Miracle (2004 film): Difference between revisions

Miracle
Miracle
	Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Gavin O'Connor
Written by	Eric Guggenheim
Produced by	Mark Ciardi; Gordon Gray; Ross Greenburg; Justis Greene; Jon Mone; Greg O'Connor
Starring	Kurt Russell; Patricia Clarkson; Noah Emmerich; Sean McCann; Kenneth Welsh; Eddie Cahill; Patrick O'Brien Demsey
Release dates	6 February, 2004
Running time	135 min.
Language	English

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Miracle (2004) is an American biographical sports film about the United States men's hockey team, led by head coach, Herb Brooks, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The USA team's victory over the heavily favored Soviet team in the medal round was dubbed the Miracle on Ice. Miracle was directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by Eric Guggenheim.

Plot summary

This movie sucks.

Cast

Actor	Role
Kurt Russell	Herb Brooks
Patricia Clarkson	Patti Brooks
Noah Emmerich	Craig Patrick
Sean McCann	Walter Bush
Kenneth Welsh	Doc Nagobads
Eddie Cahill	Jim Craig
Patrick O'Brien Demsey	Mike Eruzione
Michael Mantenuto	Jack O'Callahan
Nathan West	Rob McClanahan
Eric Peter-Kaiser	Mark Johnson
Bobby Hanson	Dave Silk
Joseph Cure	Mike Ramsey
Billy Schneider	Buzz Schneider
Nate Miller	John Harrington
Chris Koch	Mark Pavelich
Kris Wilson	Phil Verchota
Stephen Kovalcik	Dave Christian
Sam Skoryna	Steve Janaszak
Pete Duffy	Bob Suter
Nick Postle	Bill Baker
Casey Burnette	Ken Morrow
Scott Johnson	Steve Christoff
Trevor Alto	Neal Broten
Joe Hemsworth	Mark Wells
Robbie MacGregor	Eric Strobel
Kenneth Mitchell	Ralph Cox

Trivia

The movie was filmed in Canada. According to the DVD commentary, the extras who are shouting "USA, USA" are really Canadians.
Over 280 miles of film were shot, more than any other Disney movie.
Buzz Schneider was portrayed by his son, Billy Schneider, though when they made the decision as to who would portray Buzz, they didn't know about the father-son relation until after casting Billy.
This movie is dedicated to the real Herb Brooks, who died a year before the movie was released. His dedication said, "He never saw it. He lived it".
Before the match against Norway, the sentence "Seier'n er vår" (Victory is ours) is heard as the stadium is shown. This is a popular sports related "song" in Norway.
The PNE Forum at Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, served as the location of the final fight in Rocky IV for Rocky Balboa's Soviet bout against Ivan Drago.
The scene where Herb Brooks makes the team skate back and forth on the ice all night, after their 3–3 tie with Norway, was actually done by the real actors over a span of three days - 12 hours a day. The director wanted the moment to be as realistic as possible. Also, the events that ended the sprints were altered for the movie. In real life, Mark Johnson ended the drill when he smashed his stick on the side of the rink in frustration. The actors mentioned on the DVD that they all agreed that was their least favorite part of the shoot.
Many shots of Lake Placid were actually filmed in Rossland, British Columbia.
During filming at a residence of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, rowdy residents disturbed filming by hanging USSR flags in the residence windows, reporting the shoot to the fire marshal, yelling distracting taunts at the actors, and even stealing Kurt Russell's chair.
Much of Al Michaels' play-by-play during the "Miracle on Ice" game was re-created for the movie. However the final seconds, featuring the famous "Do you believe in miracles?" call from the actual game, was preserved and edited into the film.
The movie remains mostly faithful to the actual events, with few changes. In the second period of the Soviet game, the Russians scored the goal and Craig was injured later in the period. In the movie, the producers combined the two plays into one. The Americans scored their third goal at 8:39 of the third period; in the movie this goal is moved up to 4:45.
The shot of the scoreboard during the West Germany game showing the caption "GDR" (the IOC abbreviation for East Germany) is historically accurate. The mistake was made at the actual game in 1980. Many viewers mistakenly assume this to be a "goof" in the movie.
The Aerosmith song "Dream On" is played in the closing credits.
Pacific Coliseum was the arena used in the Madison Square Garden scene.
In the bonus features, in an interview, Rob McClanahan says that he never really understood why Brooks acted the way he did toward Rob during the break of the Norway game until he saw the scene of the incident in the film.
ReelSports was contracted to help make the hockey action look realistic.
Retired NHL Goaltender Bill Ranford stood in for Eddie Cahill during all on ice action sequences.
2007 Bollywood film Chak De India is inspired by this film.

Awards

Best Sports Movie, ESPY Awards (2004)

External links

Miracle - Movie Official Website
Miracle - Recreating the On-Ice Sports Action
Miracle at IMDb
Text, Audio, Video of Coach Brooks' Address to Players During Olympic Match with Swedenfrom AmericanRhetoric.com
Text, Audio, Video of Coach Brooks' Address to Players Before Olympic Match with the Soviet Unionfrom AmericanRhetoric.com

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 ==Plot summary==
 {{Plot|date=September 2008}}
+This movie sucks.
-The movie chronicles the journey of the 1980 US Olympic Men's ice hockey team. The opening credits feature a montage of the 1970s, depicting events such as [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] and the [[Iran hostage crisis]]. Then [[University of Minnesota]] head coach [[Herb Brooks]] (played by [[Kurt Russell]]) interviews with the [[USOC|United States Olympic Committee]], discussing his philosophy on how to beat the Soviet team. Despite the fact that they seem very skeptical of his ambitious goal, Brooks is hired.
-Brooks meets his assistant coach [[Craig Patrick]] at the tryouts in Colorado Springs. However, Brooks selects a preliminary roster of 26 -- later to be cut to a final roster of 20 -- indifferent of the tryouts and the preferences of senior USOC hockey officials. Brooks tells Patrick, "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones." He convinces [[Walter Bush]], the executive director of the committee that he has their best interests at heart. Brooks says that he selected these 26 players through preparation in advance, explaining how he's researched this, coaching many of them, talking with coaches and scouts about players he hasn't coached himself. Bush agrees to take the heat from the committee, saying, "I'll back you up on this one."
-Coach Brooks has the boys take a 300-page psychological test. [[Jim Craig]] declines to take it. He's suffering through a family tragedy and is morose and intractable. Coach Brooks lets it go, saying mysteriously that Craig has taken the test.
-During the initial practice, tempers flare as forward [[Rob McClanahan]] and defenseman [[Jack O'Callahan]] get into a fight based on an old 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, in which each player states his name, his hometown, and for whom he plays. This is repeated over and over, somehow the coach is trying to get at something but they don't know what it is.
-The coach starts the team on an exhausting conditioning drill (which became known as "Herbies"), in which the team sprints together back and forth across the ice, over and over.
-Coach Brooks is working so hard his family life is suffering. He has a deep confrontation with his wife and they arrive at an understanding that this is something he must do, a fulfillment of his life's ambition since he had been cut from playing on a previous Olympic team at the last minute.
-During an exhibition game against the [[Norway|Norwegian]] National Team in [[Oslo]] that ends in a 3&ndash;3 tie, Brooks notices the players are distracted by pretty girls in the stands and not playing up to their potential. After the game, in a wrenching scene, he makes them run "Herbies" far into the night. Although the arena empties and the lights are turned off, Brooks continues the brutal drill; many players are on the verge of collapse; Doc Nagobads and coach Patrick are getting very concerned, on the point of stopping the drill, but Brooks won't listen. Finally exhausted forward [[Mike Eruzione]] shouts, "Mike Eruzione, (from) [[Winthrop, Massachusetts]];" when Brooks asks him "Who do you play for?," Eruzione responds with the answer that Herb had wanted all along, "I play for the United States of America!" and the drill is over.
-Brooks also brings in [[Tim Harrer]], a star from Brooks' [[University of Minnesota]] team, to test the players commitment. Despite having a good year playing with his current team, the [[University of Minnesota]], some feel Harrer is an obstacle to them making the final roster, but mainly he didn't fit within their "family".  Having gotten them to realize this, Coach Brooks drops Harrer from the lineup. Just before the [[Olympic Games]] are to begin, Brooks has to make the final cut to the required 20 with Ralph Cox. Herb says at one point he didn't realize it would be this hard.
-The team plays the [[Soviets]] in an exhibition game at [[Madison Square Garden]]. The Russians 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]] is told he may be benched in favor of back-up goalie [[Steve Janaszak]]. Craig ends up retaining his starting job when the coach brings him to realize that he hasn't been giving his very best.  "I want to see that kid in the goal that wouldn't take the test", ie. that rebellious angry streak is what is needed right now.
-As the Olympic tournament begins, the Americans trail [[Sweden]], 2-1 in the first game. Brooks fires up the team during the break by slamming a table out of his way and accusing injured McClanahan of quitting (Doc had said his injury wouldn't get worse if he played on it.) McClanahan ends up playing despite his pain, and the inspired American team came through as [[Bill Baker (hockey player)|Bill Baker]] scores a goal in the final minute for a dramatic 2-2 tie. They follow that up with a 7-3 win over heavily favored [[Czechoslovakia]], then victories over 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. Before the game Brooks gives the team an inspirational speech in which he tells them, "I'm sick and tired of hearing what a great team the Soviets have. You are going to go out there and beat them ''because you can!"'' Goalie Craig finds that his father is in the stands and the emotions soar. The game begins and following a slash which doesn't get called a penalty, the Russians 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 knocking down [[Vladimir Krutov]] on a play that leads to a goal by [[Buzz Schneider]]. Following another Soviet goal the first period winds down. In the final seconds the Soviet goalie [[Vladislav Tretiak]] stops a long shot by [[Dave Christian]], but [[Mark Johnson (hockey player)|Mark Johnson]] gets the rebound and scores with less than one second left in the period - the clock shows 00:00. Despite the protests of the Soviet coach, Tikhonov, the goal counts, and the teams leave the ice tied 2&ndash;2.
-During the first intermission the Soviet coach replaces Tretiak with backup [[Vladimir Myshkin]], causing Brooks to tell his players, "Boys, you've just put ''the best goaltender in the world on the bench!"'' Early in the second period the Soviets score a goal to go up 3&ndash;2, and Craig is knocked down on the play, has a lot of trouble getting up; but he shakes it off. As the third period is about to begin, Brooks calls the team over for one final inspiration, telling them, as the crowd chants "USA, USA" over and over again and says, "Listen to them. That is what you've done here tonight. Now we've come from behind in every game in this tournament, and we can do it again...We can beat these guys!" Early in the final period the Soviet team is called for a penalty, giving the Americans a man advantage. Johnson scores his second goal of the game just as the penalty is about to expire. Television announcer [[Al Michaels]] asks his partner [[Ken Dryden]], "A couple of months ago, did you think this was even remotely possible?" Later Eruzione enters the game and scores to give the US a 4-3 lead; it would turn out to be the game-winning goal. The entire team skates onto the ice as the crowd celebrates.
-Now, however, the US team goes into a bunker mode, as the Soviet team becomes increasingly aggressive to score in the final ten minutes. As the game winds down, Brooks reminds the team to remain poised and play their game, while the now-desperate Soviet coach unravels and forgets to pull his goalie. In the final seconds Michaels gives his famous exclamation, "Do you believe in miracles?! Yes!!!" The players rush onto the ice in ecstasy and mob USA captain Mike Eruzione and goalie Jim Craig, and Brooks, after receiving a hug from his assistant Craig Patrick, a nod from the Soviet coach, and a smile from wife Patti in the stands, leaves the ice for a moment of solitude. The Americans go on to defeat [[Finland]] to clinch the gold medal. The movie ends with Brooks beaming with pride as the entire team crowds together on the gold medal platform.
-As the music plays and everyone's cheering, the voice of Herb Brooks reminds us that now the USA sends "Dream Teams" made up of NHL stars to the Olympics now, but they don't realize the dream. The 1980 team won on teamwork and conditioning, whereas these guys are all about individual skills.
 ==Cast==