Miracle (2004 film)

Miracle is a 2004 American sports docudrama about the United States men's 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. It was released on February 6, 2004.

Plot
The University of Minnesota ice hockey head coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) 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. 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 Walter Bush (Sean McCann), the executive director of the committee, 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 and defenseman Jack O'Callahan 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. 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 to skate "Herbies", which they do for an extended period of time even after the rink manager turns off the power. Exhausted, forward Mike Eruzione interrupts Brooks 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. The team 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 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. As the 1980 Winter Olympics begins, the Americans trail Sweden 2–1 in the first game. Brooks fires up the team during the break by accusing an injured McClanahan of quitting. McClanahan ends up playing despite his injury, which inspires the team and Bill Baker 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. The Soviets score again to retake the lead, but in the final seconds the Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak stops a long shot by Dave Christian, but Mark Johnson gets the rebound and scores with less than one second left in the period. During the first intermission the Soviet coach 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, giving the Americans a man advantage. 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.

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". 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.

Coach Brooks died in a car accident shortly after the film's principal photography was completed. The movie is dedicated to Brooks's memory. The dedication states at the end of the film, "He never saw it. He lived it."

Historical inaccuracy
The film states that Vladislav Tretiak was Viktor Tikhonov's "bread and butter" after being pulled from the net at the start of the second period of the game in the Olympics. The fact is that Tikhonov was not named head coach until 1977 and Tretiak was one from the old guard.

Soundtrack

 * "Mr. Boogie"
 * "You Can Suit Yourself" by Bobby Charles
 * "Time and Time Again"
 * "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
 * "Musta Got Lost" by The J. Geils Band
 * "Thunder Island" by Jay Ferguson
 * "Rockford Files Theme" by Mike Post
 * "Universal Logo"
 * "Nightly News Theme '82"
 * "White Christmas" by Louis Armstrong
 * "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee
 * "Bugler's Dream" by John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra
 * "Star-Spangled Banner" by Lauren Hart
 * "Dream On" by Aerosmith
 * "Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, 1st movement – Allegro" by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

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.

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

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 158 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kurt Russell's performance guides this cliche-ridden tale into the realm of inspirational, nostalgic goodness." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

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." 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." 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 University and Minnesota players, and was overall "pretty darn close" to actual events.

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.

Awards and honors
Miracle won the Best Sports Movie ESPY Award for 2004.

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