Miracle (2004)

"Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" The 1980 Winter Olympics can be remembered as one of the most memorable to most Americans. During these Olympics the United States beat the nearly unbeatable Soviet Union ice hockey team. Gavin O'Connor the director starts the film by taking us through the past of what's been leading up to the Olympics and the Cold War. Some of the events include the gas crisis, Watergate, and the death of Elvis. O'Connor then takes the audience through the process of selecting the United States Olympic ice hockey team. Kurt Russell takes on the role of head coach Herb Brooks. Russell takes the role to heart by adapting to his ruggish and critical style as he was known for. Brooks says "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones." Herb selected his team after the first day tryouts only asking his assistant coach Craig Patrick (played by Noah Emmerich) what he thought about his list of names. Throughout the film the United States ice hockey coach Herb Brooks pushes his team to the brink of both the physical and mental limit by making them skate "Herbies" and take tests he wants to see how far he can push them. Eventually the team pulls together and plays as a team instead of as individuals. Brooks uses the players emotions to motivate them and ignite their passion to fight through the different pains that they have to be their best. As the Olympics continue the United States is able to defeat various teams until they get the to semifinal game against the Soviet Union. In this game they are able to defeat the Soviet Union which can be seen as one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Two days later the United States play for the gold medal and defeat Finland by a score of 4-2 completing the Miracle. The audience can most closely connect with head coach Herb Brooks. We not only see Brooks as a coach, but we also see him as a dad and a husband. In the movie we see Brooks's family life. We see his wife Patti (played by Patricia Clarkson) supporting her husband by putting her needs aside in order for Herb to chase his dreams. Even though she sacrificed her needs we still see her get mad at Brooks in different times throughout the movie. An example of this is when Patti asks Herb to pick up one of the kids and Herb responds with "You'll figure it out." Patti tells Herb that "we never had this talk...never. You never even asked." What Patti is referring to is that Herb never asked if it was okay to take the job as the Olympic coach he just did it because he wanted a gold medal. In 1960 Herb was part of the United States Olympic hockey team until a week before the games when he was cut. The United States then went on to win the Gold medal and ever since then his dream has been to win a gold medal. The use of music throughout the film is very important. In a film music can help set the scene, make you feel as if you're there, and help build anticipation. For example, before the puck is dropped for the the third period of the Russian game, dramatic music is being played. Also Coach Brooks makes the players skate "herbies" after they tie the Norwegian National team. As the players skate you can hear their blades carving through the ice with a deep drum beat in the background. During this drill Brook's exclaims "The name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back." Brooks wants the players to realize that they are not playing for themselves, but for their country. As the movie progresses the team gets better and more cohesive. The music changes and gets faster, lighter, and more upbeat as they increase their skills and to show their comradery with each other. O'Connor uses different transitions and angles to help convey the different emotions seen throughout the film. He uses the most common transition a straight cut a lot of the time, but he also uses fading in and out to change locations and people. O'Connor uses close up shots of individuals to help us better see their emotions or determination. An example of this is when Brooks makes the players skate "herbies" after their loss to the Norwegian National team, there are tight, close up shots of just Herb's head as he says "Again" to Coach Patrick to blow his whistle and send the boys. Tom Bronson, the costume designer, did a great job helping recreate the costumes for the film. Everything from the glasses, to the coaches polyester warm up suit, to the players equipment and pads (such as the goalie mask) were all modified to fit the era of the 80's. A negative aspect of the film would be how Coach Brooks treated his players. At the beginning of the season Brooks treated his players with harsh words and little respect. It seemed as if he didn't care what the players thought of him he just wanted them to know that he was in charge. If a coach were only to yell at you, and always seemed disappointed with you, you wouldn't feel very good about yourself. You would feel defeated, that you weren't any help to the team, and maybe you should just quit. Another negative aspect is that Brooks put all of his attention into coaching and basically forgot about his family. He wouldn't pick his kids up because he thought meetings were more important. In conclusion, this was a very good movie I would give it a grade of an A-. At times the movie was slow, but overall O'Connor did a great job directing the film. We see the development of the characters and how Herb Brooks was able to lead his team to victory. Even though the audience may think that Brooks' methods may have been inhumane in the way that he coached them, ultimately he helped the players come together as a team and built character in each individual. We were also able to see into Brooks's family life and the toll it took on them. Herb's wife, Patti stood by her man and held the family together so that Herb was able to chase his dream and achieve getting that gold medal. The audience was then able to relate to Herb and the pressures that he was going through. The 1980 Olympics can be seen as a true Miracle on ice.

It's a feel good sports movie based around the true story of Coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) who had the unenviable task of leading the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team in the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. Where the all conquering Russian squad were waiting.We follow Brooks as he assembles a youthful squad then pushes them to the limits, mentally and physically, all while facing pressures in his home life as he gives his all on the ice rinks. If you know your sports history then there's obviously no surprise factor here, but there's good insight into squad dynamics, of coaching and toughness involved in the many facets of high level sport. Russell leads his young cast admirably, while the action scenes during the matches have a kinetic energy that's most impressive. 7/10

The greatest moment in recent Olympics history was the so-called "Miracle on Ice," when the amateur Hockey team from the U.S. defeated the long time Soviet champions at Lake Placid. The journey was a long and arduous one, with the players being driven to top condition both mentally and physically by coach Herb Brooks. In 2004, Walt Disney Pictures produced a recreation of the events leading up to and including the legendary event, with disgustingly underrated actor Kurt Russell as Coach Brooks. The result is not only a really inspirational but down-to-earth adaptation, but Russell in his career-defining role.The year is 1980. America is at a low point in terms of spirit and morale. Iran has taken hostages, Gas is running low, and the Soviets seem to be dominating the Middle-East with no one to stop them. To the U.S. Olympic committee, they have no chance to beat the longstanding champions of the USSR, so they decide to give college students the chance to play under Coach Herb Brooks. Brooks is a hard man determined to knock the Soviets off their pedestal, but not for reasons you would think. There is some bad luck to begin with but the team eventually makes it to Lake Placid and begin their legendary game against the Soviets.What makes Miracle so impressive is the fact that it focuses more on Herb Brooks than it does the team members. Brooks has unfinished business with the Soviets, as he was cut from the 1960 team the week before the games, the only team to beat the Soviets up to that point. He is a rather blunt and mean man who pushes the team to their limits. he makes absolutely no bond with anybody, as he sees this as the way to intimidate his team into performing at their highest levels. But with all this, there is a likability to Brooks that make him all the more three-dimensional, not just a cartoon over-the-top coach.The key to what I just said and the pure ingredient to what makes the film work is Kurt Russell. Here, he paints the portrait of a hurt and driven man who not only wishes to fulfill some need for vindication, but to give people the joy that was taken from him at the eleventh hour. He also looks the part, with the hair, jowl, and even those silly outfits that were considered to be cool back in the day. This is a great performance, one that I really believe was robbed of an Oscar. Not just a nomination, but a full Oscar win. Russell is Herb Brooks, hands down.The recreation of the events are also really good. The Soviets aren't portrayed as the bad guys, but the team that they just have to beat for Brooks. They aren't stereotypical Russian bad guys, but people we don't know apart from what we saw on the television screen in 1980. Its strange how one can often forget that this movie was produced by Disney. One would think the movie is schmaltzy and sugar-coated, but this is one of those exceptions. I think the only thing Disney couldn't allow was strong language that may be prevalent in hockey, but we can forgive them for that one.There has been an argument that there are too many sports movie clichés to be found in this movie. Well, I don't see any of them, except for one. Patricia Clarkson plays the stereotypical housewife who does nothing but complain. I don't watch the scenes with her or I try to mute whatever she says when she talks with Kurt Russell. Other than that, there is nothing to gripe about. I think the reason that critics see them as clichés is because the elements that seem familiar, are actually based on real events and dialog. I never saw this as anything more than history being put onto film with a Hollywood crew and actors. It seems to be and actually is very faithful.This is a good film. There are some slow spots, and maybe some flaws, but none that were easy to notice or try to notice. Kurt Russell is exceptional, and makes this a must see sports film.

This was a great movie starring Kurt Russell as the great American ice hockey coach Herb Brooks. During the movie, we see the challenges he has to face in taking college kids from different parts of the United States and forging them into a cohesive unit. We see eventually the barriers between the Massachusetts players and Midwestern players come down.Brooks is not content with a bronze medal in the Olympic tournament. Through strict discipline and no acceptance of quitting, he pushes his team to the limit. His strong-armed coaching even has his assistant Craig Patrick shaking his head as well as the U.S. Olympic hockey federation who clearly believe Brooks is in over his head.The most enjoyable part of the movie besides the hockey action is Kurt Russell giving a speech to his players at the later part of the film. It is clearly one of the best movie speeches you will ever hear. It has special meaning as he tries to rally a group of college kids against the world's best hockey team (who are professionals) to victory at a time when the United States' place in the world was shaky.