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by James Robertson.
Original Post: A movie worth watching
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It's a long flight from Frankfurt to Pittsburgh - I wasn't really up for a non-stop BottomFeeder hacking session. I bought the USAirways headphones for this trip, and it was actually worth it. After a few hours of hacking Twoflower out and WithStyle in, I was ready for a break. I paged through the list of movies - I had already seen "Shrek 2". Sure, it was good, but worth a second viewing? Not really. Then I noticed "Miracle" - the story of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team
Now, I've seen this movie before - my wife bought it for me last year. It was a tremendous film the first time through, so I decided to watch it again. It was every bit as fabulous the second time through. I remember those Olympics - it was my senior year of high school. I don't know if I watched the first few games - I've never really been a big hockey fan. I do remember that I started paying attention once they beat the Czech team, and watched the rest of the way through.
The movie captures so many things correctly It starts with a bunch of news clips (very short - just a few seconds of each) from the 70's - the fall of Saigon, Watergate, Carter's election, gas lines, the hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It had been a decade of doubt for Americans, and the start of the movie really captured that - and it set up the hockey team as what they became by the time of the game against the Soviets - a single point of unity for the country. Ironically, that game was not the gold medal game - that was against the Finns afterwards. Things are different now - there's the internet, hundreds of cable tv channels, and the Soviets are long gone - but at the time, it really felt like the whole country came together to watch those guys play - and win - against the Soviets.
There are so many places in the movie that just make you live through that team's preparation and win. I can't recall another movie that captures the time and the time's essence so well in the context of its subject. I'm sure that I'll end up watching it many, many more times. If you don't have the movie - run out now and get it. You'll be glad you did.
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