The Mighty Ducks
Tags: inspiring

Plot synopsis:
Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is a successful Minneapolis defense attorney of the Ducksworth, Saver & Gross firm, who never loses a case but whose truculent courtroom antics have earned him no respect among his peers. After successfully defending a client resulting in his 30th win, Bombay is called into his boss's office to be congratulated, but also chastised for embarrassing the judge. Regardless, he celebrates by going out drinking and is subsequently arrested for drunken driving. Bombay is sentenced to community service by coaching the local "District 5" PeeWee hockey team. Bombay has a history with the sport, although his memories are far from pleasant: Years ago, Bombay was the star player on the Hawks. When struggling to cope with the loss of his father, Bombay missed a penalty shot during a championship game, costing his team the title for the first time and disappointing his hyper-competitive coach, Jack Reilly (Lane Smith).
When Bombay meets the team, he realizes the children have no practice facility, equipment or ability to go with it. The team's first game with Bombay at the helm is against the Hawks, the team from the snooty suburb of Edina. Reilly is still head coach and remains bitter about Gordon's shortcoming in the game years earlier (even lamenting that they should take the runner-up banner down from that season despite having a wall full of first place banners from other years). District 5 gets outclassed and pummeled during the game due to Reilly demanding the Hawks run up the score; after the game, Bombay berates the team for not listening to him and the players challenge his authority. For the next game, Bombay tries to teach his team how to dive and get penalties. Meanwhile, Bombay discovers his old mentor and family friend Hans (Joss Ackland) who owns a nearby sporting goods store, was in attendance. While visiting him, Bombay recalls that he quit playing hockey after losing his father four months before the championship game, and due to Reilly solely blaming Gordon for the loss. Hans encourages him to rekindle his childhood passion.
Bombay approaches his boss, the firm's co-founder Gerald Ducksworth (Josef Sommer) to sponsor the team, something Ducksworth reluctantly agrees to do, after being offered his own jersey. The result is a complete makeover for the team, both in look (as they can now buy professional equipment) and in skill (as Bombay has more time to teach the kids hockey fundamentals). Now playing as the Ducks (named for Bombay's boss), they fight to a tie in the next game and recruit three new players: Figure skating siblings Tommy (Danny Tamberelli) and Tammy Duncan (Jane Plank) and slap shot specialist and enforcer Fulton Reed (Elden Henson). The potential of Ducks player Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson) catches Bombay's eye; he takes him under his wing and teaches him some of the hockey tactics he used when he played with the Hawks.
Bombay learns that, due to redistricting, the star player for the Hawks, Adam Banks (Vincent Larusso), should actually be playing for the Ducks. He then threatens Reilly into transferring Banks to the Ducks. After hearing an out-of-context quote about them, the Ducks players lose faith in Bombay and revert to their old habits.
Ducksworth makes a deal with Reilly about the Hawks keeping Banks; however, Bombay refuses it, since it would be against fair play, which Ducksworth berated him about when he started his community service. Left with either the choice of letting his team down or get fired from his job, Bombay takes the latter.
Bombay manages to win back the trust of his players after they win a crucial match and Adam Banks, who decided he'd rather play for the Ducks than not play hockey at all, proves to be a valuable asset. Because of his well-to-do background, Adam is given the nickname "Cake Eater" by his teammates. The name is, at first, seen as derisive, but then becomes a term of endearment. The Ducks manage to make it to the championship against the Hawks. Despite the Hawks' heavy attacks taking Banks out of the game, the Ducks manage to tie the game late and Charlie is tripped by a Hawks player as time expires. In exactly the same situation Bombay was at the beginning of the film, Charlie prepares for a penalty shot to win the championship. In stark contrast to former coach Reilly's attitude (Reilly told Bombay that if he missed, he was letting everyone down), Bombay tells Charlie that he will believe in him no matter what happens. Inspired, Charlie jukes out the goalie with a "triple-deke" (taught to him by Bombay) to defeat the Hawks for the state Pee Wee Championship.
The Ducks and family race out onto the ice in jubilation, where Bombay thanks Hans for his belief in him and Hans tells Bombay he is proud of him. Later, Bombay boards a bus headed to a minor-league tryout, secured for him by the NHL's Basil McRae of the Minnesota North Stars. Although he seems daunted at the prospect of going up against younger players, he receives the same words of encouragement and advice from the Ducks he had given them, promising he will return next season to defend their title.

Review: I loved how these bad-playing, poor attitude-having kids could always be inspired to become champions, no matter how tough the odds and no matter how many times movies like this were remade with soccer, football, baseball, and dogs.
Out of all those inspirational sports-are-good-for-kids movies, this was and always will be my favorite because it is the first one I can remember and the first I've ever seen.
The Mighty Ducks (aka as the Champions), is one of the great Disney movies I have seen.
Not your typical fairytale, but a rugged kids adventure, which also goes into that winning is not everything, but that being in a team and playing as a team is the most important part of any sport and is good measure for a person's life.Aggressive trial lawyer Gordon Bombay has never lost a case.
But when he's sentenced to a community service assignment, he must coach a ragtag team of peewee hockey players who can't skate, can't score and can't win.
Watch the pucks fly as they battle their way to the most important game of their lives!This film is a great story for young up and coming sports people' to watch and learn that winning is not the be all and end all of sport.
Although it can have some extraordinary individuals that play, the theme is still the same, that a team has to stick together and try as hard as it can.This movie has a very young and funny cast, with some old heads thrown in for good team balance.
While he is a very aggressive character in the beginning, Gordon brings his knowledge and experience to a group of young kids that would make any sports coach proud.
The other main star is a very young Joshua Jackson who portrayed Charlie Conway, a good ice-hockey player, who reminds his coach a lot of himself as a young peewee hockey player.
Jackson has made a name for himself in Hollywood starring in films such as Cruel Intentions, the disappointing Skulls and the popular TV drama, `Dawson's Creek'.Other cast members also include the rival coach of the Hawks Ice-Hockey team, Coach Reilly  played by veteran actor Lane Smith.
Ice-Hockey is a demanding sport and this movie shows that this is the case, with heavy bumps and unrelenting pressure on players.
Although this isn't the most talented group of athletes to take the ice, and in the beginning the Ducks do really suck', they prove that with some good coaching guidance and team camaraderie, anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
Directed by Stephen Herek [BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE], THE MIGHTY DUCKS was a surprise box office hit in 1992 and was followed by two better sequels and a decent animated series.
Emilio Estevez, in what is his best role to date, plays Gordon Bombay, the coach of The Ducks in this family sports comedy.
"Mighty Ducks" taps into that fan base with a fun little movie set in Minnesota that captures the fun, drama, and emotion of the experience.For a basic plot summary, this movie tells the story of Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez), a corrupt lawyer who his forced into community in the form of coaching Minneapolis, MN youth hockey (an area in which he had some childhood experience).
While at first, Bombay is hesitant to give even a modicum of effort towards the cause, he gains inspiration (whether positive or negative) from old-time mentor Hans (Joss Ackland), former coach Jack Reilly (Lane Smith), and bright-eyed youngster Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson).This is a pretty straightforward kids flick.
Just like how "Little Big League" just "gets" baseball humor, "Mighty Ducks" does the exact same thing as hockey.Basically, you can't go wrong with this on family movie night.
It's all balanced out to entertain the little kids, but Gordon Bombay's arc is one for the adults.I also miss the kids that would end up not being in the future movies.
One of the great kid movie-sports-films of all time, this movie always has a special place in my heart when it comes to losers turning into winners.
Emilio Estevez provided a rather believable performance as a snooty lawyer turned-peewee hockey coach.
And the acting is spirited, with Emilio Estevez charming, dignified and fun as the disgraced lawyer who has to coach the worst ice hockey team and Joss Ackland solid as Hans.
Just recently, I saw D2 and D3, my friend unfortunately did not have the first Mighty Ducks movie, so I had to watch those first then rent this one.
The second and the third were pretty good movies, but I felt bad, because it felt like you're getting into a group of friends, and you don't know their history, you weren't there?
You know that feeling, and as silly as it sounds, that's how I felt watching the sequels without seeing the first one.Gordon is a lawyer who has had a little trouble with the lying in his career, therefore, he must do community service.
He starts off on a rocky relationship since he doesn't like kids, but he grows to love them and they do back learning that there is more to a game than just winning, but it'd be nice since they end up in the championships.I loved The Mighty Ducks, I felt like it was a terrific family film and I'm surprised it wasn't played in my childhood since I was seven years old when it came out, but you know the saying, better late then never, right?
I'll try not to spoil the film's plot, though it is a basic one, with your predictable, yet heart-warming feeling.Be on the lookout for future Dawson's Creek star Joshua Jackson in his second, and most notable role (excluding playing Pacy) playing the leader, Charlie Conway.*** out of ****.
No matter what people would say this movie is a classix it is the story about a man who forgot what sports all is about he is one day taken from drinking and driving and on that day he begins to wake up he had forgotten his past his memories because he would not open his eyes but then he gets a team an ice hockey team and well everything else you need to find out Emilio plays a really great and beautiful part in this movie and so does everyone else it is worth to see this movie and just do see Emilio play what he plays best hehe it is a funny and touching movie about opening a new chances in some ways well anyway what more is there to say then BUY IT SEE IT LOVE IT.
Bombay ends up coaching against a guy who humiliated him as a child when he missed a penalty shot (by the way, why wasn't the score tied after he missed it since a goal would have won the game?).
Joshua Jackson kills it as up-and-comer Charlie Conway learning from the master himself, Gordon Bombay (a dazzling performance by Emilio Estevez) who learns and even relearns a few life lessons of his own as he teaches a ragtag group of kids how to play the games of hockey and life..
Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) was once a star of his peewee hockey team but he hit the post, lost the championship game and disappointed Coach Jack Reilly (Lane Smith).
After a drunk driving arrest, his boss works out a community service plea with the court for him to coach the worst 0-9 peewee hockey team.This is the 'Bad News Bears' in the form of a hockey team.
The Mighty Ducks will surpass your expectation in linger in your memory banks even 10 years after watching the hockey hooligans learning to skate.
Fun Movie To Make You Feel Like a Kid. A self-centered lawyer (Emilio Estvez) is sentenced to community service coaching a rag tag youth hockey team.I am not going to say this is an amazing movie, because really it is nothing all that special.
It is just a fun movie for kids and adults who like to feel like kids.All I really want to write here is: I wonder if Bill Murray had gotten the role of Gordon Bombay, how would that have been different?
They succeeded in making a spontaneous, somewhat entertaining piece of nostalgia for the current generation of teens, but to be completely honest, this is one of the most vanilla sports movies I've sat through in my day, only elevated to being somewhat passable because of its efficient use of its star, Emilio Estevez (seeing this as a child, this was my introduction to the man who would later be one of my favorite male character actors) and its surprisingly successful array of motivational music, which make the cliché ending satisfying and memorable.The story is paper thin, but works as some minor league, or pee-wee, entertainment.
Estevez plays Gordon Bombay, an immensely cocky, successful defense attorney who has never lost a case in his life, but is sentenced to coach a team of young, misfit hockey players after being caught drunk driving.
Bombay has had contention with the sport of hockey after he blew a title win in a penalty shot as a child, greatly putting his coach (Lane Smith) to shame.Now, coaching the District Five team, Bombay is unmotivated and careless, until he sees these kids are genial and somewhat good-natured (and the fact that his old coach is still employed at their rival team), leading him to finally put effort into his work.
He names the team the "Ducks," after the most noble creature in the wild, who travel in packs and stick by one another.Estevez gives about the most entertaining performance one could bring to the table for this kind of movie.
His character is a smart-ass, cut-throat, boisterous know-it-all, who winds up having his heart warmed by a group of helpless kids who don't take that much pride playing for the hockey team until he gets involved.One of the downfalls of the children is that they are carbon-copies of the rambunctious tykes we see in so many movies, and any point at connecting or learning about one of them is especially moot.
The result is corny and usually unnecessary, but Estevez's chemistry with the mother, Heidi King, is just charming enough to make us somewhat care.As simple, pleasant entertainment, obviously the film's main goal, The Mighty Ducks works just fine as basic and has competence to carry a long runtime.
It's a Disney movie that gets half the job done.Starring: Emilio Estevez, Joss Ackland, Lane Smith, Heidi Kling, Josef Sommer, Joshua Jackson, Elden Henson, and Shaun Weiss.
'The Mighty Ducks' is an uplifting story about competing, succeeding, losing, and loving the game of hockey.
The team happens to be a group of annoying children who slide around the hockey rink and who learn what it is like to be the underdog and then succeed through the help of their heroic coach.
The first time I saw mighty ducks, it was just like watching the sun rise.
And I can not imagine any one putting on a performance like Emilio Estevez for Gordon Bombay.
With great catchy lines "There's no point in winning if you can't win big!" and the serious scenes involving gordon bombay and his team, their is something in this movie for everyone.
And also i found the change in Estevez's character from an analy retentive lawyer to a fun loving Ice Hockey coach is marvelous..
i was personally inspired by this movie,i learned to skate by watching the ducks fly down the ice in the flying v.
When Gordon Bombay was a kid he use to skate and play hockey.
it all came down to him in the end in a penalty shot, he missed the shot causing the hawks to loose the game.Gordon Bombay was successful lawyer then went to teaching hockey.
coach Bombay wasn't to happy with there performance for the last few games they lost a lot and tried to get the team to take dives to get penalties.
The parents of the children who he teaches aren't happy with coach Bombay's performance.In the end its the Hawks Vs the Ducks with Gordon Bombay's original coach Lane Smith (I) he also was in the movie son in law with Paulie shore.
This movie is based on a bunch of kids who don't know how to play hockey but when they get a coach everything changes.This was a great movie.The sequels were great too but this one was amazing.My favorite character is Charlie..
I pretty much have no respect for movies like "The Mighty Ducks".
Despite the tremendously clichéd plot--that of an aging fallen athletic hero who loses faith in himself and disinterest in the sport until he has the opportunity to turn a misfit team into a victorious one with hard work and much-needed nurturing--the Mighty Ducks is probably for those youngsters of the early 1990s what films like the Karate Kid were to those youngsters of the mid-80s.
Estevez' past failure as a youth hockey player himself is given a foggy glimpse and old coach Lane Smith ends up being the antagonist here.
i wasn't even a fan of hockey when i first watched this movie.
Emilio Estevez of 'Breakfast Club' fame plays a lawyer forced to coach a ice hockey team as part of community service in this Disney family film.It's a fun film with its heart in the right place, and boasts good performances from Estevez and the youngsters playing the team.It's not without its slow moments, and the love story feels a bit shoehorned in, but other than that this is a decent film..
Made in a time when comedies about kids and sports were probably among the most popular kinds of movies, The Mighty Ducks is the undisputed best of any of these.
(Other favorites of mine include The Sandlot and Little Giants.) The plot isn't complicated, as many have said, Gordon Bombay is an overworked lawyer who gets a DUI charge and is given community service, coaching a kids hockey team of misfits.
The difficulty in this is Gordon played hockey himself as a kid, and blew a championship game.
I don't know if younger kids still watch this movie but if you ask any teenagers who Goldberg is you'll get a laugh and some fun reminiscing.
Gordon Bombay going off to play minor league hockey at the end of the movie?
I don't care how much natural talent you have, if you don't play hockey during that time period, you aren't going to be good enough to try out for the minor leagues.
The 1 and 2 star reviewers cannot honestly tell me they weren't impressed by Gordon Bombay's abilities to take a helpless group of kids that had no chance of going anywhere in life let alone hockey and making them champions.
Unfortunately for one duck the pressure and spotlight that comes with such great success has caused some turmoil in his life, however I think it's important to understand that Goldberg's actions in no way reflect upon the team nor should they diminish the actions of Coach Bombay who took on the heroic task of turning a bunch of kids from Minnesota to world renown legends.
Emilio Estevez plays a hotshot lawyer who is haunted by the time when he was a kid when he missed a penalty shot during a hockey tournament and they lost the game, "letting down" the demanding coach.
When he gets busted for DWI, he has to do community service and coach a ragtag kids hockey team.
A good classic movie for kids.
It's a Disney movie for kids, so it's of course very limited, and it is exaggerated because the point is to entertain and propel young hockey players to already role models.
Maybe this movie is a bit cheesy, copied off Bad News Bears, that may be - but the Ducks are a NHL hockey franchise, that's a a pretty big deal!
If you are a kid and you love to play hockey, that movie is for you.
If you a parent of a kid who plays hockey, you'll hate this movie !.
Basically young hotshot lawyer Gordon Bombay (The Breakfast Club's Emilio Estevez) is arrested for drink driving, and the court orders him to serve community service by coaching a children's hockey team, not very good in their league, and of course he is not happy.
They also manage to get a sponsor and don the team name of The Ducks, but while all this is going on Gordon still has flashes from his past where he played hockey himself, watched by now apposing Coach Jack Reilly (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman's Lane Smith), and he lost.
Disney's 1992 live action film "The Mighty Ducks" is about a man caught for drinking, and now he had to perform community service: by coaching a peewee hockey team.
I hope D4 will be as good, just like these old ones!!!!!Also, look out in this movie for the 1992 Minnesota North Stars, in which one of the players at that time included Mike Modano and a year later, they moved here to Dallas as the Dallas Stars!!!!!"The Mighty Ducks" is the best hockey movie out there.
The Mighty Ducks (1992): Dir: Stephen Herek / Cast: Emilio Estivez, Joss Ackland, Joshua Jackson, Lane Smith, Elden Henson: Another Bad News Bears knockoff with Emilio Estevez training a group of misfits to play hockey.
***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***The Mighty Ducks is one of my favorite sports movies by far.
This movie reminds me of when I played in a Pee Wee hockey league and my team sucked.
Basically its about a horrible hockey team that needs a coach.
Together they become champions.Emelio Estevez does a great job as coach Gordon Bombay and really adds more of an adult humor to the cast of misfit kids that bring funny, but immature humor to the movie.Disney does good.