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When the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup, it was a bit unexpected, but it certainly wasn’t a miracle. Now, if long-time underdogs like the Columbus Blue Jackets had come out in their first appearance in the playoffs and won the Cup…well, that would have been a miracle.
And when Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) took the job as head coach of the US men’s hockey team and began preparing for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, he knew he’d need a miracle—or maybe just a whole lot of hard work and determination—to beat the undefeated Soviet team.
Disney’s Miracle tells the true story of how Brooks took a team of strangers and long-time rivals and turned them into a family of hard-working players who might just have a chance of an Olympic medal.
The first half of the film focuses on the team’s seven months of training—the fights, the drills, the drama…and some more drills. Bound and determined to put up a fight against the Soviets—and to take home the gold medal that he never got as a player—Brooks decides to teach his team a new way of playing the game: the Soviet way.
In the midst of the drama and the drills, director Gavin O’Connor does an impressive job of developing the characters and building the suspense. Though it’s impossible to develop all 20 players on the final team, there are some standouts—the rebels, the fighters, the ones who struggle to make the team. There are plenty of back stories and side stories, too, to help the audience care about the players—but, at the same time, there aren’t so many side stories that things get too complex. For the most part, it’s just a simple story about teamwork and determination.
And, of course, at the center of it all is Brooks—a tough, unwavering coach with a past. He’s not exactly a lovable guy—he sometimes works the players until they’re sick, and his family often takes a back seat to his dream—but there’s a method to his madness. And although you might not fully understand it, Russell somehow manages to make him a character that you can get behind anyway.
As the film continues, it only gets better—and more thrilling. Though a quick online search will tell you the story’s outcome, that doesn’t make it any less intense. And once the players arrive in Lake Placid, the careful choreography and the fancy camerawork pay off. It’s exciting to watch—and it’s so well done that it’ll make you feel like you’re right there, on the ice.
Miracle is a powerful and triumphant film that’s based on an incredible (and, yes, maybe even miraculous) true story. It’s a must for any hockey fan’s collection—but, even if you’re not a sports fan, the inspiring story alone makes it well worth watching. Just don’t be surprised if, after watching it, you find yourself tuning in to ESPN a lot more often during hockey season.
Blu-ray Review:
The Blu-ray release of Disney’s hockey classic, Miracle, is loaded with features about the film and its spectacular true story. The making-of feature gives an overview of the process—from the casting process to the amazing choreography. Then, if you want to know even more, you can choose to watch the longer, more in-depth features—like From Hockey to Hollywood, which offers a closer look at the actors and the rigorous tests, auditions, and training that they endured to make the movie. There’s also a 40-minute ESPN roundtable, in which Kurt Russell and real-life players Buzz Schneider, Jim Craig, and Mike Eruzione discuss the months leading up to the 1980 Olympics. If that’s not enough, you can also learn more about the filmmaking process by watching the 10-minute feature on the film’s sound effects and editing. And, finally, you can get to know the real Coach Brooks by watching First Impressions, a rough collection of pre-production interviews with Brooks (who died before the film was finished).
The disc also includes a short outtake reel and an audio commentary with director Gavin O’Connor, editor John Gilroy, and cinematographer Dan Stoloff.
After watching Miracle, you’ll most likely want to know more about the story—and, fortunately, the film’s features provide plenty of additional information and archive footage. You can meet several of the actual players and hear the stories in their own words—and you can see how their story was brought to the big screen. There’s definitely a lot of stuff to watch on this disc, but it’s worth checking out.
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