Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded

I recently watched Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded (2014) on Tubi. The storyline follows Miami in the early '80s, when the city transformed from a retirement haven to a hub of drugs, sex, and violence, becoming the cocaine capital of the US. The war on drugs overwhelms the local government, and without external assistance, there's little hope of stopping the international drug cartels dominating the city.

Directed by Billy Corben (Broke), the film excels in interviewing individuals involved in the intricate details of drug pickups and drop-offs, as well as contracted hitmen of the era. Having enjoyed Cocaine Cowboys, I found Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded to be much of the same. While it includes 30 more minutes of interviews and content, most of the film recycles footage from the original. There are slight variations, with some areas offering more details and others less, but overall, it follows the same narrative as Cocaine Cowboys, without enough new content to make it worthwhile if you've seen the original.

In conclusion, Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded is entertaining and worth a watch, but only if you haven't already seen Cocaine Cowboys. I would score this an 7/10 and strongly recommend it to new viewers.

Billy Corben has mined the devastating days of the renegade drug import business in Miami in no less than three Cowboy Chronicles. I think I've seen them all now as I only now saw Reloaded. I take it's the middle one, but there's cross-pollination so I don't think it really matters. I will say this one doubles down on some key players and adds plenty of interspersed interviews as well as ample narration by these key players that were still alive at the time the film was made. I think by focusing on these people the film stands on it's own possibly being more laser focused. Miami was truly the perfect drug and crime storm in a time most of us felt the US had moved way beyond the "Wild West Days" where law and order existed only at the end of a gun. The film makes it clear that wasn't the case as the multiple law enforcement agencies were corrupt on a local level and asleep on the Federal one. The devastation really is all around constantly yet the film somehow fails to get the horrific gravity of it Maybe it's just because the key players talk almost casually when explaining their actions? There still is a lot here to digest and it is interesting in that "fact is stranger than fiction" department that this stuff all happened before justice began to clean it up. At the end of the day it was only because the drug money was lucrative in the "billions and billions" range. The intersection of so many things, even the Iran-Contra drugs for arms craziness, will hopefully never be repeated.

I not only saw the documentary, I lived it, I became a Metro Dade county police officer in Aug of 1980 and retired in 2002, I was on the scene of at least half the drug related killings pictured in the video, and a whole lot more that were not. As if that weren't enough, I also went to High school with the quintessential Cocaine Cowboy Mickey Munday, oddly enough I didn't make the connection till I watched this video 50 something years later, I recall him as a redheaded nerd who the girls wanted nothing to do with, if they had only known that one day he would be buying entire neighborhoods and burying trash bags full of 20s and hundreds.

Okay, here's the story. I come from the gutter. I know that. I got no education but that's okay. I know the street, and I'm making all the right connections. With the right woman, there's no stopping me. I could go right to the top.

Whenever you can track down the original cut or watch the much more available 'Reloaded' edition, 'Cocaine Cowboys' is a fascinating piece about the powder keg explosion that was cocaine to the United States. Both versions are "talking heads" style of docs, but I can tell you this update is not just a cash-in. Has a tighter overall package. Better editing. Interviews, snippets, soundbites are expanded on or allowed the necessary time to breath, fully flesh out the violence & horror.

Bad cops, good cops, successful smugglers, corrupt banks, Colombian hitmen and the array of innocent people caught in the blast radius. Many movies, tv shows have used this real piece of history for their backdrops and while some is bound to be known to seasoned viewers, there's also many new nuggets. Everyone knows about the Mariel boatlift, how it affected things, but did you know about Arthur McDuffie or a plot to murder a senator? 2.5 hours is a good chunk of time and it's loaded with tons of info, finely edited into a complete package here.

If you want a peek into drug smuggling with scary, sometimes smart characters this is your meal ticket. It's an interesting subject worth a watch and this covers it all from every angle without feeling sensational or cutting corners. Director, creator Billy Corben would follow up with a subpar sequel 'Hustlin' With the Godmother' solely focused on Griselda Branco that already gets done justice here. Also a third entry 'Kings of Miami' that I thought was a return to form although the original is tops.