Rating: 
Summary: Miracle that no one got killed making this film!
Review: Mayhem and action, from beginning to end! Romance & Adventure mixed into a last ditch effort to save just a nutty few who might have a chance to survive by getting out of the freeway clogged city and beyond the hills in a desperate race. The best of the pre- nuclear war dramas. Worth watching twice. No nonsense from start to finish, with a cleverly written plot and several subplots. I Imagine the end is not quite what it seems. After all no one can escaped the speed of light or nuclear bombs.
Rating:
Summary: a fantastic FALLIN
Review: mind TINGLIN mood enhancing adrenaline pulsating CLEVER love DROPS a bomb THRILLER on TWO kinda normal GEEKY characters,THIS movie is theYIN yang when its comes to AVANTE GARDE home spun,techno the film editing is ALMOST NUCLEAR in its WOW,TAKE ME THERE cinema like BEING THERE IN SOME SPECRACLE,before THE lights go OUT,and STARRY eyed ENDURING, suspense LEADING UP TO embrase,LOVE CONSUMATED in GOOD OLE IN mating ritual, hesitant steps TOWARD AND BACK, its a RITUAL, i can watch over, the journey INTO THE FALLIN into LOVE.
Rating:
Summary: a fantastic FALLIN
Review: mind TINGLIN mood enhancing adrenaline pulsating CLEVER love DROPS a bomb THRILLER on TWO kinda normal GEEKY characters,THIS movie is theYIN yang when its comes to AVANTE GARDE home spun,techno the film editing is ALMOST NUCLEAR in its WOW,TAKE ME THERE cinema like BEING THERE IN SOME SPECRACLE,before THE lights go OUT,and STARRY eyed ENDURING, suspense LEADING UP TO embrase,LOVE CONSUMATED in GOOD OLE IN mating ritual, hesitant steps TOWARD AND BACK, its a RITUAL, i can watch over, the journey INTO THE FALLIN into LOVE.
Rating: 
Summary: Can Anyone Fly a Helicopter???
Review: Miracle Mile is a better-than-average film about an 'everyman' overhearing a bizarre phone call, that is obviously a wrong number...and possibly a crank call. How to decide?
I'm not going spoil the film (don't read the other reviews before you see this movie!), so I'm just going to comment on whether it's worth seeing, how the acting is, the overall look of the film, and any pluses and minuses.
1. The film is worth seeing. Going in, it looks like a simple boy-meets-girl film. The title doesn't give anything away, so that's how we go in. The movie's tone changes dramatically after that overheard wrong phone call.
2. The acting ranges from fair to pretty good. Anthony Edwards in his pre-ER days (and with a full head of hair!) plays Harry Washello, and does the best job. He convincingly plays a slightly nebbish guy to is looking forward to a date, to a guy confronting real challenges, and grows in the process. He pulls it off well. Mare Winningham plays the love interest, Julie Peters. While she's OK, she doesn't show much of a range here, growing in believability only in the last half hour of the film. The rest of the cast doesn't really figure into the film to any great extent. For example, the diner patrons vanish early, never to be seen again.
3. Over-all look of the film. It's obvious that there was not a lot of money to spend on the film. It shows, but not too glaringly. The special effects are pedestrian, the cast is of scores and not thousands, the chase scenes just OK. Still, director Steve De Jarnatt (who also wrote the screenplay) does a pretty darn good job with the stingy budget. Every special effect penny was spent wisely, and put on the screen. There are no obvious deficiencies, and the film flows well.
4. Pluses and minuses. Pluses are the effective use of the budget, several decent twists and turns, real suspense, good musical score (perfect for the plot), good story, and an effective sense of tension throughout. Minuses include the obligatory time-wasting that goes on in many films when there is a deadline, real or not. I mean, let's say you've just heard information that you may (or may not) die in an hour or so. Are you going to go back for people you've just met? I can understand wanting to perhaps save the 'love of your life' you've just met, but the carjacking victim? Julie's mother? The mom's estranged husband?
And of course the worst was Julie's absolute lack of common sense. Time's a wasting, and you leisurely stroll into an accident scene to see what was going on? Harry tells you to wait, and you wonder off to 'help'? Please!
Recommended. The twists and turns of the plot, the uncertainty of the veracity of the wrong-number phone call, the anxious efforts to get to the meeting point are all effective. Of course, things go wrong, strange choices are made, and one never knows until the last few minutes how it's all going to turn out.
Rating:
Summary: The Night Before the Day After
Review: Miracle Mile is one of those unique and savagely brilliant films that has never quite gotten its due despite seeming to leave an undeniable impression on just about everyone who has somehow lucked into seeing it. The low-budget film tells the story of an L.A. jazz musician (Anthony Edwards), a nice, mild guy who is lucky enough to not only meet the woman of his dreams (Mare Winningham) but to convince her to go out on a date with him later in the night. He is also unlucky enough to end up oversleeping and missing their date. Still, he drives out to the diner where they were supposed to meet on the slim hope that maybe she's stuck around for a few extra hours waiting for him. And while she hasn't, Edwards does arrive just in time to answer a pay phone and discover that, in just a few more hours, Los Angeles is going to be destroyed in the first nuclear strike of World War III. The rest of the film follows Edwards comically hapless yet touchingly sincere efforts to both reunite with Winningham and to get out of L.A. in the small amount of time he has before the bombs start falling. What starts as a hilarious comedy of errors becomes an all-to-realistic portrait of absurd tragedy as the film reaches it's unavoidable conclusion. The film's power comes from just how seamlessly the film handles the transition from comedy to tragedy (often times shifting between the two a couple of hundred times in the course of just one scene) -- a tonal combination that may, at first, seem like a contradiction but one that accurately reflects the feelings that many of us felt, during the Cold War, growing up with the constant possibility of sudden nuclear holocaust in the back of our minds. Director Steve DeJarnett handles the film with just the right touch, never going overboard on either the comedy or the pathos. Though she doesn't have much to do beyond being sweetly perfect, Mare Winningham proves herself to be the perfect actress for the job. In Anthony Edwards, DeJarnett was lucky to find the perfect leading man for his story. Long before ER made him famous, Edwards here embodies the elusive concept of the everyman. Neither a super hero or a total schlub, Edwards is totally winning and believable as a guy who is both unlucky in love and fate. Watching him, you know that he's not the type of action hero who can prevent a nuclear war but you also know that he's not the type of guy who's willing to allow the world to end without first finding true love. In short, he's just like you and that's what makes Miracle Mile such a powerful and affecting little film.
Rating:
Summary: Glad I discovered this one
Review: My mate lent me this amazing little film and after viewing it I immediately ordered my own copy.
This is a very compelling and weirdly hypnotic film that is quite difficult to shake from your mind for days afterwards. I liked the cinematography very much with its bright, saturated colours that contrast very nicely with the dark subject matter.
The performances hold the attention too with a very strange collection of characters.
Bleak, brave, exciting and curiously affecting.
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Summary: A GREAT ANTI NUCLEAR WAR FILM!!
Review: one of the last great anti global destruction films of the 80's. a deep massage for tolerance and redemption. what would you do if the humanity only have five hours to live or escape from nuclear missiles are already heading on your way?...one f the most nihilistic/ anarchist films of the past 15 years.......the only bad thing about it is that the dialoge is really cheesy and corny.......but over that.....everything is very nervewrecking.........and with one of the most devastating endings ever recorded on an american film.....the end of the world is here and evolution has to pay it's price! get this movie now!
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Summary: A movie that will haunt you for years
Review: Others have described (perhaps too much of) the plot of this film, so my review will focus more on the film's effect.I first saw this movie in '89-'90, at my then-fiance's house. I thought I was in for a boring romantic comedy. Instead I was shocked into thoughtful silence for the remainder of the evening. It has since become one of my all-time favorite films, and I am glad to see it has finally been released on DVD (I recall looking for it here previously and only finding rental-licensed VHS copies for $90). The feeling of anxiety and mounting dread is simply so palpable in this film, and stays with you long after it ends. I remember catching myself speeding on my drive home after watching this... the lingering feeling of urgency was that strong. As mentioned elsewhere, the characters in the film are all utterly convincing, no matter how outlandish they may seem. This makes the drama all the more real. I also think the fact that the movie takes place at 4am is a big plus. Until the last part of the film, the streets of LA are eerily deserted as Harry races to get Julie and himself to safety. All of this, coupled with the haunting soundtrack from Tangerine Dream (the first CD I ever purchased!), combines to make a movie that you will want to watch again. I second the previous reviewer's suggestion to have an unsuspecting friend watch this with you. I guarantee they will be stunned into silence when the credits roll. As a final note, I thought that this film was released originally on HBO (hence the lack of a widescreen version). However, I see other reviewers mentioning watching it in the theater. As I first saw it on video, I can't comment on what might be missing. However, this is one film that I'm going to purchase for its content, regardless of format (and I'm normally a widescreen snob ).
Rating:
Summary: How did this film fly under the radar?
Review: Possibly the single most horrifying movie I've ever seen...and I wish it would be put out on DVD! After my initial shock, I showed it to friends who later said "why did you show me that film? I hate you!"
Miracle Mile starts off mildly enough in the guise of a developing dysfunctional romance flick. Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham are wonderful and genuine in their modern (late 80s) roles. Before mid-way, though, a single mis-dialed phone call sets the exhausting, terrifying pace for the rest of the film, which is pretty much real-time after that. Your pulse, at this point, will be running at top speed to the last frame.
What goes on? Without giving too much away, Edwards' character is acting on something that, within a couple of hours, will affect everyone in the world.
On first watch, lots of the action doesn't seem to make sense, but on a second viewing, it falls perfectly together like a tight puzzle. And if not for Edwards' everyman-in-an-extraordinary-situation performance, the film would look silly and fall completely apart, but he absolutely shines. The soundtrack by Tangerine Dream is spot-on, too.
If you like happy endings, or have a weak heart, turn and run far, far away from "Miracle Mile". But if you want to see the "human experience" put into motion, have your morals challenged and have something to think about for the rest of your life, see it.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic film, less-than-stellar presentation
Review: The only thing preventing me from giving the "Miracle Mile" DVD five stars is its disappointing presentation. The newly-released DVD is presented in fullscreen format only, with no option for widescreen. There are no special features to speak of, other than the original theatrical trailer for the movie. There's nothing, in a word, that would tell you much about what makes this film really unique. As one of my favorite movies, I was hoping for better from the DVD release of it. Still, I'm happy to see the DVD, as my ten-year-old videotape copy has seen better days, and this should at least last me a little longer. That doesn't mean I won't be hoping for (at least) a widescreen release of "Miracle Mile" at some point in the future!But enough about the DVD. I'd much rather talk about the movie, as it's an excellent one. "Miracle Mile" starts out with a pretty simple premise: Harry Washello (played by a very young Anthony Edwards) meets Julie (Mare Winningham) at a museum. They begin to go out, and Harry becomes convinced that she's the girl for him. An unfortunate series of circumstances makes him very late for their third date. Harry tries to call her from a phone booth, and right after he hangs up, the phone rings. He picks it up. A frantic voice on the other end tells Harry that nuclear war has begun, and that there's a little more than an hour before it's all over. That's when the movie really begins. Harry doesn't know what to make of the phone call at first. It could be a prank, but it sounded real to him. When he tells others about it, their reactions range from anger to fear to disbelief. The rest of the film becomes an almost-real-time race to try to escape Los Angeles, as Harry tries desperately to find Julie and get her out of the city. Events quickly escalate as more and more people start to learn about the rumours of impending nuclear attack. The incredible thing is that, for all its trappings as a thriller, what makes "Miracle Mile" so great is how it works as a character study. Harry, generally a good guy, lies and misleads in order to acheive his goals of finding Julie and getting out of the city. Julie, largely clueless about what's going on until near the end of the film, is a well-drawn character with some nice twists. The way she deals with the news is completely believable. A tangential story to the main plot, about Julie's estranged grandparents, is both touching and heartbreaking. The other characters in the story, some of which we only meet for a few minutes, others who show up more than once, are all paid equal attention, and could clearly tell their own stories. I'm always impressed when I watch "Miracle Mile" at how believable each of the characters is... they're not throwaway cardboard cutouts and they're not cliches. They're each people you might see walking down the street at any given time of the day, particularly 4 in the morning. That said, "Miracle Mile" is still a great thriller, one which will keep you guessing until the end. And when the end comes (no, I'm NOT going to tell you what happens), it'll leave you thinking for quite some time afterwards. I've watched this film 20 times or more, and it always leaves me the same way: a little stunned, a little sad, and very impressed. "Miracle Mile" has been one of my favorite movies for 15 years now, and will likely be a favorite for a long time to come, because it manages to be a skillful character study and a compelling, original thriller at the same time. There are very few films that make this combination work for them, but "Miracle Mile" accomplishes the task admirably. I do wish they'd put out a better DVD, though. The film is certainly worth the best presentation they can give it.
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