Against the odds it always works out for the underdog
There’s nothing quite like a hardass coach that cares. You’ve seen this formula a million times in 80s classics. One movie that comes to mind after watching Miracle is the movie Hoosiers. You’ve got a coach that refuses to bow down to his players and their families and demands greatness and discipline. This is the same coach in Miracle.
Herb Brooks, the coach of the University of Minnesota’s hockey team (a successful hockey team), interviews for the coaching position of the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team. He has a strategy where his guys will become a team and beat the Soviets. Taking a chance, he’s hired as coach and recruits the players that are good enough to make a team; not the greatest hockey players. He puts the players through hell and a half and demands cohesion from them. When the Winter Olympics arrive, he finally has a well-tuned team that is set to play what many consider the greatest game in sports history.
Kurt Russell makes this film, plain and simple. He takes on the role of the hard-nosed coach, Herb Brooks, and simply does not let up or break from his stride. Most people in triumphant films like this tend to bend when they’re introduced as ass-kicking leaders, but not Russell. He maintains the course and tries to replicate what most people believed to be true when it came to Herb Brooks. You see this man fight against the odds with the Olympic committee, his players and ultimately the Soviets. He comes into the movie as a strategist with an unproven formula to do the impossible and by the end of the film you just want to get up and hug his character for actually pulling it off. This is one of the first films where I looked at Russell and ten minutes into the film I forgot that it was Russell. That’s how good he did with the character.
As for the film as a whole, this probably one of the more entertaining films that I’ve seen in a while. I could honestly tell you that I would watch this film more than once out of pure enjoyment and not because I had to review it. It’s a perfect flow chart to how you can build a story and take your audience along for a ride. Disney could not have picked a better foundation to build from, as the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team is one of the greatest, miraculous stories of all-time. In a time where the USA didn’t have any love for the USSR (Soviet Union for you young folk), it was a much need victory for the country that was in desperate need for good news. Most consider this point in history the turning point for the country in general, so that even adds more to the mystique of the story. What Disney did so well with this is that it maintained everything that made this one moment great. It built off of nothing, which is how the story began, and added a small piece of hope as the movie progressed, until ultimately you’re right where the players were in that one particular game, believing that the impossible could be done. That’s truly what makes this movie great, it builds and it pays off.
So are there any flaws to the film? Not many complaints here. I think that is was a tad bit long in the tooth, but it still is definitely a movie i would consider watching again. It was a perfect balance of good acting and good story, so I can’t really gripe about much.
Blu-ray was a perfect fit
If you’re looking for a reason to buy Blu-ray, this could be certainly a great reason. The picture quality, especially during the actual hockey scenes, is some of the purest video I’ve witnessed on the format. While certainly not setting a new bar, you will get some very unrivaled detail, even if you’re watching it on a 720p set. In 1080 it looks jaw-dropping. As for audio, much like an action film, you get some great game audio, especially the game with the Soviets. You’ll feel the puck getting hit, the stopping and going of the skates, you’ll get everything you wanted on the audio side.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– The Making of Miracle
– From hockey to Hollywood: The Actor’s Journey
– The Sound of Miracle
– Miracle ESPN Roundtable with Linda Cohn
– First Impressions: Herb Brooks with Kurt Russell and the filmmakers
– Commentary by director Gavin O. Connor, DoP Dan Stoloff and John gilroy
– Outtakes
Much like The Greatest Game Ever Played, there’s a small amount of features here, but they’re good. You’ll find some great insight and plenty of interesting tidbits to make Miracle a little bit more special. Good, but not great.