Miracle is a classic that changed our view on not only hockey but winter sports as a whole.
Miracle was directed by Gavin O’Connor, and he did not disappoint in the slightest. He was able to take the underdog win of the United States of America team versus the infamous Soviet Union team during the 1980 Olympics and make it into a heartfelt movie with many underlying messages.
Throughout the movie, many moments left me in shock, one being how young the United States team actually was. Compared to its experienced and well-versed rivals, there was this sense of immaturity that had to be dealt with throughout the team. This is seen when the head coach, Herb Brooks, made the team skate from end to end because they weren’t playing as a team but rather trying to play for themselves. At this point in the movie, there was this shift within the team of whom they were going to play for, and that was the name on the front of the jersey, not the back.
An issue that I did notice that was portrayed within the movie was politics itself. Although, at times, the idea of bringing politics into some movies can turn large audiences away. In this case, that was far from it. With this event taking place during the Cold War, there was a battle between the two teams to not only win the gold itself but to defeat the other team.
For me, I love how they incorporated this into the movie to show the internal battles that these American athletes were facing at this time because of the need to represent their country and the political conflict between them and the Soviet Union. Winning a gold medal would show not only their superiority in the sport but also their superiority over the other country.
This movie, along with the underlying message, was fast-paced and always kept the audience on their toes. The game against the Soviets, however, kept my eyes glued to the screen. In many cases, the audience tends to know the outcome of these stories. Even so, I felt as though if I looked away, I would miss a crucial part of the movie.
In all, this movie, although knowing the outcome prior, was quite inspirational to me. It showed that athletes at that level are shown and forced to acknowledge that what they are doing is not only for themselves but for the motivation of others; in this case, it would be defeating the Soviets in a hockey game during the Cold War. The movie also kept the audience on edge and drawn in throughout to see the uphill battle these athletes had to face to defeat these impenetrable rivals.
