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Rating:
If there were a ranking of forgotten masterpieces, "Miracle Mile" would probably be in first place.
Released in 1988 and shot on a low budget, it was praised by critics but flopped at the box office. Slowly, the American audience reevaluated it to the level of a Cult Movie. The film is almost impossible to find in Italy, where it was released under the terrible title "Soluzione Finale".
The story is simple and incredibly effective: Harry, a young musician, meets Julie at a museum and falls in love at first sight. They plan to meet at a bar at midnight, but Harry is late by a few hours because the alarm doesn't go off... upon arriving at the bar, he answers a call at a phone booth: a voice warns him that within 70 minutes, the city will be leveled by a nuclear attack... is it just a joke or reality? Harry must race against time to escape the catastrophe before the city is overtaken by an escalation of madness.
A film that is truly special and unique in its genre, utterly incredible. It starts as a sweet 80s love story and then suddenly turns into a heart-stopping thriller filmed in real-time (that's right, from the phone call to the end, about 70 minutes actually pass). It suffers from some imperfections: some dialogues are not very believable, and some situations are unrealistic, but in the end, the overall emotional effect exerted on the viewer is overwhelming. The progression of suspense throughout the film is something unique, rarely found in other films.
The soundtrack by Tangerine Dream is formidable, at times hypnotic, and at times generates tension. The music and images blend together, and in some sequences, it feels like watching music videos.
In conclusion, a masterpiece that has been shamefully forgotten and deserves more.
A word of advice: don't waste time, look for it and watch it. Don't be fooled by the slow pace of the first 15-20 minutes, but watch it all. You'll thank me.
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