In the late 80s, I, along with a couple of like-minded friends, would frequent all night horror film festivals. Over a period of a couple of years, we saw movies featuring psychos, monsters, serial killers, zombies, cannibals, and aliens, and witnessed all manner of unspeakable ways to die, but, for me, perhaps one of the most horrifying films was Miracle Mile. It featured no toothy critters or undead ghouls and there were no lunatics brandishing power tools, but it managed to scare the hell out of me.

Starring a young Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham, and directed by the virtually unknown Steve De Jarnatt, this taut thriller is suspenseful, action packed, romantic, and heart-breaking. If you thought that Shakespeare was the last word in tragedy, then think again!

Edwards plays 30 year old Harry Washello, a trombone player who finally meets the girl of his dreams, waitress Julie Peters (Winningham). Harry arranges to meet Julie at the end of her late night shift at a roadside diner, but misses the date after his alarm fails to go off. Arriving three hours late, he calls Julie (who has long gone home) to apologise; then, as he is standing outside the diner buying a paper, the phone in the nearby booth begins to ring. Harry answers the call.

The frantic voice of a man reveals that World War 3 is imminent; nuclear missiles are on their way. At first Harry thinks it is a prank, but he eventually becomes convinced that it is indeed a genuine call, intended as a warning to the caller's father, but thanks to an incorrectly dialled number, now a cause of panic for poor Harry.

With only an hour to go, can he find Julie and escape to safety, or will they both die in an atomic blast?

As the movie's protagonist frantically attempts to locate his new love, we are introduced to several other characters who all become inextricably involved in his plight. With the clock ticking, the tension is wound to breaking point, as all manner of obstacles get in his way. And all the while, De Jarnatt toys with his audience, never quite letting on whether Armageddon is genuinely on its way, or whether Harry has got matters slightly confused.

Until the end, that is. The shocking, depressing, totally downbeat end.

Wonderfully inventive, well acted, brilliantly directed, with a great score by Tangerine Dream, Miracle Mile is a fine example of how to create a masterpiece on a low budget.

In amid the unfunny comedies and silly romantic tales of the late '80s movie business comes this absorbing, interesting gem of a film dealing with the threat of nuclear war. Achieving wonders on what is a low budget, this is an intelligent, accurate slice of film-making which remains gripping from start to finish. The decision to make this a character-focused piece of drama, instead of a special effects intense film (think : Armageddon),makes it all the more thrilling in that we care about the people involved.

A cast of mostly unknowns, only familiar from television, do a pretty good job to convey the fear as the clock ticks down to nuclear warfare. Another clever plot device is to have the film playing out in real time, so the viewer can also count the seconds ticking down to the strike, making it all the more intense. Anthony Edwards, while appearing somewhat wimpish and cowardly as the lead, does a great job, being as he is a messenger of death to most of the cast. You can really feel for his frantic plight as he rushes across the city and engages in all sorts of mishaps and violence. Many familiar faces turn up in bit parts, from Denise Crosby to the black police chief from ROBOCOP, who here plays the café owner. Also popping up are THE TERMINATOR's Doctor Silberman and Brian Thompson, the chief baddie in COBRA. Old timers John Agar and Lou Hancock provide a few laughs as the stubborn couple who are brought together by the threat - a cliché, yes, but a good one.

There are plenty of tense, nail biting moments in this film. The café scene, where Edward struggles to convince the locals of the threat, is a great one, as is the petrol station incident which explodes into unexpected tragic violence. But it's in the final stages where the film really comes into it's own, showing a city in chaos, full of crashed cars, looters, and people who have lost all their scruples and are more than willing to kill in a bid to survive. It's clever how this film shows how such a threat can change people in different ways, reverting human society back to its basic principles. Widespread chaos is easily conveyed in some powerful, dramatic scenes of turmoil and confusion at the end, which are very impressive on a low budget and good at putting across the hopelessness of the situation.

Okay, so the nuclear blast, when it comes, isn't very impressive (after all, they didn't have that big a budget, and I still think TERMINATOR 2 is the final word on portraying a horrific nuclear attack via spectacular effects),and the film does descend into some awful sentimentality in the dragged-out conclusion, with some terrible romantic stuff between Edwards and Winningham. But ignore these faults and instead focus on the ideas and issues behind this character-led piece of intense drama, and you'll have a great time.

In Los Angeles, when the musician Harry Washello (Anthony Edwards) meets Julie Peters (Mare Winningham) in the museum, he immediately falls in love with her. They schedule a date late night in Miracle Mile, but the alarm clock fails and Harry misses the date and he arrives three and a half hours late. Harry accidentally hears a mistaken phone call and a man tells that the United State has just started a nuclear war sending missiles against Soviet Union and in two hours Los Angeles would be hit by the enemy back missiles. Harry seeks out Julie and frantically tries to find a helicopter pilot to leave Los Angeles. Meanwhile the rumor is spread out and brings chaos to the city.

Today I have watched the cult "Miracle Mile" maybe for the sixth time and despite being dated in the present days with the end of the Cold War, it still impresses how a rumor can be so destructive. The frantic and nightmarish story of a young man that discovers that Los Angeles will go into a meltdown in about two hours has the pace of "After Hours" of 1985. The haunting music score of Tangerine Dream fits perfectly to the apocalyptical screenplay of this unforgettable unique film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Miracle Mile"

Note: On 30 January 2021, I saw this film again.