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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Miracle
(Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
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| DVD Release Date:
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May 18, 2004
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| Length:
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136 mins.
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| Rated:
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PG
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| Format:
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Widescreen (2.35:1)
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| Audio:
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English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
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| Subtitles:
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Closed Captioned
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| Extras:
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"The Making of Miracle" Featurette, Audio Commentary by Director Gavin O'Connor, Editor John Gilroy and Director of Photography Daniel Stoloff, "First Impressions: Herb Brooks with Kurt Russell and the Filmmakers" Featurette, Outtakes, "From Hockey to Hollywood: The Actors' Journey" Featurette, Miracle ESPN Roundtable, "The Sound of Miracle" Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
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To call something "the greatest moment in sports history" takes a lot of balls. But to back that statement up is another thing - and most would argue that the 1980 US Olympic hockey team did just that. Until recently, you could only relive the glory on sport highlight shows - and in all honesty, the moment was beginning to fade. More than 20 years have passed and there have been some truly great moments since. But now, you can relive the moment on DVD. No, not the real game (although I'm sure it's available somewhere), but with the movie, Miracle.
Miracle stars Kurt Russell as coach Herb Brooks, the man who single-handedly picked and molded the team - the man who turned a ragtag group of college kids into the only team at the time who could defeat the mighty Soviet squad. Convinced he could change the way Americans played hockey to suit the style of play of the far-superior international teams, Brooks changed the focus to a building a team instead of bringing together a group of individuals - and he conditioned them to be able to last the full 60 minutes required, something he believed no other team could do to keep up with the Soviets. And although Brooks deserves most of the credit, you've also got to credit the players - and that's what this movie does so well.
I was too young to remember this event, and I'm Canadian, so the impact of the win is a little lost on me, but I've got to give credit to the filmmakers for turning something that we all knew happened, and still making it so compelling. Sure, you know the Americans are going to win, but my palms were still sweaty and I was still on the edge of my seat. Well done.
For bonus materials, we get a double-disc set packed with special features. On disc one, we get the feature, presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The sound in this movie was incredible. I'll mention more later, but the audio track here really made you feel like you were actually on the ice. Amazing. Add to that an emotional score, and you've got a winner. Also on the first disc, we get an audio commentary from director Gavin O'Connor, editor John Gilroy and director of photography Daniel Stoloff. The three provide a relatively entertaining commentary going over the basic materials - casting, story, location - but it's their enthusiasm for the project that earns this feature a thumbs-up. Disc one also includes your standard making-of featurette. Here we get the usual interviews and behind-the-scenes snippets. Running just under 18 minutes, this one isn't too bad if you can spare the time. Finally, we get a variety of trailers and commercials for various Disney related projects.
Slip the second disc into your player and you get the real meat of the features. For starters, there's "First Impressions: Herb Brooks with Kurt Russell and the Filmmakers". This is that much more poignant knowing that Brooks was there for the filming of the movie, but died before its theatrical release. (On a side note, I especially liked the actual film's tribute to Brooks before the credits rolled.)
The next featurette is titled "From Hockey to Hollywood: The Actor's Journey". This is great addition, and hats off to the filmmakers for getting a group of relative unknowns to portray the players in the movie - even moreso given that the acting was decent. This movie could have easily fallen flat on its face - but the guys here were great.
The best feature included on this disc is the ESPN Roundtable featuring Kurt Russell and some of the real-life players, including Mike Eruzione, Buzz Schneider and Jim Craig. Here, the guys sit around and discuss the 1980 Olympic games and what an impact they had. They also talk about the movie, but what was most fascinating was seeing these guys and hearing them talk about the good ole' days.
As I mentioned earlier, the sound played a big part in this movie. It's only fitting then that we get a featurette titled "The Sound of Miracle". Here, we go behind the scenes and look at the work that was done to make the movie sound as realistic as possible.
Our final feature is an outtakes reel that kinda bothered me. Why show an outtake with a hockey brawl? Is that really what hockey is all about?
I really didn't have high hopes for Miracle. Frankly, the American hockey program bothers me. Maybe it's because I'm Canadian. Maybe I'm just bitter that the American's claim that the "greatest moment in sports history" is their moment - and that it happened against the backdrop of Canada's national pasttime. But after seeing the movie, it was alright. The filmmakers did a great job capturing the sport, and they proved to me that this really was a great moment.
| The Movie: |
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7/10 |
| The Extras: |
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7/10 |
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Liam Cullin - Editor
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