Miracle

Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson Original UK Premiere: 2004 Dvd Release: 28th February, 2005 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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People my age probably remember where they were when John & Bobbie Kennedy were shot, when Armstrong stepped onto the moon, when the Challenger blew up, when the Berlin Wall came down. Perhaps even when the U.S. Olympic hockey team beat the unbeatable Soviets in 1980. And I dont even care for hockey that much.

MIRACLE is the story of that legendary upset, & the grueling training that led up to that glorious moment, told from the perspective of the coach, Herb Brooks . A member of the 1960 Olympic squad, Brooks was cut from the team a week before its first Olympic match & subsequent gold medal victory. After that, the USSR Olympians dominated the sport for the next twenty years. Through his "boys", Brooks sought personal redemption & an end to Soviet hegemony.

The first film of 2003 of Oscar caliber was SEABISCUIT, the story of an earlier underdog. MIRACLE was perhaps the first 2004 release deserving Oscar consideration. Not for Best Picture, but for Russell as Best Actor .

MIRACLE is about Coach Brooks. While the young actors that portray the twenty-some players do a creditable job, theyre all pretty much lost against the background of team identity. And thats as it should be because their amazing victory was, & necessarily had to be, a team effort. This point is effectively made for the audience during a tortuous set of punishment drills after a poorly played match against the Swedish national team when one of Herbs players finally correctly answers the question he constantly poses, "Who do you play for?" Its a moment of revelation for all concerned.

Just as the horse race action in SEABISCUIT almost made me go down to the track & squander the mortgage payment on a first-ever bet, MIRACLEs camera work on the ice almost morphed me into a rabid hockey puck. You, the viewer, are right there in the thick of the furious melee expecting to be slammed against the boards or slashed with a stick at any moment. Theres an adrenaline rush not felt with, say, curling.

At the films end, a voiceover by Russell-Brooks reminds us that, soon after the 1980 Gold Medal upset, Americas Olympic hockey team was opened to pro players of the National Hockey League to thus create the "Dream Team" concept - but no Olympic squad since then has ever captured "the dream". Honor is due Brooks & his amateurs.

Kurt Vogel Russell is an American actor. He is the son of Bing Russell, also an actor. Russell started his film career at the age of 10 in an uncredited part in the movie It Happened at the Worlds Fair & was soon signed to a ten year contract with the Walt Disney Company, reportedly by Walt Disney himself. He starred in many Disney films such as Follow Me, Boys!, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes & The Strongest Man in the World. Russell also had a baseball career. In the early 1970s, Russell played second base for the minor league franchise of the California Angels. He led his league in hitting with a .563 batting average. During a play, he was hit in the shoulder by another player running to second base. The collision tore the rotator cuff in one of Russells shoulders. The injury forced his retirement from baseball in 1973 & he returned to acting. Russell was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special for the made for television movie Elvis. Posters Of Kurt Russell

Editors Choice: Dreamer, Sky High, Miracle, Dark Blue, 3000 Miles To Graceland, Breakdown, Soldier, Stargate, View DVDology

Patricia Clarkson is an American actress. Clarkson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Buzz & Jackie Clarkson, a locally prominent member of the City Council. She studied drama at Yale & Fordham University before making her film debut in The Untouchables in 1987. Clarkson starred in a series of high-profile films in her early career, including The Dead Pool, Rocket Gibraltar & Everybodys All-American. She starred in the short-run television series Davis Rules & in the mini-series Alex Haleys Queen. Other television appearances have included the role of Aunt Sara in Six Feet Under, for which she won an Emmy Award. In 2000 she starred in The Green Mile & in 2002 in Far from Heaven. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Pieces of April, 2003. Clarkson garnered critical acclaim for her work in The Station Agent, 2004. Clarkson continues to be in great demand in Tinseltown & looks to graduate from supporting roles as an ensemble player to coveted A-list star status. Posters Of Miracle

Editors Choice: Miracle, The Pledge, Wendigo, The Dead Pool, View DVDology

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