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Miracle (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (37 - 39 of 70 Reviews)

HBO DOCUMENTARY ON THE SUBJECT WAS SUPERB.
"Miracle" will come and go as a decent film, inspirational to Americans (I guess) or hockey fans alike, but, as much as I would like to I wouldn't call it a great film. While it could have been about a historic moment for US sports, "Miracle" manages to do a fairly drippy job of recycling the day-old dough that passes for its story. Its lively character arcs are grossly underwritten and meekly directed, placing them in traditional roles that dumb down the entire effort.

The shots from the recreated final game between the Soviet hockey team and the US team (for over 20 minutes towards the end, just FYI) were so choppy I couldn't figure out what was happening. Granted, in a film like this the actors have to be skilled hockey players in order to pull off the role, but for the most part, the acting is subpar. Russel cannot be faulted, he plays his part convincingly, Patricia Clarkson is grossly underused as a cardboard cutout wife.

The script is Disney's predictable nod to building dreams, spewing out saccharine bon mots with ease. Think along the lines of Common men go nowhere; you are not common and you get the picture. The inspirational strains of swelling strings emphasize the film's desire to hammer home its milquetoast objective.

"Miracles" isn't bad, but it isn't good either. The film will come and go. It didn't pull at my heartstrings as it supposedly did for so many other reviewers. The transatlantic flight I saw the film on also showed a sports documentary originally filmed for HBO, which was a lot better with original footage of the match. The movie doesn't succeed in recreating the aura of the actual game.

One of the best movies of 2004 so far!
This is the first movie I have seen in theatres this year, and I saw this movie today. And this movie is based on a true story of Herb Brooks and the 1980 US Hockey Team that beat Soviet Union in Febuary of 1980, and piror to that day that he didn't win a gold metals, he was apart of 1960 hockey team but was cut before the big game. I am sure you all know that the real Herb Brooks died August 11, 2003 in a car accident. Right after this movie was made, now I don't know if the real Herb Brooks knew this film was being made. And when the end credits began a tribute to Herb Brooks came on the screen with the words "he didn't need to see it, he lived it", and I pretty much agree, he lived though this advent, taking a hockey that is an underdog, and being a good team. As the movie opens, Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is in a meeting at the olympic office. And when he returns home, he plays hockey with his kids, notfying him that he has been picked to coach the Olympic USA Hockey team in Febuary. And although his wife Patti Brooks (Patricia Clarkson) doesn't get way he has to start work in 2 weeks, (it begins in 1979). At try outs, he picks his team early, without watching the kids try out for a couple of hours. And though he does neglect his family, with his work coaching his team before the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, this is all that I am going to say about what happens in the movie. But if you like sports movies, hockey movies, or not much a hockey fan, you will all pretty much like this, whether or not you where living at the this time at the story, where professional alethetes wasn't yet allowed to play in the Olympics.

A truly inspirational story
I'm not very interested in hockey and I was born in 1980, so I wasn't around to witness the events of this film in "real life" .. but my fiance heard about the movie and said it was such an inspiring story that we HAD to see it! I am so glad we did because it was truly a phenominal film.

Most probably know the plot, so I won't waste too much time summarizing it. Kurt Russell plays Herb Brooks, a hockey coach who gets the job of putting together the team for the 1980 Olympics. His methods are unorthodox and his choice in players a little odd, but he has a plan to put together a team specifically created to beat the Soviets.

While I knew the ending going in, I knew nothing of the story around it. I was entranced throughout the entire film! The acting, especially by Kurt Russell, was wonderful. He played Herb Brooks as a man with a mission that he will stop at nothing to succeed on, despite it causing problems with his wife and (at first) making his players dislike him. Patricia Clarkson plays his wife, and does an excellent job. His assistant was also great, played by Noah Emmerich. I didn't recognize any of the actors playing the hockey players, but I do think they all did a great job as well.

The final scenes of the gold medal game between USA and the Soviets was so well done, I was sitting on the edge of my seat even though I already KNEW USA won! When the buzzer sounded and announced USA as the winner, with the crowd chanting and screaming .. I cried. It was a beautiful moment. :) The credits at the end of the film were extremely well done too, giving information on what each player is doing now. I highly recommend this movie! It was very well done, and I believe did the true story justice.

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