you much more because I don,t like spoilers