Great depiction of what happens when you believe in yourself.

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 2004)

Here in Edmonton, The Heartland of Hockey, and being a hockey fan, I obviously was not going to miss this one. Knowing minimal background about the Miracle on Ice, I felt that this is one movie I could not miss. Afterall, I was born in 1980! It was neat to hear the names of a number of players who I recognized on the US, Russian and Swedish teams. Broten, Ramsey, Tretiak, Mikhailov, Kasatonov, as well as Brooks, Tikanov and Patrick the coaches. From what I have seen of Brooks when he was a coach with the Pens, I felt at times I was really seeing him in the way that Russell played him. That was a real credit to Russell in the fact that he truely grasped the role and did it to pretty much perfection. The movie reflects on hockey players at that age too! Young, cocky, and with everything ahead of them, these young guys showed it in their acting.
The movie itself was a very inspirational movie to see. The unbeatable Soviets were beaten by a group of young college guys back in the 1980 and what it shows is the underlying lesson that you should never give up, and that when you believe in yourself and those around you anything can happen. And it did. The camera work at times made you feel like you were a part of the game, some people in the theater REALLY got into it! There literally was an older man (In his 60's I think) cheering and yelling at the screen during the tense final game. While it was a little odd to have that occur, that is a credit to the filmakers in bring the realism to the movie.
I would have to say that was one of the better hockey movies, and obviously the best Disney hockey movie. Give it 4.5 outta 5