I’m late to this particular party, but there’s no shame in that when the brouhaha is as lively as it is in Miami Connection, a barely seen indie from 1987 which has now become a deserved cult classic. You’ll come to scoff, but you’ll leave enraptured by the sheer gall of the cast assembled here by martial arts artist YK Kim. The shambolic Miami Connection somehow says more about the 80’s than a dozen better films, and yet appeals to our sense of the underdog, somehow getting absolutely everything wrong in a way that feels just absolutely right.
The setting is Orlando; yes, Miami Connection doesn’t take place in Miami, and that’s where we’re at; just go with it. After a crazy drug deal organised by motorcycle-riding ninja Yoshito (Siyung Jo) goes sour, we catch up with the romantic fankles of the younglings at Orlando’s Bayside High, where Yoshito’s sister Jane (Kathie Collier) is performing her stone-cold banger Against The Ninja with her red-hot band Dragon Sound. Dragon Sound are a disparate bunch of highly trained orphans who act like brothers, including the film’s co-director YK Kim, a top martial artist pioneering a unique, never-before-seen acting style. Yoshito is the big man on campus, but Jane manages to get the boys in the band to come to her aid, and face off against their motorbike-riding ninja drug-lords.
I’d read a few glowing reports about Miami Connection from the likes of Nathan Rabin, but no words could have prepared me for the remarkable alchemy of this movie; the performance levels of the entire cast are cheerfully raw, the story is childish and both music and dancing are truly mind-boggling, and yet somehow this all plays well rather than badly. Songs like Friends, Against the Ninja and stoic anthem Tough Guys all have that good/bad charm, with the soundtrack issued on vinyl midway through the pandemic and possibly a major factor in humanity’s recovery from that specific predicament.
Snark is often in the eye of the beholder; some people just don’t get what’s funny about a good/bad movie. But Miami Connection’s fumbled attempts at aping film and tv staples ends up winning and charming with computer ‘processing contests’, sub-Pet Shop Boys synth riffs and laughable fight sequences. This title has defo off-Broadway musical potential, but for now, getting into a Miami Connection state of mind is a must for ironists everywhere. Nothing so bad has any right to be this good, but Miami Connection is somehow far more than any of its singular parts suggest.
Bikers by day, ninjas by night
Swift and fierce, not afraid to fight
Steal all your cocaine along with your life
Strike with no mercy into the night
Striking the victim, escaping by bike
Leaving no trails deep into the night
Look in your shadow, meet life’s last breath
Violence the motto, no fear of death
Strike with no mercy into the night
Escape from Miami, escape with your life
Exactly the kind of movie for when you feel like something completely out of left field. I can always trust you to find one.
This is funny, wholesome and feels like amateur film-makers accidentally hitting gold.
Sounds bonkers. I’m in.
That is the spirit, only a few of us can handle gangs of drug dealing motorcycle ninjas, and that attitude suggests you’re up to the task.
lol.
You need an intervention.
Have you listen to any of the music? You will be dancing on the ceiling, and believe me, what a feeling that is.
Are you channeling Lionel?
Always. Can’t Slow Down, can you?
Yes. All night long.
Say you, say me, but you have to hand it to Lionel. Anyone who festoons the world with images of himself with the caption ‘back to front’ deserves applause for self awareness.
He is The only one.
Stuck on you?
Ffs Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 2 cancelled for next year!
Why???
Actors strike, I guess. But bombing it out for the whole year is a bit of a problem for something that’s meant to play out like one continuous movie.
I don’t get it, are all movies being delayed?
Not all of them. But with Dune getting pushed back six months and MI-8 a year, I’ll be left with nothing but arthouse demon car babies to review. These films are called tent poles for a reason…
I don’t know about tent pole movies. Also you’ve still got Flesh and Bone to do so there’s that.
Yes, that’s sitting with the Police Academy boxed set by the cat tree…
There ya go lots of fun fun fun!
It’s a comedy, right?
Well Police academy’s are supposed to be, which is what I meant.
https://deadline.com/2023/10/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-part-2-quiet-place-day-one-actors-strike-1235580981/
Oh well. I’ll just be happy if the new John Woo Christmas movie is put out to stream, MI can wait.
Just saw an ad for that, John Woo Christmas movies are few and far between, so best enjoy while we can…
The trailer is exciting and it’s Mr.Kinnaman one of my top 5!
He is good. Not in Robocop, obvs, but other things…The Informer?
yep, The Killing, Run All Night, Hanna, Altered Carbon (1st season only) and For All Mankind. Good to see him getting top billing in a Woo movie.
Agreed on all points.
Coke dealing, motorcycle riding, ninjas. You know, I am ok with that premise.
Who is the guy in the center on the cover pix? He looks a little old to be in highschool. hard living or not.
The members of Dragon Sound all appear to be about twice the age they’re meant to be, but I guess they had tough paper rounds.
That man is martial arts guru YK Kim.
Well, that looks quite a bit poo. And I went to see King of the Kickboxers at a cinema.
It’s got heart, spirit and music you will never forget. Scoff at your peril. You are clearly no true friend to the idiom. I could smash you!
If you’re sending Blu-Rays to Fraggle, could you send the VHS tape of this to me? I still have a machine.
Sigh. It’s on you tube. Ask your supervisor to take you to the library and use the internet.
Is that the table with the little TV sets with the typewriters in front of them? I’m talking about VHS. Panasonic.
I doubt you could handle this on VHS. Isn’t your tracking broken? Do you have to punch town okay and record at the same time? Top loader?