Review of Miami Blues

Introduction

Another day, another MGM back catalogue title on DVD. This one sounded strangely familar, but I`d never actually seen it before, one of the small number of films made by director George Armitage. It was produced by Jonathan Demme, and given that both of these people are Roger Corman alumni, you might take a guess as to what to expect.

Alec Baldwin "stars" as Junior, a bit of a nutter who`s done some time. He gets involved with a Miami prostitute and a detective who`s hot on his tail as he starts to do a Robin Hood style act after acquiring a police badge and gun. Except he forgets the bit about giving to the poor.

Video

A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, which looks ok on the whole. I was surprised that I didn`t see too much dirt, dust and grain, although there is some nastiness present. There are some good colours, reasonable detail levels and good contrast. There are some patches where quite a bit of damage is evindent, but on the whole it`s ok for a back catalogue effort.

Audio

A DD2.0 surround soundtrack, which is rather average but still lends a tiny bit of tone and atmosphere to the film. All dialogue is clear and crisp, and everything is audible. It`s just not that exciting.

The soundtrack is blues based as you might expect given the title of the film.

As with many of these catalogue titles, you can also choose from various other European languages.

Features

Nothing.

Conclusion

Another day, another MGM back catalogue title, and another very average DVD.

I was expecting a predictable and dull film (as it sounded like so many others from the time) and that`s what I got. The plot very obvious and rather tedious as you know what will happen but you don`t care. In fact you start to wish that the main character would just go straight to the electric chair without passing GO and without collecting £200...

A below average film, a very average DVD. Avoid.