Miami Supercops (1985)

Director:

Bruno Corbucci

Writers:

Bruno Corbucci (writer) &
Luciano Vincenzoni (story)

Release Date:

12 December 1985 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Plot:

In 1978, $20 million was stolen from a Detroit bank. One of the robbers was caught, one was found dead...

Plot Keywords:

Police

Cast

Terence Hill	...	Doug Bennett / Officer Jay Donell
Bud Spencer	...	Steve Forest / Officer L A Ray
C.B. Seay	...	Chief Tanney
William 'Bo' Jim	...	Charro
Ken Ceresne	...	Robert Delman / Ralph Duran
Jackie Castellano	...	Irene
C.V. Wood Jr.	...	Barkeeper
Richard Liberty	...	Joe Garret
Rhonda S. Lundstead	...	Anabella
Buffy Dee	...	Pancho
Michael Warren		(as Mike Warren)
José Chitwood Jr.
Luke Halpin	...	Leader of the thieves in the bus
Randy Warren
Artie Malesci	...	Puncher in night brawl

Also Known As:

I poliziotti della 8a strada (Italy) (alternative title)
Poliziotti dell'ottava strada (Italy) (alternative title)
Trinity: Good Guys and Bad Guys (USA)

Runtime:

Norway:95 min | Sweden:93 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1985) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Company:

Trans-Cinema TV

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: Shadow of boom mic visible when Steve Forest passes the information desk at the Miami Police station.

Miami Synthesiser Cops

This film does not show Bud and Terence at their best. The combination of awful acting, awful wigs and superbly irritating synthesizer music all combine to make this film an effort in endurance to stay watching.

I'm not sure where this comes in the Bud/Terence line up of movies, but, much like the early plot where the two characters team up again for one final mission, this movie has the feel of a movie made after the heyday of the pair. Perhaps even a film made to reunite the two actors in the hope of regaining the magic of the pairing.

Whatever the reason, it doesn't work. The film is a mess and the acting by the non-principals is just plain dire. You know the sort of thing - advertisement acting quality. Add in the lamentably obvious hairpieces, which might as well have had neon "WIG!" signs above each of them and dubbing which, whilst OK in the main, only serves to remind you that it is, in fact, dubbing and you have the recipe for an 80's movie disaster.

Unfortunately, the disaster becomes a calamity of epic proportions when the music is factored in. Some bad films benefit from a synthesizer soundtrack - Hawk the Slayer, for instance - but here, the repetitive and, it has to be said, mindless chord sequences only jar the nerves. Anyone who's ever played an arcade machine from the eighties will quickly recognize the type of "music" that becomes increasingly annoying the more you have to listen to it whilst trying to complete that difficult level.

As for the plot, I was too busy gaping open-mouthed at all the wrongness on display to really pay it much heed. Some hokum about the pairing teaming up again to complete a previously unfinished mission......hmmm....the arcade machine analogy again. And, much like those "difficult-to-complete" games, this movie depends for its completion on how many mental "dimes" you have left to put into it. It really is an exercise in endurance.

I expect fans of the duo will like it nonetheless, but it isn't a patch on "My Name is Nobody" and, like so many other films of the time, it really shows its age now.

Summary: Mindless "Miami Vice wannabee" music, hack acting, awful wigs and so-so dubbing. Not recommended except for the most stalwart of fans.