Miracle

So last night, Miracle was on, and as a huge sports and hockey fan, I decided I had to watch it for the first time. This movie is based on the true story of Herb Brooks and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team. Brooks takes the position as the Olympic head coach during a period of time when the Soviet Union dominated the world in hockey. He made most of the executive decisions and pushed his team to the limits for months in order to make sure they would be prepared for Lake Placid.

Three days prior to the start of the Olympics, the U.S. challenged the U.S.S.R. to a matchup in New York. The Russians demolished Brook's squad 10-3, squashing the Americans hopes of excelling in the games, especially against the Russians. They entered the Olympics and took on Sweden first, where they came back with just seconds left and tied up the game. After that matchup, they stepped up their game and moved up, beating team after team. Finally, they managed to meet the U.S.S.R. again in a meeting to go to the gold medal game. In a long fought battle, the U.S. defeated the Russians, 4-3, and moved on to the final match where they defeated Finland, 4-2, to win the gold medal.

I really enjoyed this movie, not just for the story of the miracle on ice, but for the way the final game is shot. Obviously, none of the actors were not also Olympic level hockey players, so they had to put a lot of attention to detail into shooting all three periods of the hockey game. They took a lot of shots from ice level, which added a new dimension to the film that I really enjoyed. They also had some great moments, for instance, when they dropped the puck for the face-off, the only sounds that you heard were the puck hitting the ice and the two sticks colliding.

Overall, this may not have been the best movie acting wise, but it greatly displayed the story of the 1980 Olympics and the miracle on ice.    

USA, USA, USA!

One of the most important aspects in films would be dialogue. It has the ability to make or break films. For example the movie The Room, has horrible dialogue and everyone makes fun of it for that reason. Like many key aspect in films like lighting, audio, camera work and editing, if done right it will be unnoticeable. If it is phenomenal  it will stand out.
This is the case for the dialogue in the film Miracle. Since taking the Public Communication class here at Ithaca College, I've paid a lot of attention to speeches. In Miracle the most influential speech is the locker room speech while playing the Soviet Union. This falls under the category of a ceremonial speech. Coach Brookes speaks to the team to get them amped and ready to be the first team in a long time to beat the Russians.
Here is a sample of the writing throughout the movie.
"Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that's what you have here. Tonight boys. That's what you've earned here tonight. One game. If we played them ten times they might win nine, but not this game, not tonight. Tonight we skate with them, tonight we stay with them, and we shut them down because we can! Tonight! We are the greatest hockey team, in the world. You were born to be hockey players, everyone of you. And you were meant to be here tonight. This is your time. Their time is done, it's over. I'm sick and tired hearing about what a great hockey team the Soviets have. Screw them. This is your time, now go out there and take it!"
This speech moves me when I watch the movie, as if I were one of the hockey players in that decade trying to beat the Soviets. Anything that moves an audience in a film shows exceptional talent.

Pulling off a sports movie

As an avid sports sports fan, every time a sports movie comes out I have to go see it. Whether the movie be about golf, baseball, hockey, basketball, etc., I must see it. I finally got to see the most recent blockbuster sports film to come out, Moneyball, on Friday night. While the performances were awesome (Brad Pitt kills it as Billy Beane), I couldn't help but come out of the movie disappointed. The main problem with the film is that while it is based on the book, it is also based on the 2002 Oakland Athletics 2002 season. While it may have appeared to make sense to a regular movie goer, there were so many holes in the story. Several key players were left out of the movie and many of the motives and and key plot points that drive the story line simply didn't happen.

This is what poses the main issue for sports films that are based on true stories, the outcome is already decided. Whenever I go into a sports movie, if it's based on a true story, I always know the end. It makes the film less exciting for me because I want it to look and feel just like the real thing did. An example of this is the film Miracle. The movie is about the 1980 USA mens hockey team that beat the USSR in the Lake Placid olympics. While the movie was good, I didn't get the excitement I was looking for because I already knew the final result.

One of my other favorite sports films is Eight Men Out, the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, better known as the Black Sox. Eight members of the team famously took bribes from Chicago gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series and were promptly banned from baseball the following year. Another main problem with sports films is finding actors who are athletic enough to play professional athletes. This is an example of a film that does a marvelous job at simulating game action.

Maybe I take sports films a little to seriously because of my fandom and attention to detail when it comes to the quality of what I am seeing related to sports films, but thats probably why my favorite sports movie doesn't take itself to seriously.

My favorite sports movie of all time is the Sandlot. It's the classic story of the new kid on the block that finds friends through the game of baseball and the magical sandlot where they play. Yes it's corny and silly but the movie is heartwarming and a true classic for any baseball fan .