Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4980 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-28
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Synopsis
From Walt Disney Pictures comes MIRACLE, an inspiring family drama that combines hockey and history in retelling the story of one of sports' all-time greatest upsets. In 1980, amidst the tense political climate of the Cold War, Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) took over as coach of the U.S. Olympic hockey team. With the help of affable assistant coach Craig Patrick (Noah Emmerich), Brooks selected a group of twenty amateur hockey players who faced the daunting task of bringing respectability to their country's floundering program. While Brooks was well aware that his team lacked the talent and experience of the team from Russia, he nonetheless devoted his energy to realising his lifelong dream: to coach a team to Olympic gold. Stepping into the gaudy wardrobe of the legendary Brooks (who was a consultant on the film and died in an automobile accident just after production wrapped), Russell delivers one of his finest performances to date. Surrounded by a cast of unknown young actors, Russell captures the complexities of a man who dared to dream the impossible dream. Director Gavin O'Connor and screenwriter Eric Guggenheim deftly balance the drama of the game itself with the larger political implications the game inspired, celebrating this truly miraculous moment in time.

Customer Reviews

What a fantastic movie
Where do I start? This is a fantastic movie whether you are into hockey (aka ice hockey to the Brits)or not. I remember the 1980 Olympics and remember thinking it incredible that a bunch of College kids could beat the (professional) Soviet team - well - this is the film of how this happened.

It doesn't matter what your sport is, this is all about TEAM - if this does not get you going and motivated, nothing will! Kurt Russell's performance as Coach Brookes is worthy of an Oscar and the skating is top notch too!

Even if you don't know hockey, you will love this film - it is in my all time top ten - watch this now.

Almost made me care about hockey
People my age probably remember where they were when John and Bobbie Kennedy were shot, when Armstrong stepped onto the moon, when the Challenger blew up, when the Berlin Wall came down. Perhaps even when the U.S. Olympic hockey team beat the unbeatable Soviets in 1980. And I don't even care for hockey that much.

MIRACLE is the story of that legendary upset, and the grueling training that led up to that glorious moment, told from the perspective of the coach, Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell). A member of the 1960 Olympic squad, Brooks was cut from the team a week before its first Olympic match and subsequent gold medal victory. After that, the USSR Olympians dominated the sport for the next twenty years. Through his "boys", Brooks sought personal redemption and an end to Soviet hegemony.

The first film of 2003 of Oscar caliber was SEABISCUIT, the story of an earlier underdog. MIRACLE was perhaps the first 2004 release deserving Oscar consideration. Not for Best Picture, but for Russell as Best Actor (though I didn't believe for a moment that was the actor's real hair).

MIRACLE is about Coach Brooks. While the young actors that portray the twenty-some players do a creditable job, they're all pretty much lost against the background of team identity. And that's as it should be because their amazing victory was, and necessarily had to be, a team effort. This point is effectively made for the audience during a tortuous set of punishment drills after a poorly played match against the Swedish national team when one of Herb's players finally correctly answers the question he constantly poses, "Who do you play for?" It's a moment of revelation for all concerned.

Just as the horse race action in SEABISCUIT almost made me go down to the track and squander the mortgage payment on a first-ever bet, MIRACLE's camera work on the ice almost morphed me into a rabid hockey puck. You, the viewer, are right there in the thick of the furious melee expecting to be slammed against the boards or slashed with a stick at any moment. There's an adrenaline rush not felt with, say, curling.

At the film's end, a voiceover by Russell-Brooks reminds us that, soon after the 1980 Gold Medal upset, America's Olympic hockey team was opened to pro players of the National Hockey League to thus create the "Dream Team" concept - but no Olympic squad since then has ever captured "the dream". Honor is due Brooks and his amateurs.

this film should have won an oscar!
This is one of the best films i have ever seen! I like films that involve sports, as it is all about team work! i think that Kurt Russell played a great part as Herb Brookes and he was so inspiring, the skating techniques of the players are fantastic and the way the games are spitting image of the actually game played is excellent! i advise anyone who has not seen this movie to go and watch it and i hope that you enjoy it as much as i did!