Miracle Staff Review
From the studio that brought you "The Rookie" and "Remember The Titans", comes the movie everybody loves - "Miracle". Filled with exhilarating non-stop hockey action and heart-racing suspense, it is the inspiring true story behind one of the greatest moments in sports history - the 1980 United States ice hockey team's triumphant Olympic victory against the Soviet Union.
It is a brilliant performance as the dynamic and determined coach Herb Brooks, who had an impossible dream - beat the seemingly unbeatable Soviets at their own game.
Starting with a hand-picked group of 26 undisciplined kids, Brooks coached them to play like they never played before; and turned 20 of them into a team that believed they could achieve the unachievable - and in the process, united a nation with a new feeling of hope.
Kurt Russell puts on his coaching hat and enabled the United States to a miracle victory against the Soviets in hockey.
In the mid 80s, coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), and his wife Patty (Patricia Clarkson), go from the University of Minnesota to coaching the U.S. Olympic hockey team. He is joined at the team tryouts by assistant coach Craig Patrick, and team doctor, "Doc" Nagobads (Kenneth Welsh) as they weed through the tryouts for the team.
The team doesn't act like one with forward Rob McClanahan (Nathan West) and defenseman Jack O'Callahan (Michael Mantenuto) fighting over their college rivalry. Brooks then asks each team member their name, hometown, and for who he plays, including goaltender Jim Craig (Eddie Cahill), Dave Silk (Bobby Hanson), Mark Johnson (Eric Peter-Kaiser), Mike Ramsey (Joseph Cure), and Buzz Schneider (Billy Schneider, playing his own father).
Brooks engages the team in grueling workouts, especially after an exhibition game that results in a tie, until exhausted team captain Mike Eruzione (Patrick O'Brien Dempsey) goes through the introduction drill; and instead of stating the team he played for, states he plays for the United States of America.
The U.S. team is going to play the formidable Soviet team and their exhibition game with them goes badly, but as the Olympics begin, perhaps a miracle will occur.
It is a given that the team will rise above and defeat the Russians. It is a miracle especially after their beating in the exhibition game. This is where Disney changes the movie by putting this on blu ray which is so real you will think you are in the rink sometimes.
The Movie Itself is directed by Gavin O'Connor "Miracle" and tells the true story of the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team coached by Herb Brooks. Looking into what Brooks put his players through, both physically and emotionally, the movie also touches on the current political atmosphere the United States was facing with the Soviets at the time. The Soviets, having won the gold medal for the last 4 Olympics in Hockey, did not see the challenge of anyone as they can beat the best the NHL has to offer. As Brooks informs his teammates at one point, if you get a goal by the Russian goalkeeper, keep the puck because that simply never happens.
Bonus Materials are presented in Standard Definition (SD) video with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound.
- The Making of Miracle: This runs close to 18 minutes and, surprisingly, isn't your run-of-the-mill making of. Instead this piece is rather informative and does a good job of mixing cast interviews with the real-life story.
- From Hockey to Hollywood: The Actors' Journeys: This shows the mixture of real-life players and actors working together.
- The Sound of Miracle: Running about 10 minutes in length, this goes over the process the filmmakers had in creating the sound for the film.
- Miracle ESPN: Roundtable with Linda Cohn: This is a lengthy feature that runs close to 41 minutes. This looks into the real-life events of the film as well as the discussion of coach Herb Brooks.
- First Impressions: Herb Brooks with Kurt Russell and the Filmmakers: In about 20 minutes, we get to see Herb Brooks' assistance in helping to make the film.
- Audio Commentary by Director Gavin O'Connor, Director of Photography Dan Stoloff and Editor John Gilroy:
- Outtakes: Here we get about 5 minutes of pretty funny outtakes.
- D-BOX motion code is included if you have equipment capable of decoding it.
--Brian Ramsey
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