Miami Vice Movie Trivia
Michael Mann had his actors train with real-life undercover law enforcement officers. Both Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell observed undercover operations from a safe distance. Farrell was told he’d learned so much, he was welcome to participate in a real sting operation. During the operation (caught on video, excerpts of which are shown in the DVD extra), guns were drawn and the officers identities questioned. Farrell reports being scared for his life. He spontaneously ripped open his shirt to demonstrate he wasn’t wearing a wire, an act the agent-in-charge later commended for being realistic, quick-witted improvisation. After suffering anxiety and insomnia that night, Farrell contacted the agent-in-charge and was told that the sting operation was staged, and he was never in any danger. He was to be told the next morning during a debrief.
When the film version was still being developed by Michael Mann, Don Johnson was asked who he would pick to play Sonny Crockett. Johnson suggested Colin Farrell.
Jamie Foxx brought up the idea of a Miami Vice (1984) film to Michael Mann during a party for Ali (2001). This led Mann to revisit the series he helped create.
Colin Farrell admitted to Total Film: “I didn’t like it so much – I thought it was style over substance and I accept a good bit of the responsibility. It was never going to be Lethal Weapon (1987), but I think we missed an opportunity to have a friendship that also had some elements of fun”.
(at around 9 mins) Sonny Crockett’s Ferrari F430 is briefly shown with blue flames coming out of its exhaust tips. It’s not a special effect; the F430 can produce blue exhaust flames under full throttle.
The production drew the attention of Hollywood insiders and the Trade magazines when its budget spiraled out of control thanks to script rewrites and location changes. The controversy lead to Universal issuing a statement, defending the film and director Michael Mann.
While filming in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, the crew came across bootleg and other illegal merchandise for sale. Michael Mann bought a copy of Collateral (2004) for $2.
Edward James Olmos was given a chance to reprise his role as Castillo, but turned it down.
Filming in Miami took place during hurricane season. While filming a scene of Crockett and Tubbs driving in a Ferrari with the top down, a windstorm blew out the windows of a tall building. The glass damaged the car and just missed the actors. Another storm damaged the production office and delayed filming of the ending.
Several crew members criticized Michael Mann‘s decisions during production, including sudden script changes, filming in unsafe weather conditions, and locations that “even the police avoid, drafting gang members to work as security.”
Naomie Harris was working back to back on this picture and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006). All of her scenes were shot on weekdays. She would take a shuttle airplane to St. Vincent and shoot her scenes as Tia Dalma on weekends.
Between when he was cast and the start of production, Jamie Foxx won an Oscar, greatly increasing his ego and his demands. He was being paid less than Colin Farrell, and demanded a raise. Farrell’s salary was cut. Foxx refused to fly commercially, forcing Universal to provide a private jet. He wouldn’t participate in scenes on boats or planes. After gunshots were fired on set in the Dominican Republic on October 24, 2005, Foxx packed up, left the country, and refused to work outside of the United States. This forced Michael Mann to change the original ending, which was to be filmed in Uruguay.
Jan Hammer was asked to do a different type of score, but turned it down.
The scenes in Isabella’s aunt house were filmed in Atlantida, Uruguay. The scene outside a Geneva bank was filmed in the Old City in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Just before the climactic shoot-out, “In the Air Tonight” by Nonpoint can be heard. The original Phil Collins version was featured prominently in the TV series (Unrated Director’s Cut only).
The waterfront mansion at the end was in Delray Beach, Florida. It was over 60,000 square feet, and had been built for the heirs of a large soft drink fortune. Before they could take possession of the house, they were robbed, and left Florida swearing never to return. Instead of demolishing it the normal way, it was chosen to be used in the film. It was completely demolished after filming wrapped, and three beachfront houses were built on the site.
Colin Farrell got top billing in European advertising, Jamie Foxx got top billing in American advertising.
Colin Farrell is 11 years younger than Gong Li, his on-screen love interest.
(at around 18 mins) In the opening scenes, Tubbs identifies Sal Magluta as the drug trafficker running go-fast boats. In real life, Magluta is one of Miami’s reputed “Cocaine Cowboys,” and is currently serving a life sentence for money laundering.
Production lost seven days of filming to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.
This is one of the first big budget films shot on digital.
Gunshots outside of the Dominican Republic set on October 24, 2005 delayed filming for three days.
(at around 56 mins) In the Cuban bar, Sonny tells Isabella that his dad toured with a band that played music in the style of The Allman Brothers Band because they made “The music back then”. It’s a reference to Miami Vice (1984) and possibly Don Johnson, who was the original Sonny Crockett. In Brother’s Keeper (1984), The Allman Brothers Band is Crockett’s favorite band. In the 1970s, Johnson co-wrote songs with Dickey Betts, and several were recorded by the band.
Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Matthew McConaughey were all considered for the role of Det. Sonny Crockett.
After the initial test-screening, the running time shrank from 150 minutes to 132 minutes.
Crockett’s car in the film is a Ferrari F430 Spider. In the TV series he drove a 1985 Ferrari Testarossa. The Ferrari Daytona Spyder that Crockett drove in the series’ early days was a fake Ferrari body on a Corvette chassis.
(at around 50 mins) The boat Sonny and Isabella take to Cuba is an MTI powerboat named “Mojo” that sells for $499,000.
The episode Smuggler’s Blues (1985) from the Miami Vice (1984) TV show’s first season has an almost identical hostage scene to the one in the film, only it takes place during the daytime.
This was Michael Mann and Jamie Foxx‘s third film together.
RZA was hired to do the films score, but was later replaced with Organized Noize.
(at around 27 mins) The false background for Sonny Burnett shows his birthday is 09/16/62, 5’8″, 147 lbs. Colin Farrell is actually 5’11”.
Most of the film was shot with the Thomson Viper Filmstream Camera. Super 35 was used for high-speed and underwater shots.
(at around 43 mins) The twin engine pusher/puller airplane is an Adam Aircraft A500.
Jamie Foxx‘s suits were designed by Ozwald Boateng. He had worked with Foxx in the past and caught Michael Mann‘s eye, who asked him to work on the film.
This movie, along with Heat (1995) and Collateral (2004), all feature a white supremacist or supremacists. Waingro has various tattoos of his affiliation. Max is robbed while tied to the steering wheel. Apart from their boots, quilted jackets, and generally all being Caucasian, the thug holding the gun to Max has a small, faint swastika on the corner of his lower eye.
Several of the firearms used in the film include the Barret M82A1 .50 sniper rifle, the Heckler & Koch G36C and G3A3 assault rifles, a Heckler & Koch HK69 40mm grenade launcher, a Benelli M4 Super 90 12-gauge semiautomatic shotgun, a SIG SG 552, a Remington M24 sniper rifle, and a Colt M4A1 carbine.
Colin Farrell‘s glasses are the “Slam” model made by Sama Eyewear.
Unlike the TV series, relatively little to no information is given about this universe’s Sonny Crockett. In the original Miami Vice (1984), Sonny Crockett, was an ex-football star who was drafted into the Army, sent to Vietnam and then had a long and noted career in the police force. This version of Crockett merely gives out the fact that he’s a decorated officer, but little to no information on his background (football star, soldier, etc.). This could be intentional, however, for not only the modernization of the series, but to differentiate between Colin Farrell‘s and Don Johnson‘s Crockett character.
(at around 1h 7 mins) The newspaper Montoya is reading is El Mundo, from Spain.
(at around 43 mins) One of the planes flown by Rico is an Adams A500. It is a twin prop that utilizes two piston engines at the fore and aft to create centerline thrust. Adams went bankrupt after delivering only five of the planes. AAI, a Russian investment group, acquired the A500 and other assets from Adams but refused to provide maintenance support for the A500. This lack of support coupled with high maintenance requirements for the A500 makes the plane, practically, useless.
The cast includes one Oscar winner: Jamie Foxx, and four Oscar nominees: Colin Farrell, Naomie Harris, John Hawkes, and Ciarán Hinds.
Ricardo Tubbs’ watches are a Portuguese Chrono-Automatic and an Aquatimer Split Minute Chronograph from the Swiss manufacturer IWC (International Watch Company).
(at around 1h 26 mins) Tony Curran has a small role as the red-haired Aryan Brother. He is most noticeable, when Trudy is being filmed by the AB. He’s the AB holding the camera in front of Trudy when she’s detained in the trailer park.
A tie-in video game titled Miami Vice: The Game (2006) was released July 18, 2006, in North America, and in Europe and Japan shortly thereafter. It was exclusive to the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP).
(at around 7 mins) The FBI computer shows Sonny’s birthday as 7/2/1970 (July 2, 1970).
(at around 1h 27 mins) Crockett and Tubbs transfer the load from the cargo ship into Miami with a Donzi 38 ZR, Donzi 43 ZR, and Donzi 38 ZF Daytona. Sonny also drives a white MTI 40 in daytime shots.
(at around 1h 10 mins) The aircraft shown is a Piaggio P.180 Avanti.
(at around 1h 21 mins) When Rico says “Let’s take it to the limit one more time” at the beginning of the third act, it may be a reference to “Take It to the Limit,” co-written by Glenn Frey. Frey guest-starred on Smuggler’s Blues (1985), which was named for a song he wrote as a solo artist.
For a short time before its release, the official website hosted the first teaser trailer for download as a High-Definition WMV download.
Domenick Lombardozzi, Tony Curran, Pasha D. Lychnikoff and, most notably, Eddie Marsan all went on to have starring or regular roles on the TV series Ray Donovan (2013).
35mm prints are 9 reels.
(at around 57 mins) At Bodeguita del Medio, Isabella tells Crockett that her mother died in Angola where she was a translator. Both Cuba and China were active participants in Angola during the Civil War. Her mother has a Hispanic name, so it can be assumed that she was there to translate only after Cuban involvement began, in 1975. Gong Li, who plays Isabella, was born in 1965. So if she’s the same age as the character she’s playing, then her mother died in 1986, because Isabella says that it happened when she was 16. While China had reduced their involvement by the early 80s it’s still consistent with the chronology. It is of course possible that her mother was a translator in Angola for some other reason, but it seems more likely she was there as a consequence of the war.
This is the second movie that Jamie Foxx wears a goatee since the TV movie Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004).
A user states that Isabella was born in 1965 and was 16 when her mother died in 1986 based on assuming that the actress Gong Li is the same age as her character Isabella. Gong Li/Isabella would have been 20/21 tears old in 1986 based on the actress/character’s birthdate., not 16.