Sonny Crockett and Miami Vice

It's funny how things plant themselves deep in your mind when you are a kid.  Case in point, Miami Vice and Sonny Crockett.  Miami Vice hit the airwaves in 1984.  I was 12 years old and it had a huge impact on me.  Sure the cars, styles and music were cool and groundbreaking but that wasn't what drew me into the show.  It was the grunge, the realistic dialogue and the way the characters handled themselves.  I learned an awful lot about life on the street, whether my parents wanted me to or not.  It was the first time that I saw characters that looked like they really knew what they were doing when handling guns, clearing rooms and taking down bad guys.  It was eye opening to see that on a weekly basis.  It was also the first time that I thought about how tactics and training give the cops an advantage over the criminals.  Don Johnson as Sonny Crockett was my personal hero.  He was a good man and a great cop and I emulated him as much as any 12 year old kid could do.

     I later learned that Jeff Cooper himself had trained Don Johnson and that all the members of the cast had proper training and tactics with their issued weapons.  The famous 10mm Bren Ten that Crockett carried is still a very, very cool gun and I hope to find one up some day and make it mine.  Michael Mann, the creator of this show is always striving for authenticity and Miami Vice always felt real to me where other shows at that time seemed fake and contrived.  Sure the later seasons got a little crazy but the first three years are really great television and even in the last two years, the things I loved about the show were still there.  My 8 year old son is now a big fan of the show and thinks Crockett and Tubbs are cool as ever.  Since that show went off the air, I am always looking for that same level of realism and authenticity in the movies and shows that display military or law enforcement tactics.  I rarely find those on the same level of Miami Vice.  Make sure to check out those old episodes, Hulu and the Centric Channel carries them now.  I plan on talking about more movies and shows that are good and bad in this department in the future so stay tuned...