Mill Creek Entertainment reissued the first two seasons of Miami Vice on DVD in May 2016, the picture quality is remastered and improved compared to the earlier Universal releases (2005, 2014). The dirt and scratch has been noticeably cleaned up, the picture is not as dark, looks sharper, definite improvement, this is based on comparison of the Pilot episode between Mill Creek's 2016 Region 1 NTSC reissue and Region 2-4 PAL Australian release from 2008 by Universal. The Mill Creek source apparently comes from new HD remasters, too bad they are not pressed on Blu-Ray discs.
The new DVD sets are priced really cheap, $14.99 suggested retail and half off on Amazon. All episodes are on just 4 DVD discs (as opposed to six discs for Universal's single-sided reissues a few years ago or even fewer episodes per disc on 2008 R2 release which had 8 discs) which has to affect overall picture quality but not noticeable to me. The MillCreek Disc 1 has the Pilot (not the two-part version as on the Region 2 release but as single movie of 1 hour 37 mins), and episodes 2 (48:45), 3 (48:46), 4 (48:53), 5 (47:42), all on Disc 1. That's six episodes on one disc! (One of the four discs has just 5 episodes, all others six!) The Mill Creek DVD does not have the 20 secs Universal intro/logo at the beginning of each episode, otherwise they seem to be identical episodes. I have compared episodes between Mill Creek 2016 release and Universal Region 1 2014 reissue (Disc One was not present in my set):
Pilot: 1:36:43 (2016)
Heart of Darkness: 48:44 (2016)
Cool Runnin': 49:01 (2014), 48:46 (2016)
Calderone's Return:Part 1: 49:02 (2014), 48:53 (2016)
Calderone's Return: Part 2: 47:56 (2014), 47:42 (2016)
One Eyed Jack: 48:58 (2014), 48:47 (2016)
No Exit: 49:03 (2014), 48:50 (2016)
The Great McCarthy: 49:04 (2014), 48:48 (2016)
Glades: 48:28 (2014), 47:45 (2016): 40 secs difference here could be significant
Give a Little, Take a Little: 48:42 (2014), 48:31 (2016)
Little Prince: 48:23 (2014), 48:10 (2016)
Milk Run: 48:58 (2014), 48:45 (2016)
Golden Triangle Part 1: 48:30 (2014), 48:17 (2016)
Golden Triangle Part 2: 48:35 (2014), 48:20 (2016)
Smuggler's Blues: 49:00 (2014), 48:51 (2016)
Rites of Passage: 49:01 (2014), 48:47 (2016)
The Maze: 48:58 (2014), 48:47 (2016)
Made For Each Other: 48:57 (2014), 48:46 (2016)
The Home Invaders: 49:18 (2014), 49:07 (2016)
Nobody Lives Forever: 49:02 (2014), 48:51 (2016)
Evan: 48:58 (2014), 48:41 (2016)
Lombard: 49:02 (2014), 48:48 (2016)
Audio on 2016 release: 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo, no additional languages. The 5.1 has a problem on Episode 2 in several scenes when the audio sounds echoed, the Dolby Digital Stereo is fine.
There is no booklet, all 4 discs are on top of each other in a regular DVD case.
The biggest problem is that there are no subtitles for this 2016 reissue and also no bonus features, the ones from Universal's Season 1 sets were not ported over but they weren't that essential anyway, yet some bonus features would have been nice. The 2014 reissue had English, French, Spanish subtitles and I think all Universal season sets have at least English subtitles.
I recently also purchased the Universal single sided disc reissue from 2014, which had duplicated Disc Six, just hope someone will get this Season 1 release right someday: on Blu Ray, with subtitles, better Bonus features, no audio issues, all discs present, I am hoping!

First, the 1-star review is because Amazon will allow you to purchase Season 1, but not all the episodes. Second, Miami Vice as a show deserves 10 stars, but the format (Non-HD) and the inability to watch one of the best episodes of Season 1 is driving this review. Lastly, you are better off buying the DVD's which contain all the episodes.

LIke the description says, this show has it all: style, adventure, beautiful backdrops, and romance. It was a cult show in the 90s and remains wonderful and modern even in the new millennium. The plots and cast are wonderfully diverse and natural. In many ways this show is not only ahead of its time but it is also more modern and forward looking than most shows made today. Kudos to the director, producers, and cast for making a timeless visual art masterpiece.

The show is still finding it's formula in this season, but this makes it all the more interesting and the more worthwhile purchase. There's more growth in the characters here, as well as in the styling/execution of the show. This makes Season 1 so good; I also recommend Season 2. Unlike many other shows, Season 1 came right out of the gate knowing what worked and consistently delivers good stories, guest stars, music, characters and locations.
For me, Miami Vice is a show that I love to have on: whether I'm closely or sparingly watching. If you like 80s pop music, 80s Miami, people sweating, some humor, cops in the underworld, explosions and gun fire...search no more!

I've got all the seasons on DVD. This show is forever a classic. The soundtrack music of Jan Hammer is hauntingly beautiful... mesmerizing... hypnotic. The plot devises used in this series which today seem dated and cliche were NOT dated and cliche when this show came out. This show was ground-breaking. We tend to laugh at the clothing styles and dismiss this show as being "typical 1980's"... but I challenge you to sit down and start watching this series again. It's not silly... it is captivating. Having said that... the producers did do several episodes that were decidedly more a "comedy" episode, such as those featuring Phil Collins as a character actor... and those episodes were not the finest hours of this series. When the producers again returned to the serious dramatic episodes, that is where this show truly shines. Also, I cannot count how many stars made appearances on this series when they were just in the infancy of their acting careers. This show was an incubator for many well-known actors and actresses today. Watch the pilot episode ... and the first two or three following episodes... and you will be drawn-in to the dark, melancholy, nail-biting, underbelly of Miami's Vice Squad... and you will be hooked, again.

One of my favorite shows of all times. Glad it is on DVD! I just wished that besides the type of Behind Miami Vice Special that was shown on the Season 1 DVD, there was in all 5 Season Disc set "Unedited" versions of each episodes! I heard that there were certain episodes in various seasons that were "edited" I would love to see the "unedited" as a special features or something!

I also thought it was odd that there were not any interviews in the recent years available as part of any of the 5 Seasons Disc set from the 7 main core cast! That would have been nice too. All of them but Don have usually appeared on various Miami Vice specials discussing the show, why not be a part of the Miami Vice DVD release?

I know these DVDs were released I think from 2004/2005 to 2006/2007 but at that time it was during the 20th anniversary. I would have been great for a re-release for the 30th, with this time more available special features such as "unedited" versions of certain episodes and actual interviews with the main 7 cast! Or at least 6 of them!

Season 1 of Miami Vice on DVD deserves praise for getting the most important aspect of the show - the soundtracks that made this (as NBC head Brandon Tartikoff put it) "MTV Cops" - licensed and in their original places in the series. I'm taking off a star for less-than-robust features, so-so video transfer, and a Dolby Digital 5.1 remastering that seems only halfhearted, but this is a must for any child of the 80s.

It's hard to believe its been 20 years since you had a choice of going to a lame high school party on Friday night or staying in and watching Miami Vice. As they discuss in one of the DVD features, what's striking about season 1 is how just how bad the first 5-6 episodes were - when the show nearly got cancelled. (I'd fortunately forgotten the highlight of them - the Sonny Crockett-Gina Calabrese relationship. Awful.) Only after Edward James Olmos brought his taciturn presence to boss unrestrained supercops Crockett and Tubbs and the writers started getting more outlandish with the bad guys did the pace here start picking up. Thus, for most fans only Discs Two and Three contain the 'real' Miami Vice that you remember so fondly. While 20 years later some of the fashion simply makes you laugh, some of the characters (the informants especially) are very non-PC and could easily make you cringe a bit. But it's ok, that was television in the 80s; I guess the vast wasteland has progressed on some fronts.

What's more important is that unlike several recent TV-to-DVD transfers (Keen Eddie being the most heartbreaking of them) the heart of the show - the soundtrack - is completely intact. Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight" and Glenn Fry's "Smuggler's Blues" give the full aura of the chase sequences. Unlike later years, though, the soundtrack to season 1 is mostly top 40 and didn't take a whole lot of chances. (The Pointer Sisters "I'm So Excited" is not exactly cutting edge, although watching the Solid Gold dancers is worth the laugh factor.) But props to the producers to get the licenses without a problem.

The reason this is 4 stars rather than 5 is because there are a number of things that could have been better for the DVD production. First, the three features aren't particularly meaty and it's probably worth taking off a star alone for the 'feature' that is an ad by the Miami Chamber of Commerce. Commentary by actors or writers (several of whom certainly could use the work!) would have been cheap and easy. Second, the video transfer is so-so. I would have expected at least a token effort at digital cleanup, which clearly didn't take place. Finally, the DD 5.1 remastering wasn't particularly well done. Only in a few episodes (and the annoying race car during the video menu) do we get sound effects like gunshots and crickets out of the rear speakers where dialogue is always center channel and music always L-R. Wouldn't have taken much effort to improve that.

Still, a must have for any child of the 80s and I'm looking forward to Season Two when the series picked up.

If you haven't seen the pilot of Miami Vice, its worth the price of these discs.
Sonny Crocket knows that a bad cop is in his department, but he can't seem to convince anyone else. He needs to hunt down a drug dealer that's responsible for the deaths of several cops. He's been undercover for too long, and he and his wife are going through a tough divorce.
Tubbs is a detective from New York after the same bad dealer. He shows up in Miami and teams up with Crocket.

This simple plot culminates in one of the best-filmed scenes ever done for television, as Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight" plays, and the front wheel of a fast car spins in the foreground of the frame while the pavement flies by. The music tells the story along with some really great acting. The song only fades long enough for Crockett to pull over to a pay phone and call his ex-wife. Working undercover has taken its toll. Crockett had just found the bad cop, and he's questioning everything. When his wife answers, he asks her a simple question: "What we had... not now, but before. Was it real?"
She's taken aback by the question, but in an instant, you can tell that she knows he's troubled. "Yeah. You bet it was real," she reassures him.

This is what made Miami Vice the brilliant show it was. It recognized what it took to work undercover. Crockett and Tubbs weren't two perfect cops, but basically good guys with real flaws, who made mistakes along the way.

Not every episode of Miami Vice was as good as the pilot. But its still pretty damn good, and most of modern television owes something to Miami Vice.
If you're a fan of the show "24", watch for hints of that show here. Joel Surnow was the story editor on many of the episodes of Miami Vice. On some episodes, you can see the early flavor of "24" developing.

Even more interesting are the guest apparences of actors who weren't as famous at the time. Bruce Willis, Jimmy Smits, and Ed Oneil all play small parts.