If there’s one thing a Canadian like me can appreciate, it’s hockey. And the proud history of the Canadians defeating the Soviet Union’s hockey team, so two things. While we in the north have our own celebrated story of the Canadians defeating the USSR in 1972, it’s no less satisfying to know that our neighbors to the south have their own story of how they triumphed over the Soviet Union on the ice at the height of the Cold War. And that story was brought to life in 2004’s “The 4000.” WonderThe Kurt RussellSports film about coach Herb Brooks and his U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win over the Soviets at the 1980 Olympics. And like that historic team, the film exceeds all expectations, delivering a feel-good sports film that’s among the best in the genre… and among the truest.

Wonder

The true story of Herb Brooks, the player turned coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Soviet team.

Release date

February 6, 2004

Duration

135 minutes

Main genre

drama

Authors

Eric Guggenheim

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“The story of Miracle is based on a foundation of truth

Hall of Fame broadcaster Al Michaelsthe TV voice behind the 1980 Games, remembers that the producers of Wonder When he was asked if he wanted to be part of the film, he agreed, but on one condition: the story had to be true. Although some liberties were taken, Wonder is not only precise, but the attention paid to even the smallest details is remarkable. Michaels himself confirms the authenticity of the film and says: “(Wonder) I went into detail about what happened and how it happened.”

The film begins with Brooks (Kurt Russell) applying to the U.S. Olympic Committee for the role of head coach of the national team. He talks about how he believes Team USA can beat the overwhelmingly dominant Soviet team that won the gold medal at the last four Olympics by making changes to the team’s operations and strategy. Despite some skepticism, he is hired by the USOC. Brooks actually thought outside the box and developed methods and strategies to put together the team he wanted that would play the way he wanted. “We adopted more of a hybrid style of play – a little bit of the Canadian school and a little bit of the European school,” Brooks said of the change he made to the style of play, according to Sports Illustrated. Think less Slap shotmore The Mighty Ducks.

Off the ice, Brooks’ method of reducing the herd of 68 players in camp to 26 involved a 300-question psychological test of his own design. It was designed to weed out, in Brooks’ own words, “the ignorant people, the self-centered people, the people who don’t want to broaden their horizons,” explaining, “Those aren’t going to be the really good athletes.” Brooks himself was the last to be cut from the 1960 team. Once the team is reduced to 26, Wonder It’s time for the team’s first training session, where a heated battle between college rivals takes place between Rob McClanahan (Nathan West) And Jack O’Callahan (Michael Mantenuto). Only the fight never took place, which is one of the few moments where the film deviates from the true story.The scene was created as a shorthand to highlight “the animosity between the guys from Boston and the guys from Minnesota,” McClanahan said.

“Miracle” was supported by those who played the game

Since the team had shrunk to 20 men, Wonder follows the team to a friendly match in Oslo, where they draw with Norway. Brooks, furious at his team’s lackluster performance, punishes them by sending them back to the ice for an hour-long bag-skate practice, a particularly unforgiving drill that requires them to skate repeatedly from one end of the ice to the other. The bag skating actually took place, but the story of its inclusion in the film shows how the filmmakers incorporated input from former players into the design. Wonder as accurate as possibleIn the Pioneer Press cited above, Jack O’Callahan tells a story about how he told the director Gavin O’Connor If he wanted to know what was happening off the ice, he should ask him and he would give him the answer with context. One question was about the bag skate, to which O’Connor asked, “What’s all this skating in the dark about?” O’Callahan explained, saying, “It ended up in the movie because I told him about it. It wasn’t in the script.” Other players like Buzz Schneider, who was the oldest player on the team at 25, and Mike Ramsey also shared details about their experiences on the team with O’Connor.

However, it was not only the players of the 1980 team who contributed, but also the players who played the game back then. Cameraman Daniel Stoloff says: “We cast guys who could really skate… There are a few stuntmen in there. Some of those hits were stuntmen. But for the most part, what you see is really there.” Longtime NHL goalie Bill Ranford was hired to play the US goalkeeper’s action scenes Jim Craig (Eddie Cahill), with Ranford confirming in the previously cited LA Times that the focus was to make it as realistic as possible (Ranford played the same style as Craig). The team that brought the hockey scenes to life watched the films of the 1980 games to recreate entire game sequences, sequences that included full-body contact and checking. Ranford even joked, “I got cut and concussed in the film.” Ice Hockey Technical Advisor Ryan Walter reaffirms this commitment to reality and says: “We are repeating history. Mark JohnsonThe goal at the end of the first half has to look like Mark Johnson’s goal.”

“Miracle” follows Team USA into the medal round

Just like in real life, Wonder picks up where the US team is playing the Soviet team in a friendly at Madison Square Garden, and just like in real life, the USSR team defeats the American team 10-3. Worse still, O’Callahan is injured and may be unavailable for the duration of the Olympics. Craig is told in no uncertain terms that he hasn’t played his best, that he has worked too hard and fought too much for the puck, and that the only thing left to do is bench Craig and bring in a substitute. Steve Janaszak (Sam Skoryna). The threat was enough to prompt Craig to prove Brooks wrong, saying, “You’re not going to quit my job Nownot Nownot after six months of this crap.” In reality, Craig was not the only one who was annoyed by Brooks, but also Mike Eruzione (Patrick O’Brien Demsey), the team captain, whom Brooks took aside and told him, according to Sports Illustrated, that if he didn’t play better, Brooks would tell the press that Eruzione had “hurt his back” and would be coming to the games as an assistant coach. The tactic worked not only for the two players, but for the entire team. all have one goal: to prove the coach wrong.

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The team’s first game of the Olympics was against Sweden, and after the first half, the US team was trailing 2-1. An enraged Brooks threw a table across the room in a state of rage at the start of the halftime break, accusing McClanahan, who had suffered a severe muscle cramp, of giving up. The moment, as crazy as it is in the film, is impossible to compare with reality. Pro Sports illustratedthat actually happened. At some point Mark Johnson (Eric Peter Kaiser) reportedly asked Eruzione to bring Brooks out of the locker room. This bonded the team even more, and McClanahan played injured and the team finished the game with a 2-2 tie with just 27 seconds left on the clock. They defeated Czechoslovakia, Norway, Romania and West Germany to secure a place in the medal round against the Soviet team.

“The greatest moment of Miracle is also the most fictional

In the semifinals, the brave Americans, all amateurs, would face a Soviet team full of professionals that had lost only one Olympic game since 1964. This was not a David versus Goliath battle. This was an ant versus an onrushing soccer shoe. As good as the American team had been, there was simply no chance. But before the game began, Brooks inspired the team with a rousing, iconic speech that is now considered one of the best of all time. Only it didn’t happen. At least not as it is written in the movie. The director asked O’Callahan to memorize as much of that speech as he could, since it was given behind closed doors. O’Callahan recalls, “I wrote down the speech that they actually used in the movie. It wasn’t word for word. Some things in it were probably what he said, and some I just recited from memory in my own words.” However, teammates confirmed that while the speech wasn’t accurate, it was pretty close.

Despite all adversities, Team USA defeated the Soviet teamheld on to a 4-3 lead in the final ten minutes of the game, pulling off one of the sport’s biggest upsets and securing a spot in the gold medal round against Finland. It was a game they would win, but the gold medal, in life and in Wonderis an afterthought. By beating the Soviet team, Team USA had already won his gold medal, a true miracle on the ice. This moment in the film is actually the most accurate of it. Al Michaels, according to the previously quoted LA Timeswas asked to comment on the last 25 or 30 seconds of the game and repeated his iconic line “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” His answer: “Not over my dead body.” This line in the film comes from the original tape and crowns Wondera film that absolutely wants to make everything real, with stirring truth.

Wonder can currently be streamed on Disney+ in the US

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