LTK is NOT Miami Vice

HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
edited November 2019 in The James Bond Films
Have just been watching TBE analysis of LTK and besides the praise for the main actor, I agree with much which has been said by J. Darlington.

However, I am tired of the repeated verdict, that with LTK Bond went Miami Vice.

Yes, the movie feels cheap, more like a tv show, the music is very american ( but a pure insult compared to the brilliant MV scores), locations have been in Florida, but that‘s more or less it!

In MV, the heroes and villains are driving around in amazing cars, Dalton‘s rental was probably the most mousey in the series.

MV featured top-of-the line clothing, Dalton :))

I admire Carey Lowell a lot and her portrait in LTK, she‘s nothing like the ladies in MV.

In MV, the end was often not „happy“, with LTK, they even went as far as making Leiter cheerful :#

I‘ll watch LTK pretty soon again and am sure that I‘ll discover more blatant contraries that show, that LTK is not Bond going MV.
President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!

Comments

  • Golrush007Golrush007 South AfricaPosts: 3,418Quartermasters
    I admit that once or twice I have repeated the old cliche that LTK is Bond meets Miami Vice...but only because I've heard it from others. I have never watched Miami Vice, so therefore have no basis for making such a statement. I will henceforth hang my head in shame for having repeated this slander. :o
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I loved Miami Vice and never thought LTK had anything like the atmosphere or style of that
    iconic show. Just because a film shares locations and a few other points like Drug dealers
    etc doesn't make it a copy.
    For example TLD has many similarities with Carry On Spying, yet I've never thought, that
    one was a copy of the other :D
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Miami Vice was a superlative piece of 80’s entertainment. Far better than any Bond offering during that period
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  • Unknown007Unknown007 Posts: 201MI6 Agent
    A few things about Miami Vice:

    1) Don Johnson's Crockett Character has better dress sense than Dalton's Bond in LTK

    2) Would have loved to have seen James Bond driving either the Ferrari Daytona or Testarossa in LTK.

    3) In LTK would MVs Elvis The Alligator have attacked Felix?

    4) One for the Ladies only, who's better looking Timothy Dalton or Don Johnson?
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    harhar, the thread title suggests Higgins is about to defend a Dalton film(?!!?), which makes no sense...
    then of course it turns out to be a defense of Miami Vice!!!
    awesome

    I have no opinion, never saw the show, didn't watch teevee in the 80s.
    I have seen Johnson's later show where Cheech Marin played a cop, thought that was good, but mostly because of the casting of Cheech in such an unlikely role.
    Was Miami Vice the same sorta thing or completely different?
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Miami Vice was groundbreaking, spectacular, addictive and a rulechanger to tv series.

    When MV came up, suddenly all of the previous detective shows looked old, grey and boring.

    You should give it a try. At least the first 3 seasons where great!
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,907MI6 Agent
    I shall see if my library has it, based on your recommendation.
    I'm guessing you'd also recommend the original Magnum PI? I never saw that one either.

    Seriously made it through an entire decade not watching any television. until subversive underground heroes Matt Groening and David Lynch got their own teevee shows, then the evil addictive medium lured me in again!
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,596MI6 Agent
    People like to compare the fashions of LTK to MV. While the clothes are quite different, they are compared because LTK's costume designer Jodie Tillen was the original costume designer for MV. So that is something they have in common.
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • James SuzukiJames Suzuki New ZealandPosts: 2,406MI6 Agent
    Higgins wrote:
    Miami Vice was groundbreaking, spectacular, addictive and a rulechanger to tv series.
    Yeah, but it was no Magnum P.I though, right? ;)
    “The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. "
    -Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
  • Unknown007Unknown007 Posts: 201MI6 Agent
    For all who are interested Miami Vice is currently being shown on BFBS TV (The Forces Channel)mind you it was originally at 9pm it has been shifted to 11pm.
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Yeah, but it was no Magnum P.I though, right? ;)

    Definitely not.
    I‘d put Magnum into the ‚old school‘ detective series category and it‘s still my favorite show. I often wonder, if it would be still like that if the makers would not have put Higgins (who was the real star imo) next to him.

    However Miami Vice was revolutionary in so many aspects and I love the series very much as well.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    Unknown007 wrote:
    A few things about Miami Vice:

    1) Don Johnson's Crockett Character has better dress sense than Dalton's Bond in LTK

    2) Would have loved to have seen James Bond driving either the Ferrari Daytona or Testarossa in LTK.

    3) In LTK would MVs Elvis The Alligator have attacked Felix?

    4) One for the Ladies only, who's better looking Timothy Dalton or Don Johnson?

    Personally I would say Dalton but they are chalk and cheese. I did find Don Johnson very attractive back in the day though.


    Here's a bit of trivia though ... did you know Benicio Del Toro was in an episode of MV?

    Here's a link to some of the stars who appeared in MV. Some very interesting names. Anyone remember Ben Stiller? :o


    https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/53279/27-actors-who-got-their-starts-miami-vice
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    The most puzzling MV appearance for me was „Al Bundy“ Ed O‘Neill

    Lady Rose, that linked is interesting but very sloppy.
    Phil Collins (admitted, he was a Star back then already) dominantly featured one episode and a very young and cute Melanie Griffith was the leading lady in another one for example.
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Lady RoseLady Rose London,UKPosts: 2,667MI6 Agent
    Higgins wrote:
    The most puzzling MV appearance for me was „Al Bundy“ Ed O‘Neill

    Lady Rose, that linked is interesting but very sloppy.
    Phil Collins (admitted, he was a Star back then already) dominantly featured one episode and a very young and cute Melanie Griffith was the leading lady in another one for example.


    Don't be so picky! :p I linked it more for the appearances. Phil Collins has always been associated with MV in our house even if he had a massive music career on the side. :))
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    MV never had action scenes like the truck chase, the underwater/water skiing fight or the helicopter/plane scene in the PTS. MV never had locations like the temple in LTK. I also think the hero, villan and henchman in LTK were far more memorable than anything in MV. Using Florida in the first part of the film and the topic of drug smugling makes many think of MV, but major simularities stop there.
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Stones War had a better chase scene than the truck chase. The Prodigal Son had better action scenes than anything in LTK. And far more realistic too.
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  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Let’s agree to disagree on that.
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    You’ll have too, cos it’s right :p
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  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Christ. I’m turning into Higgins :o
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  • Dirty PunkerDirty Punker ...Your Eyes Only, darling."Posts: 2,587MI6 Agent
    Actually because of that claim I went out and actually saw Season 1 and 2 of Miami Vice, described as the peak of the show and honestly...the acting on Bond was just 10 times better. And that's where my praise for LTK ends as far as this comparison goes.

    Miami Vice was outlandish but...real, in many ways. It was groundbreaking for the fact it brought to the spotlight issues too touchy for the 80s like wife beating, rape, suicide or homosexuality. Licence to Kill made no attempts to be groundbreaking in its own way, though it's a great inspired by attempt, just like Vice ultimately was from Scarface...to much greater success in being original and owning it.
    Though Bond was set in largely what the Vice squad was running around in those days, Bond takes much of the decadence of the 80s and amplifies on that while Miami Vice was anything but, from the endless amounts of 80s exotics from 911 Turbos to Countach...the lavish clothes, the Ken Adam style houses, the color schemes, the parties...just about anything Bond had it has.

    And that's my biggest complaint with Licence To Kill. Bond brought an air of glamour to the cinema that Miami Vice did for television.
    And as far as I can remember, violence in Vice happened for a reason...even if some of it was purely cheesy with modern eyes...

    If we actually take the time and look at what Vice offered, what Bond took and how both compared there's no competition as much as it pains me to say.
    Though I will admit, Sanchez would've been a much more memorable Calderone. He'd have been right at home with the Vice boys.

    This is the moment where Bond realised it wasn't a trend setter anymore, imo. Yeah, sure Indy pushed it to get better on Octopussy but that was it. Moonraker is hardly the same because it adopts it and makes it something new. This is a world where Bond never dipped his toes at and wasn't meant to.

    All things considered, they did try. I still love Licence To Kill for what it is...and it pushed me to watch Vice, so that's not half bad.

    ...and...while not being a lady, Crockett with the Ferraris would win in a Wolf of Wall Street sort of way if Crockett or Bond were my thing in that sort of comparison...which they're not. Lol.
    a reasonable rate of return
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,701MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    Christ. I’m turning into Higgins :o

    :)) :)) :))
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    That's one crazy gender re-alignment :D
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    Asp9mm wrote:
    Christ. I’m turning into Higgins :o

    You are safe. You are still the moron like you always have been :v
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • Asp9mmAsp9mm Over the Hills and Far Away.Posts: 7,483MI6 Agent
    Higgins wrote:
    Asp9mm wrote:
    Christ. I’m turning into Higgins :o

    You are safe. You are still the moron like you always have been :v


    Thank God for that. Don’t want to reach the high levels of moron that you’ve attained.
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  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    8-)
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
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