Best Example Of Film Noir In Miami Vice

[mvnyc]

There are many obvious choices, but for me, by far, the final scene of "Little Miss Dangerous" that begins with Public Image Limited's "The Order Of Death" ("this is whatcha want, this is whatcha get!") is the best example. That song, playing under the race to save Tubbs (as Crockett finds out Jackie is "The Ripper"), with Cat racing Crockett to the scene and Jackie pulling out a gun as she disrobes in front of tubbs with the burning images and all (as the clock is ticking) creates such an adrenaline rush, making that scene stand out (to me) as the best use of all the elements at once.Your Thoughts?

[BlueAir]

Yeah its an intense and spooky scene and very unique from other scenes from Vice.The whole episode is great!As for other scenes that have a noir element,I thought this scene from "Over the Line" has a noir element to it.

[Vincent Hanna]

Vice usually used different lighting to good effect, There are plenty of times where people run through shadows and cast onto buildings and stuff which looks cool.I always liked the disco lights in Smugglers blues when they make the deal. Along with the ominous music. "why don't you stay and have a drink?"..."...cause we're not thirsty":cool:In season 3 they started lighting EVERYTHING with those neon lights, It's ridiculous sometimes. If you see night scene of a mansion, the chances are its lit with bright green, blue or pink light(for example watch lend me an ear, the shootout at the end is strange with all the vibrant colours) It gave the series another unique look anyway. In one ep a whole corridor is neon pink. No place in the entire world has a corridor that looks like that.:)That's enough about lighting but the tone contributes a lot too. How many times does someone kill themselves or a relative infront of Crockett and tubbs? The show can get very nihilistic and thats cool too. Most cop shows always end on a happy note, all the characters have learned something within the last 45 minutes and it ends in some sappy quote from Nietzsche. Well in Vice nobody really changes, some people are douchebags, and then some are genuinely good people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Lar]

Very good topic! When I think noir, I think "dark, evocative, downbeat". MV certainly had more than afew of those moments.I don't know if these examples count as "noir" or not, but the "In The Air Tonight" scene and the 'old man' scenes in "Victims Of Circumstance" are, if not noir-ish, certainly ethereal. Maybe the "Victims..." scenes are more surreal, although it's all in the lighting; the room itself is normal, but through the camera angles and lighting, it looks appropriately twisted. The entire last sequence of "Out Where The Buses Don't Run" is very dark, very evocative.

That's enough about lighting but the tone contributes a lot too. How many times does someone kill themselves or a relative infront of Crockett and tubbs? The show can get very nihilistic and thats cool too. Most cop shows always end on a happy note' date=' all the characters have learned something within the last 45 minutes and it ends in some sappy quote from Nietzsche. Well in Vice nobody really changes, some people are douchebags, and then some are genuinely good people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.[/quote']Absolutely. Other dramatic shows had occasional surprise and/or downbeat endings, but MV turned them into, for lack of a better description, an artform. My brother once said, towards the end of an ep, something along the lines of "Don't forget, this show likes to screw you over", as in, you never really know how an ep is going to end until you get there (IIRC he was speaking about a Hill Street Blues episode, but the sentiment was expressed regarding MV, as well). In that regard, "No Exit", "Milk Run", "The Fix" and any number of others are good examples.How about the end of "Fruit of The Poison Tree"? A very dark, depressing, noir-ish moment.

[mvnyc]

Another good example (at least to me) is the final scene from "Death And The Lady", starting with the stock shot of Crockett driving past the Fountainbleu with the song "The Edge of Town" by The Truth playing in the background, Crockett piecing together the crime in his mind through visuals. Then the end where Crockett "explains" the "Violence as Art" theme to Glance by smacking him around, a perfect ending to that story!

[miamijimf]

Very interesting angle on Vice. I've heard the term and always thought it was just old black and white detective movies from the 40s. It seems there is more to it. I'll have to look up "Film Noir" to try and understand the style.

[mvnyc]

Almost all of "Shadow In The Dark" is done in Noir style. As the Shadow is being led away, he turns to Crockett and says: "You live with me, don't you?" This after Crockett attempts to get inside the Shadow's mind by putting flour on his face and looking at pictures of houses, finally encountering him and beating him to a pulp, like the Shadow did with the meat.

[Matt5]

Some good choices:thumbsup::shout:

[Vincent Hanna]

I didn't really give an example of a noir-ish scene so i'm gonna go with castillo chasing down the taiwanese guy at the end of the Score.They run through the alleys and they cast shadows onto the building, it looks dope and then castillo proceeds to beat the crap out of him in a surprisingly awesome fight choreography

[Beach_Vice]

I'd say the whole sequence in "Evan" from the point when the speed boat is going up the river at night right to the end. But that scene better defines Neo Noir I think. Great use of camera movement, lighting and color.