1988 Directed by Steve De Jarnatt
After 30 years of searching, Harry has finally met the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, before they even have a chance to go on their first date, Harry intercepts some chilling news: WWIII has begun and nuclear missiles will destroy Los Angeles in less than an hour!
Appel d'urgence, Die Nacht der Entscheidung
"People are gonna help each other, won't they? I mean, rebuilding things, the survivors I mean."
"I think it's the insects' turn."
It starts out as a romantic comedy about a guy meeting his dream girl and trying to go into a date and suddenly turns into a sometimes absurdist but well imagined end of the world scenario that somehow never forget its romantic center. The last act beautifully moves toward an acceptance of doom that is very affecting (and in its own very particular way deeply romantic) despite all the genre trappings and absurdist touches. It is probably the greatest date movie ever to end with an explosion. This one is a real great odditity, imaginitive, full of well earned detours, good character acting, a nice sense of desperation as Los Angeles slowly but credible spins out of control.
84
The hopelessness of Miracle Mile is constantly at odds with its own romantic idealism, as to suggest that what we yearn to achieve is impossible but there's nothing wrong with trying anyway, even as the reality is damning. Such a balance within a real-time countdown narrative could easily be seen as disjointed, but the horror of the situation is perfectly offset by gestures of humility, the motions that we enact to continue our supposed self-designated purpose. As a glorious neon technical exercise, not to mention scored by Tangerine Dream, this is brilliant, but at its core, the speculative nature is precedent. It lingers long after the final moment - angry and defeated, overcome with emotion.
It’s the crack of dawn, 4 AM and you’re stuck in a neon-lit diner, it’s the twilight time where existential thought borders on nihilistic depression. You’ve missed a date with someone you believe to be the perfect soul mate. Much like an Edward Hopper painting, giant glass windows invite you into a world of loneliness and quiet contemplation. The patrons are comprised of the outcasts and misfits of society where coffee and breakfast are on tap to quench their desperation. You step outside and a pay phone starts ringing, there’s no-one around so you decide to answer it. On the other end is a desperate sounding man calling his father warning him that there’s no going back, it’s happening, the…
Love in the end of times. I can’t think of a better movie tuned pitch perfect to my tastes than Miracle Mile.
Perfect.
Probably my favorite love story?
I've always believed and I'm of the idea that the films that have a rating given by the same users between 3.5 to 3.9 herein Letterboxd always become at least for me the most underrated and that deserve more attention from the public and Miracle Mile is a clear example of this.
The nuclear holocaust, as well as post-apocalyptic and catastrophist stories of various kinds, have been portrayed in dozens of films over time, with better or worse luck, from the mythical Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, through the endearing When the Wind Blows, to the tragic Black Rain but few films have portrayed it with as much magic and sensitivity as…
This is a film that is not about the end result of love or annihilation, but how humans eventually arrive at both. There is a heavy romanticized sheen smothered all over this thing—as well as fear—giving the viewer huge sensations of the feelings one experiences when falling in love or dreading the next thing life throws at you. All of the panic here, all of the changing scenes, the carousel of characters, and the events spewing forth from a frantic telephone call are just visuals and flare for the eyes to eat up. Chaos and romance are rolled together in a sprawling, tonal nightmare that inserts you right in the middle of Steve De Jarnatt's dream-version of Los Angelos.
I…
Because this film is about nuclear paranoia and every review makes reference to current events, let's start with this: the DPRK has a no first-strike policy, so if we end up in nuclear war because of any international situation with them, it's because we struck first. Which is how it usually goes down with the United States--every conflict we've been in since WWII has been because of our instigation of conflict. If you don't want to die in nuclear fire, get out in the streets and protest. Make your voice heard. The United States needs to keep their fucking hands off the DPRK.
As to the content of this film: My friend John remarked that it was a shame Anthony…
(ambiguous spoiler alert) Testament to how invested in the characters I was that the ending kind of pissed me off.
There's nothing else quite like this. It's a real diamond.
You Have 90 Minutes To Comply: The New Year Project
Don't you love it when a romantic comedy all of a sudden turns into an end-of-the-world nuclear panic thriller?
I clearly made the right decision not reading anything about Miracle Mile before I watched it. I can't even remember how much I read about it to include it in this project in the first place, but I'm just glad I forgot it, whatever it was. If you've not seen, don't read this review. Go on, piss off. I'm doing you a favour.
Because this was not what I was expecting at all. When Anthony Edwards receives THAT phone call, I actually expected it to keep being a romantic comedy and…
Imersivo por sua sujeição cósmica, pela vulnerabilidade a certa presença externa misteriosa mas decisiva. É a existência exterior que pode ameaçar todo esse pequeno universo narrativo que dá a ele tanto significado, tanta intensidade. É a percepção de que a qualquer momento essa singela bolha pode ser estourada que promove o efeito mágico observado e sentido.
It’s very possible to love a movie so much and also be completely annoyed with the main character the entire time
It’s basically a The Twlight Zone episode, but poorly acted and didn’t leave me with a moral message. I will forget this movie in a few days.
stressful and annoying with that big tonal lunge that gave me a headache. thrilling tho, with well dressed sets in an oversatch LA
Had a great time with this one, very enjoyable. It’s a pretty thin plot, but they make it work and it’s a fun and at times wild ride!
BozzFest 2.0 #1
Probably the most accurate and coherent portrayal of what would've happened in the last few minutes before a nuclear war strikes.
Just loved how everything was built around what could've been nothing but a prank call. Miracle Mile has the vibes of Martin Scorsese's After Hours applied to the nuclear tension of the Cold War, but it never stops being a story of love and loneliness.
It was a fantastic experience, couldn't take my eyes off it.
Ein Mann findet nach langer Suche endlich die Liebe seines Lebens - nur um dann durch einen Anruf zu erfahren, dass der 3. Weltkrieg begonnen hat und er und seine ganze Stadt in einer knappen Stunde ausgelöscht werden.
Ich hatte diesen Film schon ewig auf meiner Watchlist, als ich jetzt auf Letterboxd gesehen habe, dass @LeSchroeck ihn heute mit 4 Sternen bewertet hat bin ich neugierig geworden.
Kurz gesagt, der Film hat mir auch extrem gut gefallen. Er schafft es, die langsam aufsteigende Panik der Charaktere effektiv auf den Zuschauer zu übertragen. Diese Panik steigert sich langsam, aber unaufhaltsam, über die <90 Minuten Laufzeit bis sie am Ende zu einer fantastisch inszenierten Massenpanik in LA führt.
Ich will hier gar…
Oiiii this was great. Anthony Edwards makes Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems look like a chill dude.
(Got another triple bill for ya: This, Repo Man, They Live).
This was pretty cool and completely shifts gears in terms of plot - it shouldn’t work but it does. I liked the energy the film had and thought the set designs looked great too.
I can see the reverence people have for this film. As much as I enjoyed it, nothing excelled it beyond “pretty good”. The cast is okay but chemistry between the leads isn’t really there. The setup scene where characters argue over the believability of a phone call isn’t totally convincing which weighs down much of the proceedings. Another issue running through the entire films is the protagonist never explaining anything to anyone and constantly getting characters into stupid situations - easily avoided if he just spoke up. This also halts the film from ever being genuinely suspenseful for an “against the clock” type of film.
Despite all my qualms, it’s a fairly charming 80s Los Angeles sci-fi flick which did a decent amount for a presumably low budget.
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