Viewed in
2010
Formats
DVD
Premise
A movie about the American Olympic hockey team that played The Miracle on Ice.
Thoughts
Yet another family-friendly underdog sports movie by Disney, but they sure know how to use this formula.
The most interesting parts was Kurt Russell as coach Herb Brooks. Unlike most team-oriented flicks, this one focused more on Brooks' character. Also, instead of going for cinematic slow-motion shots, pretty much everything was done in real-time, portraying the frenetic hockey as is. Another twist was not re-enacting the famous footage as Al Michaels screamed those famous words, choosing to let the audience's imagination revisit those amazing seconds.
Those expecting history lesson or those not familiar with the sport probably will get frustrated. My mom kept pestering me with questions about rules and whatnot. Being not too knowledgeable about those miraculous months, there were probably scenes that were supposed to give me goosebumps that did not work on me.
As for real flaws, the biggest was not being able to tell the kids apart. They tried to only focus on a handful, but they all looked alike and their subplots never seemed to truly influence Brooks' character. Also, the real-time tempo of the games gave little time to dwell on key emotional moments, like in the climax.
Like most underdog stories, you know what happens. So movies like these require strong execution. While it might not have been as memorable as I was hoping for, it still worked well, and I could not help but cheer for the underdog in the longest ten minutes of sports anxiety.
What I would change
Added more slow-motion shots during the games, to help clarify the zig-zagging action.
