TEASER - 147: Miami Vice: GTA Vice City and John Woo (with Toph)

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For the eighth episode in our Miami Vice series, Twitchstreamer and friend of the show Toph returns from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to discuss the international influence Vice had on gaming, manga and Hong Kong action cinema.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City uses the DNA of Miami Vice to offer a complex satire of American society and culture within the gameplay, one of several games that took cues from the show, including the officially licensed (but inferior) Miami Vice for the PS2 in 2004.

We discuss two episodes from season one of the series that feel like Vice City game missions, and explore the clear influence Miami Vice had on Asian pop culture, in particular the films of John Woo during his hot streak in Hong Kong through the 80s; the signs of Vice are everywhere, especially in A Better Tomorrow II (1987), disowned by the director after studio interference, but like The Prodigal Son, it was also partly filmed on location in New York City and it climaxes in a Bushido-esque orgy of heroic bloodshed and Dudes Rock energy.

Episodes discussed on the show:

The Great McCarthy - Season 1, Ep 8

The Maze - Season 1, Ep 18

Here’s where you can find Toph on social media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/real91toph

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@91toph

Twitch: http://twitch.tv/91toph

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@tophscinematheque…

Toph’s Oppenheimer video

Trailer for the PS2 Miami Vice game, 2004

Music video for “Self Control”, Laura Branigan (directed by William Friedkin, 1984)

Cover band version of “Self Control” from The Great McCarthy.

International trailer for A Better Tomorrow II (Woo, 1987)