Miracle Mile

Summary

“He said that they were locked in, 50 minutes and counting, to shoot off their nuclear wad. We would be getting it back in an hour and ten. I mean he meant that we’re at war! Nuclear war!”

One of the most amazing aspects of the physical media renaissance and the surge of independently owned Blu-ray distributors has been the focus that the key labels have put on lesser known films. Kino Lorber’s release of Miracle Mile is a great example of the kinds of overlooked gems that have received renewed interest simply because they have been given another chance to find a fan base on the Blu-ray format. Miracle Mile was made in 1989 for a modest budget of just under four million dollars. The film only did a little over a million dollars at the box office despite great reviews at the time from the critics. The nuclear disaster themed thriller is a great addition to Kino Lorber’s Studio Classics label and a film that is well worth rediscovering.

In Los Angeles, jazz musician Harry (Anthony Edwards) meets the girl of his dreams, Julie (Mare Willingham.) They hit it off and begin a relationship. They set a date for 12:15 at night to meet up when she gets off work and after he takes a nap. He heads back to his place for a nap and flicks a cigarette over the railing. A pigeon takes the lit cigarettes to its nest on the roof of the building, and the small fire burns some electrical cords, killing the power to the building. Harry’s alarm wakes him three hours past when their date was set. Julie has left her job at Johnie’s Coffee Shop Restaurant after waiting up for an hour and has gone back to her place. Harry races to Johnie’s in hopes that she was still there. Arriving there, he realizes Julie has left. He  places a phone call to her from the phone booth outside Johnie’s Coffee but he doesn’t reach her. After the call, the phone in the booth begins to ring. Harry picks up the phone and through circumstances beyond his comprehension learns that the world may be on the verge of nuclear apocalypse. If the call is correct, Los Angeles may only have seventy minutes left. Harry decides to rescue Julie before the impending panic and disaster can occur. The rest of the film deals with his wild night and plays out essentially in real time.

Miracle Mile is a really enjoyable and unique apocalyptic thriller. By focusing the attention of the film on the panic before an impending nuclear blast, the film feels thrilling for its duration. The film is also a surprisingly romantic film with a script that cleverly and economically details the feelings of the two main characters without devoting a great amount of time to the relationship or slowing down the film. The script was written by director Steve de Jarnatt. He was committed to filming the script as he wrote it and made the film for far less than studios offered in order to avoid changing what he had originally envisioned. This dedication to his source material allowed the film to be eccentric and interesting in a way that I can’t imagine would have existed with interference from the studios. It is a shame that the film was not a financial success, because it would have been fun to see what other films he would have made as a director.

The film benefits from two strong lead performances from Anthony Edwards and Mare Willingham, but another reason the film works so well is the ensemble of small character actor parts. Mykelti Williamson plays a stereo and electronics thief that crosses paths with Harry. Kurt Fuller has a cameo as the coked out Gerstead. Denise Crosby plays a former Rand corporation employee. Robert DoQui plays Fred the cook and doomsday prepper. There is an amazing cameo by Edward Bunker as a shotgun toting Cab Gas attendant. Brian Thompson plays a bodybuilder with bleached blonde hair. There are many more small roles and touches, but I don’t want to spoil them.

The cinematography by Theo Van de Sande is well conceived and makes great use of the slight budget. Steve de Jarnett got good performances out of all the performers and deserves credit for realizing his high concept ideas without compromise. Overall – Miracle Mile is a really enjoyable film from the Eighties with some great ideas. It definitely deserves to be rediscovered.

Video

Presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio with an MPEG-4 AVC Encoded image, the 1080p presentation of Miracle Mile looks nice. The film’s source seems to have been in pretty good shape and aside from minor specking the presentation looks nice. The film has fine grain over it and fine detail is pretty good for the most part. The cinematography by Theo Van Sande is effective and intentionally is not overly stylized. Given that the film takes place largely at night, I was happy that it looked as nice as it did.

Audio

The DTS-HD MA 2.0 track for Miracle Mile sounded great to my ears. I was surprised at how effective the sound field in the film was considering that it was only a stereo track. The fantastic score by Tangerine Dream sounds great in this lossless presentation. Considering the budgetary limitations of the film, the sound design was really impressive.

Supplements:

• Commentaries
  • Director Steve De Jarnatt and Film Critic Walter Chaw: Walter Chaw wrote a book about his personal experience in with the film Miracle Mile. He was a good choice to interview director Steve De Jarnatt about the film he loves so much.
  • Director Steve De Jarnatt, Director of Photography Theo Van de Sande and Production Designer Chris Horner: out of the two tracks I found this one slightly more interesting because of the numerous insights from those involved. A really good track.
• Excavations from the Editing Room Tar Pits—Deleted Scenes, Outtakes & Bloopers
• Supporting Cast & Crew Reunion – this brief piece showcases a reunion of actors Denise Crosby, Diane Delano, Alan Rosenberg, Kurt Fuller, Claude Earl Jones, Jenette Goldstein, O-Lan Jones, Kelly Minter, Danny De La Paz, Brian Thompson, Howard Swain, cinematographer Theo Van de Sande and director Steve De Jarnatt. A fun piece!
• Harry & Julie: Interview with Stars Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham – an enjoyable and brief interview with the two leads from the film. They reminisce on their experiences working together and on the legacy of the film.
• Alternate Diamond Ending
• Trailers 
  • Miracle Mile
  • Cherry 2000 

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Miracle Mile deserved to be a sleeper hit in 1989, but despite critical acclaim the film failed to attract a large audience when it was released. That’s a shame. The film is a really interesting take on the nuclear disaster film and manages to be eclectic and romantic while still keeping the audience engaged and the thrills coming. Kino Lorber has done film lovers a good service with this release which features solid technical specs and some really engaging features. Highly recommended.