...at least for this wizened ol' film buff, "Miracle Mile" seems to be woefully under-seen by IMDbers, which is a shame. It's littered with known (and much lesser-known) character actors like John "I married Shirley Temple!" Agar, Denise "I was Tasha Yar!" Crosby, Mykelti "Let's go shrimpin' with Forrest!" Williamson, O-Lan "I married Sam Shepard" Jones, Robert "I've been on so many TV shows you'd be amazed!" DoQui, Brian "The Terminator took my clothes!" Thompson, Earl "I was Sarah Conner's shrink!" Boen, and others whose identities I'll leave to the investigations of the determined reader. The film's stars, Anthony "ER" Edwards and Mare "Georgia" Winningham, embody a welcome change from the typical Hollywood "beautiful people" leads, and share a great chemistry portraying tentative new lovers who ultimately share a decidedly unusual courtship. "Miracle Mile" is worth seeing for these people alone, awesome Tangerine Dream score notwithstanding.
No matter. Writer/director Steve De Jarnatt never did much else of similar note, but as far as I'm concerned his reputation is cemented by this wonderfully dark romance. Released shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the U.S.S.R., it's Armageddon time shortly after Harry meets Julie, and what fun it is to watch Romeo battle his way to the side of his Juliet. Who can help but smile at the clunkiness of what passed for "mobile" phones back then, or miss the blatant symbolism of authority figures immolating themselves with a careless squeeze of the trigger? "Miracle Mile" is b-movie wonderfulness, and practically screams for a big-budget remake (and if there is, I hope to high heaven that De Jarnatt gets to write it); it's essential viewing for all end-of-the-world movie fans, and far more entertaining than the likes of the recent remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still." The 2003 DVD release is sadly a retread of the much earlier full-screen laserdisc release, but still very watchable. In fact, it's not to be missed.