Miracle Mile (1988)

PRESS

1988

Variety 7 September 1988 pp.34, 40 (USA)
"Though ridiculous on the surface, the film's bizarre logic makes this Darwinian race for survival believable in spite of its total implausibility. After a nightmarish string of increasingly violent and crazed events, Harry and Julie are reunited but their love story has no happy ending. Anthony Edwards gives a bravura performance as the musician transformed by events into a resolute survivalist. Mare Winningham and others populate the picture with convincing supporting performances. De Jarnatt, who evokes an edgy suspense reminiscent of classic '50s tv fare such as The Twilight Zone and Panic, is abetted by fine camerawork and design, plus a Tangerine Dream score of ominous ethereality." - from a review by Rich

1989

Cinefantastique vol.20 no.1/2 (November 1989) p.117 (USA)
"A harrowing and thought-provoking thriller [...] Brimming with mayhem, yet priced at a fraction of a major studio movie, De Jarnatt's film delivers twice the substance that makes a great film and thankfully leaves no hope for a sequel." - from a review by Taylor White

1990

Starburst no.137 (January 1990) p.24 (UK)
"A great example of taut low budget independent filmmaking, Miracle Mile is another Hemdale release left languishing on the shelf - because it takes the biggest storytelling risk by refusing to conform to any accepted pattern. And its disturbing dénouement doesn’t leave room for a sequel [...] De Jarnatt's sterling movie allows us to really get to know the well-drawn characters before catapulting them head-first into the most alarming events imaginable. With empathy at such a premium, it's impossible not to get caught up in the superbly choreographed mayhem or nerve-wracking premise bursting with tension [...] Miracle Mile is a nuclear nightmare of the highest order. The ace up De Jarnatt's sleeve is never allowing us to cotton on to what it's really about - or whether the holocaust really will occur - until the very last shots." - from a review by Alan Jones

1991

Empire no.20 (February 1991) p.26 (UK)
"Veering unfashionably from wistful comedy to outright panic, director De Jarnatt certainly dares to take an unconventional, and hardly reassuring, approach, albeit to familiar subject matter [...] A worst-case scenario rethinking of 1941, Miracle Mile has some of the eccentric drive and taut plotting of After Hours, but is mainly a movie original, confronting the End of the World with a mix of black humour, deeply felt anger and honest sentiment. Wonderfully acted by a large cast of star bit-players, it may not exactly cheer you up, but tackles an important issue in an approachable, individual way and has an overall impact which is quietly devastating in its own peculiar way." - from a review by Kim Newman

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.58 no.685 (February 1991) pp.51-52 (UK)
"The panic in the streets, an ugly riot of looting, terror and rage among the slaughtered cars, has seldom been more vivid in the disaster-movie genre. Unforeseeably and acutely valid in a new era of war, the film restores the chill of credible prophecy to the snarling crowds, the plunging rocket trails and the furnace of impact, for all that De Jarnatt [...] is exploring not the present but a lightly surrealistic tradition of terminal imagery." - from a review by Philip Strick

Last Updated: 23 September, 2009