There a lot of great reviews out there for what is one of our top favorite flicks, but I don't seem to see what I thought was a great part of the production. I recently bought the video of the original game...which I can remember seeing like it was yesterday. We were shocked to find that the sound track from the original broadcast was used 100% in the movie, not an easy trick because the action then had to match what the announcers had said. This makes for a surprisingly real reproduction. And the Russian coach in the movie is dead ringer for the real guy who has to be seen to be appreciated.

I would like to be able to review this product but the DVD did not work in my DVD player. Neither the full length movie DVD or the DVD with the extra interviews. I would return it but the cost is not worth the effort. I had ordered this because I had the same problem with one I bought in the store and thought it was defective. This one did the same thing. All the other DVDs I have work in my DVD player. There is a tech assistance number but that was no help. I really liked the movie when I saw it on TV and that is why I wanted the DVD and to be able to see the interviews.

The challenges were formidable: A Soviet hockey team that won by intimidation. After all, they hadn't been beaten in 15 years. But it could be done. Coach Brooks kept telling his 19 year-old players to play their game and to take the fight to the Russians. They had to WANT it. In some games, the players had given less than 100%, and coach Brooks would not stand for it.

But first things first. The team had to become a cohesive unit. And, even if it were never to become the best team in the world, it had to become the best conditioned team in the world. This took time. Finally, even if they were not better than the Russians overall, they HAD to be the better team that particular night.

The politics at the time was clear. President Carter had just given his malaise speech. The US was humiliated by Ayatollah Khomeini. A sign posted at the US-Soviet hockey game at Lake Placid said: "Get the puck out of Afghanistan!"

And so the stage was set for the miracle. The Soviet coach was staring with unbelief--like a fish out of water. A spell of delirium captured the US. Who could forget?

I grew up in Texas in the 60s. It's an understatement to say that hockey was a sport I had little knowledge of, and even less interest in.

That changed very dramatically in 1980. For those of you too young to remember the cold war, it's probably hard to understand the national significance attached to sporting and cultural events that pitted the US vs. the Soviet Union: Van Cliburn winning the Tchaikovsky piano competition in Moscow in 1958; Bobby Fischer defeating Boris Spassky for the world chess championship in 1972; the Soviet basketball team (in an extremely controversial game) ending the US's unbeaten streak in the Olympics that same year; and the Miracle on Ice depicted in this movie. In each case, millions of Americans who had little interest in classical music or chess or basketball or hockey suddenly found themselves very interested indeed. Whether or not these events should have been viewed as Cold War battles, it's simply the case that they were.

Having said that, how well does "Miracle" recall the events? I think it does so brilliantly, from the casting to the cinematography to the direction -- all of it. It's not hard to believe you're back in 1980.

Final note: next to hearing the famed Al Michaels line "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!", my favorite scene was a few seconds earlier. As the clock wound down with the US team protecting its lead, we see the coach's wife in the stands, head bowed and gloved hands rubbing together nervously, unable to watch. One of many, many great vignettes in this great movie.

I have the DVD with 2 disks and enjoy it very much. My cousin is one of the major stars in this and was never an actor, but a hockey player! He did a great job and so did all the other kids. I remember watching the USA gold winning hocky game played in the Lake Placid Olympics on TV when I was 13 (my family being from upstate NY) and remember the sheer exhilaration and awe we all felt at beating the odds. Having said that, I don't think the extras gave it the same feeling. But I guess you can't paid Canadians enough to cheer for the US in hockey. I think it means more to them. Still, loved the movie and I want to say 'Hi' to all the 'Miracle Cuties' who were part of it.