"Miami Vice" Freefall (1989)

Director:

Russ Mayberry

Writers:

William T. Conway (teleplay)
Scott Shepherd (story)
(more)

TV Series:

"Miami Vice" (1984)

Original Air Date:

21 May 1989 (Season 5, Episode 17)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Crockett and Tubbs, figuring they're on their way out, are recruited by the government to help a dictator escape from his war-torn country - with double-crosses at every turn. |

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Police | Drugs | Undercover | Ferrari

Cast

Don Johnson	...	Detective James Crockett
Philip Michael Thomas	...	Detective Ricardo Tubbs
Saundra Santiago	...	Detective Gina Calabrese
Michael Talbott	...	Detective Stan Switek
Olivia Brown	...	Detective Trudy Joplin
Edward James Olmos	...	Lieutenant Martin Castillo
Ian McShane	...	Gen. Manuel Borbon
Robert Beltran	...	Amendez
Sherman Howard	...	Col. Andrew Baker
Greg Germann	...	Johnny Raymond
Elpidia Carrillo	...	Sister Felicia
Maria Strova	...	Bianca Borbon
Rene Rivera	...	Capt. Jimendez
Alfredo Álvarez Calderón	...	Caesar Montoya (as Alfredo Alvarez Calderon)
Robert Fields	...	Commissioner Richard Highsmith
Anna Katarina
Martin Ferrero	...	Izzy Moreno
Bill Cordell	...	Policeman
Xavier Coronel	...	Ramirez
Roy Datz	...	Priest
Sergio Doré Jr.	...	Immigration Man (as Sergio Dore)
Tamara Glynn	...	Young Woman
Peter Lundquist	...	Reporter #2
Linda McNeill	...	Clerk
Roger Pretto	...	Miranda
Don Rincones	...	Finance Minister
Bobby Rodriguez	...	Guzman
Raul San	...	Thug
Pamela M. Stuart	...	Reporter #1
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrew Castillo	...	Thug
Steve Roth
Rocco Salata	...	Latin American Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Russ Mayberry

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William T. Conway		teleplay (as William Conway)
Frank Holman		story
Scott Shepherd		story
Ken Solarz		story
Ken Solarz		teleplay
Anthony Yerkovich		creator

Produced by
Michael Attanasio	....	co-producer (as Michael J. Attanasio)
Richard Brams	....	co-executive producer
Richard Brams	....	producer
Thomas Cajka	....	associate producer
Donald L. Gold	....	co-producer
Michael B. Hoggan	....	associate producer
Diane Isaacs	....	associate producer (as Diane Sillan)
Michael Mann	....	executive producer
Kathleen M. Shea	....	associate producer (as Kathleen Shea)
Scott Shepherd	....	supervising producer
Robert Ward	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Tim Truman

Cinematography by
Oliver Wood

Film Editing by
Michael B. Hoggan
Robert L. Sinise
Dick Williams

Casting by
Bonnie Timmermann

Art Direction by
Joel Lang		(as Joel L.A. Lang)

Set Decoration by
Robert Lacey Jr.		(as Robert J. Lacey Jr.)

Costume Design by
Bobbie Read

Makeup Department
Jay Cannistraci	....	key makeup artist
Nick Troiano	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Lou Fusaro	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chip Chalmers	....	first assistant director
Bruce Solow	....	second assistant director (as Bruce Alan Solow)

Art Department
Maria Chavez	....	artistic consultant
Charles Guanci Jr.	....	assistant property master
Charles Guanci Jr.	....	props
Michael Metzel	....	construction foreman

Sound Department
Ed Callahan	....	sound editor
Joe Foglia	....	sound
Mark P. Stoeckinger	....	supervising sound effects editor

Stunts
Bobby J. Foxworth	....	stunt coordinator

Casting Department
Cheryl Louden-Kubin	....	casting: Miami (as Cheryl A. Louden)
Marjorie W. Morhaim	....	casting assistant
Lori Wyman	....	casting: Miami (as Lori S. Wyman)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kristy Aitken Hernandez	....	costume supervisor (as Kristy Aitken)

Music Department
Jan Hammer	....	composer: title theme
Dino A. Moriana	....	music editor
Michael Thompson	....	musician: electric guitars

Transportation Department
Richard P. Pecora	....	driver

Other crew
Marcia Dripchak	....	assistant to producer
Raymond Hartung	....	story editor
Mark Lafata	....	production coordinator
Peter McCabe	....	executive story editor
Ken Solarz	....	executive story consultant
Suzanne Waite	....	script supervisor

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jeremy Lew		teleplay
Daniel Pyne		five episodes including "Yankee Dollar" (also as A.J. Edison)
Gustave Reininger		various episodes
Jack Thibeau
Anthony Yerkovich		creator

Produced by
Michael Duggan	....	producer (1986-1989)
Dick Wolf	....	executive producer (1989)

Cinematography by
Dave Gist		(hand camera)
Bill Hinckley		(hand camera)

Film Editing by
C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo
Alfonse Ruggiero

Makeup Department
Allan A. Apone	....	key makeup artist (1985-1988)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Attanasio	....	second unit director (1984-1989)
Tommy Burns	....	second second assistant director
Michelle Marx	....	assistant director: second unit

Sound Department
Gary Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer
Simon Coke	....	sound editor
Craig Harris	....	special surround sound design: sweeps week show
Harry B. Miller III	....	sound editor
Glenn T. Morgan	....	sound effects editor
Bob Newlan	....	sound editor
Norto Sepulveda	....	sound editor
Gary Vaughan	....	sound editor
Mark Weber	....	boom operator
Jay Wilkinson	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
John Patteson	....	special effects assistant

Stunts
Andrew Castillo	....	stunt performer
Dave Gist	....	stunts
Luke Halpin	....	stunts
Robert Paisley	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Nik Petrik	....	first assistant camera: "c" camera
Doug Schwartz	....	second assistant camera
Owen Stephens	....	rigging gaffer
Jeff Wolf	....	first assistant camera: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gregory B. Peña	....	key costumer (1985-1989)

Editorial Department
Richard Brassaw	....	assistant film editor
Scott Klein	....	master colorist
C. Cory M. McCrum-Abdo	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Bradley Carow	....	assistant music editor
Jerry Sanford Cohen	....	music editor

Other crew
Fabio M. Arber	....	key production assistant (1984-1985)
Fabio M. Arber	....	location manager (1985-1989)
Betty Bennett	....	script supervisor
Tom Brocato	....	publicist
Tim Dinan	....	assistant production office coordinator
Daniel Kellison	....	production assistant
Peter Lance	....	story editor (1988-1989)
Mayo Sanchez	....	location manager (1988-1989)
Nick Sloan	....	stand-in (1 episode)
Dean Taucher	....	visual consultant (1986-1987)
Sam Tedesco	....	location manager
Sherry Thorup	....	location manager (22 episodes)

Production Companies

• Michael Mann Productions
• Universal TV

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1989) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Ferrari North America  Crockett's car furnished by
• Howard Anderson Company, The  titles & optical effects (as Howard Anderson Company)
• Imports for the Trades  palace furnishings provided by
• Mitsubishi  some televisions and cellular telephones furnished by
• Panavision  lenses and panaflex camera
• Wellcraft Corporation  power boats furnished by

Runtime:

60 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Company:

Michael Mann Productions

Quotes:

[final dialogue of series finale]
Sonny Crockett:What you doing here? Figured you'd be halfway to New York by now.
Det. Ricardo Tubbs:Everything always takes longer than you think.
Sonny Crockett:Well we had one hell of a run, didn't we partner.
Det. Ricardo Tubbs:Yeah we sure did Sonny.
Sonny Crockett:So you really gonna go back up to the big bad Bronx?
Det. Ricardo Tubbs:Yeah it looks that way. How about you?
Sonny Crockett:I don't know. Somewhere further south, somewhere where the water is warm, the drinks are cold, and I don't know the names of the players.
Sonny Crockett:I'm gonna miss you man.
Det. Ricardo Tubbs:I'm gonna miss you too Sonny.
[...]

Soundtrack:

Bad Attitude

The perfect way to wrap up a series.

By season five, Miami Vice had radically changed. Jan Hammer had left, the budget was very tight, the style had got much darker and violent, the ratings were not good at all and Don Johnson wasn't in very many episodes (due to working big time in Hollywood on major motion pictures). The season finale "Freefall" is a perfect finale to the series because it shows the political problems which were going on in Latin America during the 80's and completely different compared to 2 part episodes like "Calderone's Return", "The Prodigal Son" & "Down For The Count". The action's good and so's the setting, etc... The scene with the Ferrari testarossa speeding down the streets of Miami with the song "Bad Attitude" by Honeymoon Suite works because it's re-showing the defining image from the pilot episode with the Daytona driving through the night down down the streets with the song "In the air tonight" by Phil Collins playing that introduced us to Miami Vice in the first place. It was the right time to end the show because if it had carried on into the nineties, it wouldn't have been the same. Miami Vice was only for the 80's and that's where it belonged. Rating 10/10, "Freefall" is one of the greatest finales to a series that I've seen and it showed that Miami Vice could wrap it up with a bang.