Miami Vice (TV Series) Trust Fund Pirates (1986) User Reviews

A reasonably thrilling penultimate episode to the second season

[DVD_Connoisseur · 8/10 · 24 August 2007]

"Trust Fund Pirates" is a reasonable penultimate episode to the strong second season of "Miami Vice". Crockett and Tubbs are on the trail of modern-day pirates, enlisting the help of a contraband smuggling pilot (Gary Cole).

Richard Belzer appears as radio DJ-extraordinaire Captain Hook, and Charlie Barnett makes a welcome return as Neville 'Noogie' Lamont.

A packed soundtrack contains music from David Johansen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Pretenders, Simply Red, Randy Newman, Steve Winwood, INXS and Philip Michael Thomas himself! Interestingly, Cole was favoured originally as Sonny but Mann insisted that Don Johnson was the definitive Crockett.

"Trust Fund Pirates" may be far fetched but there's some decent action sequences and the opening sequence is particularly bullet ridden. Cole is excellent as the reluctant pilot and there's good chemistry between the characters.

8 out of 10. A decent yarn.

Oddly flat considering the guest stars and songs involved

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 1 January 2017]

One of the least memorable episodes of the early seasons, 'Trust Fund Pirates' is Miami Vice going through the motions. Crockett and Tubbs are tasked with little more than looking cool, while Richard Belzer hams it up as an outlaw radio DJ. The talents of Gary Cole are even wasted on a stock drug dealer with an eye on going straight. To its credit, the soundtrack is positively stuffed. And there's some action peppered throughout, but it's not up to the usual Vice standards

The best features are in the opening, between a brief appearance from the Noog Man and a particularly bloody drug ripoff. If you've ever wanted to see a high-end pleasure bot all shot to pieces, here it is.

6/10

Here be yuppie pirates

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 8 December 2009]

Season two is almost over and this episode manages to contain plenty of action and a degree of humour. A boat smuggling drugs is intercepted by a US Customs boat but instead of arresting the smugglers the boat opens fire with its M-60 machine gun and slaughters everybody on board; it is clear that those on board are not customs officers but modern day pirates out to steal the smugglers drug packages.

The carnage is discovered by a seaplane pilot who had been expecting to offload the drugs, he removes some equipment from the boat, the sale of which leads Crockett and Tubbs back to him. In their undercover personas of Burnett and Cooper they approach him and try to persuade him to make introductions to the pirates who it turns out aren't your everyday criminals but a group of young yuppies who are doing it for a bit of excitement.

As well as the regular cast Gary Cole does well in an early role as the pilot. This episode featured more gore than usual, whereas we usually see no blood even when "men in white suits" get shot here there is some blood after the boat massacre, it isn't over done though and still seems restrained by today's standards. While it wasn't the best episode it was still pretty entertaining.

Okay

[mm-39 · 6/10 · 7 February 2017]

Trust Fund Pirates is Okay. What did not work. Formulated plot of bad guys Vice needs to catch by finding a go between for a deal. The usual shoot out in the end. What worked: Johnson and the rest of the cast strong acting. The Trust Fund Pirates humorous lines and sarcasm saves the episode. The pirate radio, and Lug scene added comic relief. From what did not work and what worked I deducted that Trust Fund Pirates is more a comic episode. Pirates is Entertaining. Not one of the edgier episode I enjoy Six out of ten. Nothing like Death of a Lady episode or other powerful/memorable episodes. Trust Fund Pirates is a comic break for the more powerful/serious episodes.

Should have been entertaining but wasn't.

[kitteninbritches · 4/10 · 28 March 2021]

I couldn't get interested at all in this effort. Totally unfeasible plot, devoid of realism. Also wasn't impressed by either the acting or the music. Flattering to even describe it as a filler and I expected more from series 2.