Why weren't there more car chases?

[Viceguy]

It is only recently that I have realized that in fact there were significantly fewer car chases in Miami Vice compared to some other cop \ detective shows of the 80s \90s. It is kinda strange, considering that Miami Vice was a show with lavish spending.  Take for example "Hardcastle and McCormick" - they managed to throw in some car chase sequence in nearly every episode .

The subsequent Don Johnson's show Nash Bridges, also was very big on car chases - probably, I won't be far off,  saying that car chases were featured at least in one third of all episodes , whereas in Miami Vice we got to see about 10-15 car chases in total during its 5 seasons run.

 

It is no that I want to critisize the show for it, I just find it curious.

[miamijimf]

Good question but I'm not sure there is an explanation.  Maybe they were trying (and succeeding) to be different from other cop shows or the writers always had too many other scenes and situations in mind.

[James]

Car chases probably wouldn't fit in with most episodes.

With the ending of Definitely Miami for example. Car chases just weren't written into the story.

The writers were going in a different direction to normal cop shows, and isn't this one of the reasons why we love it so much?

Though maybe a few more chases like "Bought and Paid For" would've been amazing. Ferrari vs Lambo.

[Pink Flaming0]

I'm not sure how much effort/time it took to shoot a car chase but something tells me that may have had something to do with it.

[mvnyc]

In addition to the cost involved, they probably had to re-route traffic to shoot them, which meant extra police, etc. Keep in mind this show was shot in a real city, with a traffic nightmare going on daily, unlike hollywood where they can shoot them on a closed set... 

Edited November 16, 2014 by mvnyc

[Sonny-Burnett]

 

It is only recently that I have realized that in fact there were significantly fewer car chases in Miami Vice compared to some other cop \ detective shows of the 80s \90s. It is kinda strange, considering that Miami Vice was a show with lavish spending.  Take for example "Hardcastle and McCormick" - they managed to throw in some car chase sequence in nearly every episode .

The subsequent Don Johnson's show Nash Bridges, also was very big on car chases - probably, I won't be far off,  saying that car chases were featured at least in one third of all episodes , whereas in Miami Vice we got to see about 10-15 car chases in total during its 5 seasons run.

 

It is no that I want to critisize the show for it, I just find it curious.

 

Hmm well there was the Pilot (chasing a boat), Bought and Paid For (Daytona vs Lambo),Stone's War with the Testa and with the van. Florence Italy in the beginning and end, One Way Ticket with the Daytona chasing a boat. and more that I can't think of off the top of my head. Plus there were a lot of high speed driving scenes with the Ferrari running solo such as in Death and the Lady, Hit List, and some non Ferrari scenes such as in Hit List 2 set in a non US location. There were a fair number of hi speed driving scenes as I recall.

But while these scenes were interesting I also think the producers were more about people and plots than many shows of the period. So many shows of the time were about campy dialogue and action and not so much about people and plots/subplots. Take TJ Hooker for example..always seemed to have some gratuitous chase scene in eps as well as gratuitous other things...lol

Edited November 16, 2014 by Sonny-Burnett

[Vincent Hanna]

That's one of things I found strange to when I first watched the show. But there's always some sort of action in every episode so I'll let it slide.

 

I bet on other shows they spent like half of the budget on the car chase scenes but vice had to pay for the music, fashion, renting a lamborghini for a week to film a car chase is probably more expensive than some crappy cars they had on hill street blues. etc

 

One of my favourite chases is in the teaser of Florence Italy. Down for the count part 2 is great too, It's just a little annoying when they speed up the footage.

[Pink Flaming0]

 

 

 

Hmm well there was the Pilot (chasing a boat), Bought and Paid For (Daytona vs Lambo),Stone's War with the Testa and with the van. Florence Italy in the beginning and end, One Way Ticket with the Daytona chasing a boat. and more that I can't think of off the top of my head. Plus there were a lot of high speed driving scenes with the Ferrari running solo such as in Death and the Lady, Hit List, and some non Ferrari scenes such as in Hit List 2 set in a non US location. There were a fair number of hi speed driving scenes as I recall.

But while these scenes were interesting I also think the producers were more about people and plots than many shows of the period. So many shows of the time were about campy dialogue and action and not so much about people and plots/subplots. Take TJ Hooker for example..always seemed to have some gratuitous chase scene in eps as well as gratuitous other things...lol

 

Another good opening car chase scene was in The Dutch Oven.

[Viceguy]

Another good opening car chase scene was in The Dutch Oven.

 

Yes, and there was also a pretty good one in "Buddies" . Actually, I think that the Second season contains the most car chases compared to the rest of the series.

[Sonny-Burnett]

Yes, and there was also a pretty good one in "Buddies" . Actually, I think that the Second season contains the most car chases compared to the rest of the series.

 

Yep that was a great one. Vette vs Daytona.. though was really Vette vs Vette.

[Sonny-Burnett]

Another good opening car chase scene was in The Dutch Oven.

 

Dutch Oven had a GREAT chase scene. And Trudy had a memorable role in that one.

[Guest MetroVice]

Post Retracted

Edited October 16, 2015 by MetroVice

[Kavinsky]

also the other thing is, the size of the cameras they had on either car, so they had a driving car, and the car with all the cameras on it that switched from time to time with the daytona

 

 

while on the TR it was one car that had the camera work on it, and one longshot car from time to time, and sometimes it seems like they only had one as they used the car with the bits missing from time to time

 

so time is a major factor as well, of getting that ready, and you gotta figure union rules and all that with the work on that, plus unlike most shows I dont think they just had a car on a trailer or truck driving around, so those cars were mobile with all that equipment on them.

 

not to mention the caddie had mounting points like that too.

 

nowadays though, slap a go pro on your bumper and drive

 

 

Edited November 17, 2014 by Kavinsky

[pahonu]

You can't forget, though.  We got to see several boat chases which the other shows mentioned didn't have!  Those should be added to the total, I think.

[Kavinsky]

yeah and those Dual 454's arent exacly fuel saving motors lol

[Pink Flaming0]

I really like the balance that Vice took with car/boat chases. They always seem to fit well with the story lines and never took away from the plot.

[CharlieGlide]

Very slightly off-topic, but has anyone seen this?  I just stumbled on it.  I love it. It could be shot and edited better, but I can see it as the basis for a tv series, ala Vice or in the spirit of the film Drive.  (I just sent an email to my friend who's a production exec....you never know what the studios and networks are looking for).

 

[C Glide]

Yeah, saw it on facebook. Love the Jimmy Connors, been following them for a while. This is the seventh in the series always in different cities. Awesome.

[Vincent Hanna]

also the other thing is, the size of the cameras they had on either car, so they had a driving car, and the car with all the cameras on it that switched from time to time with the daytona

 

 

 

 

Whoa that's cool. So Don had to drive around in real traffic with that rig attached? Must of been a pain in the butt.

 

I've seen rigs where they tow the car beyond from a truck so the actors don't have to drive for real whilst acting. 

[Kavinsky]

Very slightly off-topic, but has anyone seen this?  I just stumbled on it.  I love it. It could be shot and edited better, but I can see it as the basis for a tv series, ala Vice or in the spirit of the film Drive.  (I just sent an email to my friend who's a production exec....you never know what the studios and networks are looking for).

 

 

 

you know its funny I didnt really look at this until one of my videogame guys mentioned this video on one of the New First Person next gen GTA 5 vids, and with how good those go pro's look, who the hell needs proper film cameras anymore?

 

hell it looks a 100X better than the crappy camera's they use on NCIS LA and the Fake 5-0 show, where the color correction is horrendous and shakey

 

not to mention the sets, my god if they looked any faker..... where did the money go for those shows?

Edited November 23, 2014 by Kavinsky

[Stinger390X]

I agree with Sonny.

I think the stories were more character driven and not just action car chases (although they are exiting) The story lines, if you  recall, were far better than anything on tv at the time, so it lived up to a different standard.

Other comparable shows of the decade did have the perverbial car chase but the story lines were mundane mostly. MV had a new feel at that time, and made the stories exiting, and you moved along with the characters and empathized with them. (At least I did with Sonny and his conflicts)

Episodes like "Evan" and "Milk Run" were more dramatic and did not need car chase for excitement and to this day they live up to their standard of excellence.

 

Don't get me wrong...I love seeing the Daytona flying through the streets of Miami at 4am scraping the bottom of the car shooting sparks from the bottom just as well as the next guy. I think Michael Mann used car chases frugally and on an even tilt over the five seasons. I personally liked the boat chases as well, but that is just my opinion.

[AzVice]

did they ever have rigs like that on the back of the Testarossa? because there's several episodes in season 3 and 4 where the back bumper is missing. it doesn't make sense to me why they would film it with the bumper missing , especially when they had more than one car.

[Matt5]

shame they didnt have more - but the ones they had were awesome

[Daytona74]

vor 8 Stunden schrieb AzVice:

did they ever have rigs like that on the back of the Testarossa? because there's several episodes in season 3 and 4 where the back bumper is missing. it doesn't make sense to me why they would film it with the bumper missing , especially when they had more than one car.

I noticed that the other day when I was re-watching a couple of season 3 and 4 episodes. There was at least one scene in an episode where Crockett turns around in a street and then we see the Testarossa from behind driving off. And clearly with the rear bumper missing.

Were they just getting lazy? It kinda sometimes looks like the level of minute attention to detail of seasons one and two was slipping when Michael Mann was no longer the show runner, starting with season 3.

As for car chases in general, I think they're often a pretty lazy plot device. Miami Vice didn't need too many of them to be gripping TV entertainment. And with Hardcastle and McCormick, I think the difference is that the car on that show was such a central piece of it. The character McCormick was pretty much defined as "a guy and his car". Even though Crockett loved his car(s) dearly, especially the Daytona as we know, it was just never that all-important in the episodes. The two Ferraris were a fancy way of going places, but both the Daytona and the Testarossa weren't characters in themselves, if you know what I mean.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Daytona74

[AzVice]

i noticed it Hell Hath No Fury yesterday. He turns, no bumper. next shot of the Testarossa it's back.

i first remember seeing it in Down for the Count Part 2 as they drive away from picking up the mail Moon sent. miamivice wiki has it posted on each episode it happened. So those episodes are over a year apart. That's really weird.

(i didn't want to start a whole new thread about the bumper)

 

i think they didn't have more chases because it wasn't a car chase show, they just did it when the story called for it. They probably didn't want it to turn into dukes of hazzard or a-team or something.