CRIME STORY Vs. MIAMI VICE - Crime Story (1986) Discussion

[–] fegerter 18 years ago

Crime Story. No contest.

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[–] TYLERdurden74 18 years ago

Why?

Xavier

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I'm for CRIME STORY, too. Because I feel that while VICE worked more on style, substance, and music, CRIME dealt more strongly with character development and storyline.

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[–] Vincent-Hanna 18 years ago

I think Crime Story is more realistic. Anyway, I like both shows very much...many many childhood memories...

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[–] hgilbert68 17 years ago

Ace hit the nail square on the head. While I did watch MV, I wasn't a die hard fan. it seemed to be mostly flash, bling-bling and reeked of superficiality.

CS, on the other hand, IMO had more emotionally invested into it. Plus, I feel the style of the era in which CS was just downright classy, but in a subtle way. Plus, those huge gas guzzling cars just capped it off! I just couldn't get into the popped collars and other 80s crap on MV, even though I will admit it was a great show in it's own right at the time.

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[–] Jim_McKendrick 18 years ago

I thought MV was by far the better show. Crime Story started out well but descended to total farce in the last 4 or 5 episodes. It was like the writers either lost interest or whatever but beginning with the episode "Brothel Wars", the shows got worse and worse.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] KUAlum26 18 years ago

Crime Story has an emotional tug for me. Plus,I feel like the characters could be explored better and deeper. Miami Vice worked on a visceral and visual level,but it seemed like 80% of the cast on the show was dispensible and your suspension of disbelief seemed to be tested daily(f'rinstance,Vice cops would NEVER make the kind of money to afford the things Crockett and Tubbs regularly strutted around in and lived in).
On the upside,both had really cool soundtracks!

MELLON:The Great Gatsby...He was...GREAT!

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] richieanimal-1 18 years ago

Best Miami vice was the one with bruce Willis who sells stinger missles and is rather unkind to his wife

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[–] jimborambo88 13 years ago

They didn't make that kind of money. All of the toys that Crockett/Tubbs had were part of their cover as drug dealers.

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[–] activista 8 years ago

Loved MIAMI VICE for its then innovative look, and the fact that it had a multicultural cast----the Lt. played by Edward James Olmos was such an intriguing and enigmatic character both Crockett and Tubbs were smoking hot, and everybody else looked great in their ultra-chic '80s fashion styles. Also liked CRIME STORY because of its period setting and tough crime stories, so its a draw. I don't think one series has to cancel out the others,since both of them were some of the best shows of their era.

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[–] access334 18 years ago

Crime Story, without a doubt. Why the h*ll Mann had to make a MV movie
instead of CS is beyond me. We deserve to see a SEQUEL movie, in which
we find out what happened after the alleged plane crash.

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[–] TYLERdurden74 18 years ago

DITTO!

Xavier

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[–] dunbar_10 18 years ago

I like them both the same for different reasons.

and to the person who said crockett and tubbs wouldn't be able to buy those things, they didn't. they were seized property that crockett and tubbs could use to maintain their cover. they didn't own them. in a later episode, it is revealed that tubbs has just over 300 bucks in the bank, and crockett 1000. they are poor.

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[–] Sakujo 17 years ago

Crime Story, without a doubt. Why the h*ll Mann had to make a MV movie
instead of CS is beyond me. We deserve to see a SEQUEL movie, in which
we find out what happened after the alleged plane crash.

*beep* YEAH!!! This SO needs a movie (assuming that continuing the series now is out of the question).

I was HOOKED to this show big time when they last showed it.

Edit: oh, yeah, forgot to answer the question. I like Crime Story better. Never really got that much into Miami Vice, though it looks cool too. But the bottom line is this:

Miami Vice was pop, Crime Story ROCKS.

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[–] TYLERdurden74 17 years ago

Keep the faith we might still see something down the pipeline.

Xavier

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[–] JustinK-2 18 years ago

>>Why the h*ll Mann had to make a MV movie
instead of CS is beyond me.<<

As a huge fan of MV, if most of the recent movie follow-ups to 80s TV series (Starsky and Hutch, Duke of Hazzard and other such excrable attempts) are anything to go by, I wish he hadn't made it either!

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[–] jazzmojoguard-imdb 18 years ago

From what I understand, Mann was not thrilled with the way Vice became more of a stylized show about the excess of Miami more than a straight forward cop show.

When he left MV to make CS, he made sure that he retained much more artisic control which he used very well for season 1. Season 2 suffered the same fate of many shows that everyone thinks is cancelled, you get renewd but already tied up your loose ends...If memory serves, season 1 ends with Lucca and Paulie in a neuclar bomb test? Then comes back the next season with a bright red tan and some sunglasses? Ouch

So, I think Mann wanted to do Miami Vice as a movie because in his mind, he never made the first one comform to his vision.

With Crime Story he did...there is nothing left to tell.

(I guess the 3rd season could start with Lucca and Torello showing up with gills and sunglases)

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[–] high_roller 18 years ago

That's a tough call. Love both!
But, I am more sentimental about Crime Story, for the same reasons stated by others- better character development, more realism. Have to give it a slight edge over MV for that.

"Sex is an emotion in motion"

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[–] pcventures 8 years ago

I would have LOVED a Crime Story feature film. But Miami Vice had greater name recognition and therefore commercial/moneymaking potential.
Sadly, so many CS actors are now gone.

...and Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice, whenever he's away

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[–] Ninja_Skills 18 years ago

I really enjoyed both shows but for it's time I think Miami Vice was the more groundbreaking and influential. Arguing about it's lack of realism is totally beside the point, it was all about over the top 80s style and flash and Mann took it to a new level.

_________________________
FRANKIE SAY RELAX http://timewarp-tshirts.com

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[–] dykesy30 18 years ago

Miami Vice, only just because I've only seen one episode of Crime Story and it wasn't the whole of the episode. I saw the last hour of the pilot.

FYI: The reason the recent remakes have been s**t is because they are spoofs. The Mann Miami Vice film is not. I read a article that it has a shootout that in the reviewers opinion was better than the one in Heat! And its shot in High Def and that shootout takes place at night. I personally can't wait to see the Miami Vice film.

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[–] Doom 18 years ago

Gimmie a break. Crime Story x1000 times over. Even Mann would admit that. Miami Vice??? Fun, sure... but total fluff.

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[–] HawksRevenge 18 years ago

Without a doubt my answer is Crime Story; reason why?, can you name a bad episode?, although I do have to say I did tend to lose interest on the Non-Luca Storylines, which were few and far between

Miami Vice for the most part started running out of gas after the third season ended, and although the 4th season had plenty of decent episodes it was not up to its current level of quality(Example; Searching for a frozen rastafarian named robillard nevins)

In the beginning of the fifth season you had Part two of a three part arc from a fourth season cliff hanger and once that was over the fifth season was total crap

So lets get our Crime Story wrapup going; Bring back Dennis Farina and Anthony Denison and John Santucci and lets do it right

Memorable Crime Story moments;

Final Transmission(Ep-3) Danny is in a bank and all of a sudden Ray Luca pops up wearing a pair of Ray Ban's, and Danny ducks for cover, and the murderer in that episode had a thing for UHF antenna Wire

Strange Bedfellows; Ray Luca is almost killed in his garage and goes into this speech about "how his wife would find a hunk of meat in the garage with a Ray Luca drivers licence"

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[–] gerritsenbeachbk 17 years ago

"can you name a bad episode?"

I love Crime Story but two horrible episodes I can name offhand are "Final Transmission" and "Abrams for the Defense." I though both were horrible.

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[–] Doom 17 years ago

Wow. Strange - I LOVE those episodes - thought they were fantastic, especially the second one you mentioned.

------

Wait a minute... who am I here?

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[–] diskoboy 15 years ago

Crime Story was a far cry better than Miami Vice.

Miami Vice fits it's description - MTV cops. If it wasn't for the liscensed music, that show wouldn't have been near as memorable. Minus the theme, Miami Vice was pastel dreck.

Crime Story was (by 80's standards, and maybe even today's) grittier, more atmospheric, and had better story lines. Michael Mann did an excellent job on how he conveyed the early 60's, with production values on par with Mad Men - future A-list stars, to boot.

"You people voted for Hubert Humphrey! And you killed Jesus!" - Raoul Duke

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[–] godcharles 14 years ago

Crime Story !!! FOREVER!!!!

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