Miracle: DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review (2009)

Now available on Blu-ray disc, “Miracle” is based on the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s spectacular 4-3 win over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y.

If you happened to see the game, then you probably haven’t forgotten it.

It featured the United States as the underdogs, the Russians as the team to beat, and a fight on the ice that was charged with such passion and meaning, memories of it continue to ripple years later. The movie opens with a brief montage that shows devastating images of the Vietnam War, a nation in the throes of economic uncertainty, the Watergate hearings, the fall of a president, the rise of another, the gas crisis of the late ‘70s, and the general emotional malaise of the country.

Cutting away from this, the film focuses on the one man who would fight to overcome the odds stacked against him: Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), the sharp, ill-tempered coach from the University of Minnesota whose job it was to take 20 young men from various backgrounds and turn them into a team that could defeat the best of the best.

How did he do it? It was no miracle. Instead, it was hard work and cunning, with Brooks studying the Soviets’ strategy, learning from it and then doggedly training his team to beat them at their own game. Most of the cast are first-time actors and all are convincing. They manage to get under your skin and deliver a movie that, not unlike the game, captures the essence of the time and leaves an impression that’s far more lasting than you might expect.

Rated PG. Grade: B+