Nice, but nothing special (**1/2)

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2004)

Way too long, hurt by some very corny dialogue and a little too much flag-waving, this story of the U.S. hockey team's victory against the formidable Russian team at the 1980 Olympics is still pretty well done.

It's pretty slow going most of the time, but is worth checking out for the excellent final game sequence, which has been shot in an intense way that places you directly in the middle of the action, making it suspenseful even though the outcome is obvious.
Kurt Russell is very good as the coach, though his character flirts with being unsympathetic at times. The team is played by a large group of unknown actors who all do good work, but only Eddie Cahill stands out as Jim Craig, a troubled player.
Not a great movie, but it was alright.