‘Miami Vice' Gets a “Significantly Recut” Final Act in Michael Mann's New Director's Final Cut — 4k Release on December 15

Michael Mann just can't leave his movies alone. Earlier this year he stirred up fans with some divisive tinkering on “Manhunter,” and now word comes that he's gone back into the editing room with “Miami Vice,” a divisive, flawed film with as many haters as admirers.

Those flaws have bothered Mann for two decades. The production was famously chaotic, and he's never hidden his frustration with how it wrapped up. Back in 2016, he admitted the film didn't live up to what he'd set out to do because he never got to shoot the ending he wanted.

That ending, an ambitious sequence meant to be shot in Paraguay, was never filmed and almost certainly never will be. So Mann has done the next best thing. “Miami Vice: Director's Final Cut” premieres this Saturday at Beyond Fest, clocking in at 132 minutes, a minute shorter than the theatrical version and seven shorter than his 2006 director's cut. It hits 4K and Blu-ray on December 15 as part of a five-disc set.

The press release is where it gets interesting. This new cut, with scene-by-scene tweaks to picture and sound, is radically changing the structure of the original cut. Moments have been “refined,” scenes have been reordered, and most intriguingly, there's a heavily reworked final act built from unseen footage to reflect "Mann's preferred ending." Here’s the press release:

To mark the film’s 20th anniversary, the new definitive edition uses elements from both the original theatrical master and Mann’s first director’s cut along with previously unused dailies footage, with fine details adjusted scene by scene to help ensure the new cut looks and sounds better than ever. Fans will also notice changes to the story, with select scenes being refined, a re-ordering of certain scenes, and a significantly recut final act incorporating previously unused footage to reflect Mann’s preferred ending.

Now, a restructured third act using material nobody's seen? That’s the most fascinating part. Yes, press releases exist to hype, and I'm keeping expectations in check. Still, if any filmmaker would genuinely swing for the fences with a 20-year-old movie, it's Mann, especially given how long this one has haunted him.

Mann has made it clear that he considers “Miami Vice” to be the movie that “got away” — in large part because of its hastily revised ending:

I would’ve tried to command the same budget and not call it Miami Vice […] It doesn’t have its proper ending. Because we weren’t able to shoot those last three weeks in Ciudad del Este. We shot for three days. And so there’s a very different ending that belonged on that film.

Mann didn’t shoot the ending he wanted in large part because of Farrell’s co-star, Jamie Foxx, who was reportedly difficult to work with, allegedly demanding a higher salary, top billing in the film’s credits, refusing to fly commercially, and objecting to filming scenes involving boats or planes.

Things came to a crashing halt when production suddenly shut down in the Dominican Republic after gunshots were reportedly fired near the film’s set. Foxx immediately left the country and returned to the United States. This forced Mann to abandon the script’s intended ending.

Despite the on-set drama, poor initial reviews, and both Mann and Farrell expressing disappointment with the finished film, “Miami Vice” has since undergone a remarkable reappraisal, inspiring a kind of cultish fervor. A film that was widely ridiculed upon release is now regarded by some as a significant and influential work. I’m certainly not a fan of the film, but more than willing to give this recut version a shotz

I’ll keep an eye, and report back on the early reactions after Saturday's screening.