Miracle (2004 film)

Miracle is a 2004 American sports film about the United States men's ice hockey team, led by head coach Herb Brooks, portrayed by Kurt Russell, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The American team's victory over the heavily favored Soviet professionals in the medal round was dubbed the "Miracle on Ice". Miracle was directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by Eric Guggenheim and Mike Rich.[2][3] It was released on February 6, 2004, where it grossed $64.5 million on a $28 million budget and received positive reviews, with Russell's performance garnering the most praise from critics.

Miracle
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGavin O'Connor
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music byMark Isham
CinematographyDan Stoloff
Edited by
Production
company
Walt Disney Pictures
Mayhem Pictures
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • February 6, 2004 (2004-02-06)
Running time
136 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$28 million[1]
Box office$64.5 million[1]

Plot

Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), head ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota, interviews with the United States Olympic Committee for the national team coach's job, discussing his philosophy on how to beat the Soviet team, calling for changes to the practice schedule and strategy. The USOC is skeptical, but ultimately gives Brooks the job.

Brooks meets his assistant coach Craig Patrick (Noah Emmerich) at the tryouts in Colorado Springs. Brooks selects a preliminary roster of 26, indifferent to the preferences of senior USOC hockey officials. He convinces USOC executive director Walter Bush (Sean McCann) that he has their best interests at heart. Bush reluctantly agrees to take the heat from the committee for Brooks' decisions.

During the initial practice, tempers flare as forward Rob McClanahan (Nathan West) and defenseman Jack O'Callahan (Michael Mantenuto) get into a fight based on college rivalry. Brooks bluntly tells the players that they are to let go of old rivalries and start becoming a team. He then calls for introductions and the players each tell their name, hometown and which team they play for. As practices continue, Brooks uses unorthodox methods to winnow the roster down to 20 players. The players themselves worry about being cut at any time, knowing that Brooks himself was the last player cut from the 1960 Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal, so he will do anything to win.

During an exhibition game against Norway in Oslo that ends in a 3–3 tie, Brooks notices the players are distracted and not playing up to their potential. After the game, he orders them back on the ice for a bag skate. Brooks has them skate from one end of the ice to the other several times (doing, in other words, his infamous "Herbies," as the team would call them colloquially), continuing the drill even after the rink manager cuts the power. Exhausted, forward and team captain Mike Eruzione (Patrick O'Brien Demsey) re-introduces himself in the same matter from the initial practice and cries out that he plays for the United States. Getting the answer he wanted all along, Brooks finally tells the players they are done. Eventually, the team comes together, with the players thinking of themselves as a family representing the United States. Just before heading to Lake Placid, the Americans plays the Soviets in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden. The Soviets manhandle the young American team, winning by a score of 10–3. During the game, O'Callahan receives an injury that could keep him out of the entire Olympics, and starting goaltender Jim Craig (Eddie Cahill) is told he may be benched in favor of backup Steve Janaszak (Sam Skoryna). Craig ends up retaining his starting job when the coach brings him to realize that he hasn't been giving his very best.

As the 1980 Winter Olympics begins, the Americans trail Sweden 2–1 in the first game. Brooks fires up the team during an intermission by accusing an injured McClanahan of quitting. McClanahan ends up playing despite his injury, which inspires the team. Bill Baker (Nick Postle) scores a goal with less than a minute remaining in the third period for a dramatic 2–2 tie. They then follow up with a 7–3 win over heavily favored Czechoslovakia. As the Olympics continue, the team defeats Norway, Romania, and West Germany to earn a spot in the medal round. The Americans are considered overwhelming underdogs to the Soviets in the first medal round game. The game begins and the Soviets score the first goal. Then O'Callahan, having healed enough from his injury, enters the game for the first time. He makes an immediate impact by heavily checking Vladimir Krutov on a play that leads to a goal by Buzz Schneider (Billy Schneider). The Soviets score again to retake the lead. In the final seconds, Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak stops a long shot by Dave Christian (Stephen Kovalcik), but Mark Johnson (Eric Peter-Kaiser) gets the rebound and scores with less than one second left in the period.

During the first intermission, Soviet coach Viktor Tikhonov (Zinaid Memišević) replaces Tretiak with backup Vladimir Myshkin. In the second period the Soviets score a goal to go up 3–2. Early in the final period the Soviet team is called for a penalty, putting the Americans on the power play. Johnson scores his second goal of the game just as the penalty is about to expire. Later, Eruzione puts them ahead 4–3 with 10 minutes left. The Americans hold off the Soviets to win the game, completing one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Two days later the team would go on to defeat Finland 4–2 to win the gold medal. The movie ends with Brooks staring out over his team with pride as the entire team crowds together on the gold medal platform.

Cast
ActorRoleNotes
Kurt RussellHerb BrooksU.S. Olympic hockey coach who leads the team to an Olympic gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Patricia ClarksonPatti BrooksWife of Brooks.
Noah EmmerichCraig PatrickAssistant General Manager and Assistant Coach under Brooks.
Sean McCannWalter BushGeneral Manager of the U.S. Olympic hockey team.
Kenneth WelshDoc NagobadsU.S Olympic team physician and long-time friend of Brooks.
Eddie CahillJim CraigU.S. Olympic team’s starting goaltender. Plays in every minute of every game.
Patrick O'Brien DemseyMike EruzioneForward and captain of the U.S. Olympic team. Scores the game-winning goal against the Soviets.
Michael MantenutoJack O'CallahanDefenseman on the U.S. Olympic team. Injures his knee in an exhibition game but returns against the Soviets and makes a key shot that leads to a U.S. goal.
Nathan WestRob McClanahanForward on the U.S. Olympic team. Gets into a fight with O’Callahan in the first practice.
Kenneth MitchellRalph CoxLast player cut from the team during tryouts because Brooks can only take twenty players.
Eric Peter-KaiserMark JohnsonForward on the U.S. Olympic team. Scores two out of the four goals in the victory over the Soviets. Known as the most skilled player on the team. MVP of the team.
Bobby HansonDave SilkForward on the U.S. Olympic team who receives a pair of silky underwear from the guys at Christmas.
Joseph CureMike RamseyDefenseman and youngest player on the U.S. Olympic team.
Billy SchneiderBuzz SchneiderForward on the U.S. Olympic team and part of the Conehead line. Billy is Buzz's son.
Nate MillerJohn HarringtonForward on the U.S. Olympic team and part of the Conehead line.
Chris KochMark PavelichForward on the U.S. Olympic team and part of the Conehead line. Assists Baker on the tying goal against Sweden and Eruzione on the game-winning goal against the Soviets.
Kris WilsonPhil VerchotaForward on the U.S. Olympic team.
Stephen KovalcikDave ChristianForward and defenseman on the U.S. Olympic team. Shoots the puck at Tretiak with very little time left during the first period against the Soviets. Johnson scores on the rebound.
Sam SkorynaSteve JanaszakExpected to be the top goaltender of the U.S. Olympic team after winning a national championship in 1979 and taking home the tournament MVP, but is placed behind goaltender Craig and never plays during the Olympics.
Pete DuffyBob SuterDefenseman on the U.S. Olympic team.
Nick PostleBill BakerDefenseman on the U.S. Olympic team who scores the game-tying goal against Sweden in the opening game of the Olympics.
Casey BurnetteKen MorrowDefenseman on the U.S. Olympic team.
Scott JohnsonSteve ChristoffForward on the U.S. Olympic team.
Trevor AltoNeal BrotenForward on the U.S. Olympic team.
Robbie MacGregorEric StrobelForward on the U.S. Olympic team.
Joe HemsworthMark WellsForward on the U.S. Olympic team.
Zinaid MemiševićViktor TikhonovHockey coach for the Soviet team.
Adam KnightTim HarrerForward brought in late to try out for the U.S. Olympic team, eventually cut.

Production

Gavin O'Connor directed and Mark Ciardi produced the movie. Both are drawn to inspirational stories and they decided to take on the "Greatest Sports Moment of the 20th Century".[4] They chose to focus on the determination and focus of coach Herb Brooks. O'Connor knew from the beginning that he wanted to cast Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks because he needed someone with an athletic background and a fiery passion for sports. The casting of the team consisted of real hockey players to give the film a raw and accurate feel. O'Connor figured it would be easier to teach hockey players to act than to teach actors to play hockey. On-ice tryouts were held in New York, Boston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Vancouver. Another tryout was held in Vancouver for the Soviet and European teams.

There are a total of 133 different hockey plays in the film. To accomplish this, the directors turned to ReelSports Solutions, who had helped with the producers on a previous movie, The Rookie. The ReelSports team referred to coach Herb Brooks for information on practices, plays, equipment, and uniform styles. Each fight and stunt scene was choreographed to ensure the actors' safety. Players went through a six-week training camp to relearn the game in older equipment.[5]

Sadly, Coach Brooks died in a car accident before the movie was released. At the end, before the credits it states, "This film is dedicated to the memory of Herb Brooks, who died shortly following principal photography. He never saw it. He lived it."

Soundtrack

Release

The movie grossed $19,377,577 on its opening weekend, February 8, on 2,605 screens. It closed with a worldwide gross of $64,445,708.[7]

The movie was released with a rating of PG, meaning that Parental Guidance is suggested.[8]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 164 reviews, with an average rating of 7.01/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Kurt Russell's performance guides this cliche-ridden tale into the realm of inspirational, nostalgic goodness."[9] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[11]

Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times stated that the movie "does a yeoman's job of recycling the day-old dough that passes for its story."[12] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times referred to the movie as "a classically well-made studio entertainment that, like The Rookie of a few years back, has the knack of being moving without shamelessly overdoing a sure thing."[2] O'Callahan said in an interview that while the fight between him and McClanahan was fictional, the film accurately portrayed the "pretty intense" rivalry between Boston Terriers and Minnesota Gophers players, and was overall "pretty darn close" to actual events.[13]

As of January 2017 Miracle was rated the number two sports movie of all time with a rating of 8.85 out of 10 in the ongoing poll at Sports In Movies, after maintaining the number one spot for several years.[14]

Awards and honors

Miracle won the Best Sports Movie ESPY Award for 2004.[15]

In 2006, the American Film Institute nominated this film for AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers.[16] And In 2008, AFI nominated this film for its Top 10 Sports Films list.[17]

See also

References
  1. "The Miracle – Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  2. Turan, Kenneth (February 6, 2004). "Do you believe?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  3. Vattiat, Drew (February 21, 2015). "Miracle on Ice 35 years later". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  4. Fitzgerald, Brian (January 7, 2000). "1980 Miracle on Ice named Greatest Sports Moment of the Century". B.U. Bridge, vol. 3 no. 18. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  5. "Miracle (2004) – About the Production". (January 30, 2004). HollywoodJesus.com. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  6. "Soundtracks for Miracle". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  7. "Box office / business for Miracle". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  8. "Parents Guide for Miracle". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  9. "Miracle". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  10. "Miracle". Metacritic. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  11. "Miracle". CinemaScore. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  12. Mitchell, Elvis (February 6, 2004). "Miracle: A Hollywood Ending From Real Life". The New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  13. "Jack O'Callahan interview". USA Hockey. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  14. "Guide to Sports Movies". SportsInMovies.com. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  15. "The 2004 ESPY Awards winners". ESPN. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  16. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers Nominees" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  17. "AFI's 10 Top 10" (PDF). American Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
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