The truth behind building a team

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2004)

"Miracle" tells the story of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team that beat the USSR at the Lake Placid games. The film gives a great account about how to put together a winning team and what their win in 1980 did for the United States.
Kurt Russell, the only really well known actor in the cast, is Herb Brooks, the coach who threw out the old plans for playing Olympic hockey, and molded a young team into winners.
The focus is on Brooks and his work during the short 7 months before the games.
It is by far the best role for Russell since "Backdraft".
Most Hollywood films of historical subjects get watered down, affected by too much "dramatic license", or tries to appeal to the modern movie demographic (read 12 year old males). "Miracle" does none of that.
Having actually watched the team play in 1980 on television, the events during those games were portrayed factually. Even the clothing and other cultural items of the times were done factually. Herb Brooks and the other members of the team served as consultants so the authenticity of the story was maintained.
Being a Disney film, it was able to use video and audio from the ABC network coverage of the 1980 games including the play by play of Al Michaels. It was a hoot to see the old video clip of Michaels and his perm during the intro to the big Soviet game.
As for the hockey, be prepared to sit through most of the film before the action gets going. The main focus is how the team was put together and molded into a team, besides most us know how the game ends. The hockey action is real and intense just as should be. The producers cast people current and former hockey players.
One quibble I have with the film is that it really didn't go into the ground swell of support the team got by the time they got to the medal round. 79 million people watched the game versus the Soviets on television and when the US team won, the nation went nuts. And that was even with the game being on tape delay - held for prime time viewing and the results had leaked out by then.
Another quibble is the filmmakers spent a lot of effort on the sound for the hockey scenes (according to the DVD extras) yet the crowd noise in the Soviet game at the Olympics sounds off. On TV the place was rocking by the end which made the event even more intense. That is missing from the film.
Even with the quibbles, I do believe that "Miracle" will become a classic sports movie much like "Hoosiers" has become. The underdog taking on an impossible task and winning, will always be a great feel good story.