In the next scene we see Tubbs in a strip club throwing around some money trying to develop a connection to Calderone. According to a source that worked on the filming of the first two seasons of Miami Vice, this scene was filmed in the Omni. This was convenient because at that time in the series that is where the production offices were for Miami Vice.
In the next scene we see Tubbs in his hotel room. Not a great hotel but exactly what you would expect for his situation, very realistic. I think one of the nice things about pilots is that they have not yet committed to big spending on studio sets so they use allot of real locations. This is a prime example. They shot in a real hotel room which later in the series would not have happened.
In the next great scene we are headed into a drug deal that gets blown, allowing
for a great Car Vs. speedboat chase. We start off as Crockett pilots his go-
As Tubbs takes off, you see a 7-
In the picture below; the blue rectangle designates the area where the drug deal
was going down. The yellow arrow represents Crockett and Leon's approach path. The
red line is drawn on the bridge underneath which Tubbs escapes in Crockett's boat.
The Green rectangle designates the 7-
Its now 32 minutes into the pilot and the chase is on. Crockett jumps into an awaiting Camaro and pulls out to chase down Tubbs who has made off with Crockett's boat. In a bit of Miami movie magic they are both immediately transferred from western Miami on the Miami River, to Miami Beach on the Indian River between 42nd St. and 54th Street as Crockett chases along on A1A. In the picture below you can see one of the goofs present in the Pilot. Clearly visible is one of the lighting trucks that was stationed along the route to provide light for the filming.
As is often done but seldom realized when casually watching a show they chase over
the same territory several times making it seem like a longer stretch. For example
if you watch closely you will see them pass by this same heli-
As the chase continues we see a rare light flaw for Miami Vice. This one brief cut it is clearly much lighter out than all the other cuts before or after. This one cut must have been shot as dawn was breaking while the others were all shot in the darkness of night. The distinctive top of the Eden Roc Hotel is seen in the background assisting in the finding of this location.
Several unique and very nice looking houses are seen in the background as Tubbs turns to avoid the barge and heads west into Surprise Waterway toward Surprise Lake from Indian River.
Please click on the picture below to continue on to page 5 of
Brother’s Keeper.
While in his room we see his flash back to New York and his reason for being here. The murder of his brother. This was filmed in Brooklyn New York in the area of the intersection of Adams Street and John Street. In the shadow of the Manhattan bridge. Rico’s brother is waiting to deal on Adams St. between Plymouth Street and John St. The location was hard to pinpoint as two different bridges are seen in the background even though they look the same.
Luckily we see the Twin Towers in line with the western tip of the Brooklyn Bridge which made finding this location much easier.
If you recognize any of the unknown locations or have something else to add, please let me know at: cglide@floridamovielocations.org
Brooklyn Bridge.
We see Tubbs watching from atop a trailer. He is on John St. looking toward Adams St. from just west of Pearl Street. The building Tubbs is next to has since been torn down.
Calderone is parked facing on Plymouth Street near Adams Street.
Tubbs comes running. Filmed on John Street with Tubbs east of where we saw him on the trailer. He is running west toward the intersection of Pearl St.
Tubbs on trailer
Deal location
Calderone under bridge.
Tubbs
Deal
Then they arrive at the drug deal. Filmed on location at Bojeans Boatyard, 3031 NW S River Drive, Miami.
