I’ve recently seen promos for an upcoming movie called “Miracle,” where Disney is attempting to recreate one of the most significant sporting events in history: the historic American defeat of the Soviet Union in Olympic hockey. Will Disney be able to duplicate the magic, no pun intended, of this significant event? I have my doubts.

The “Miracle” takes place during the 1980 Olympics at Lack Placid, NY, and the title is derived from a quote during the final seconds of the game. When victory for the United States became apparent, Al Michaels uttered one of the greatest calls in sports broadcast history: “Do you believe in miracles?” Ever since then the game has always been referred to as the “Miracle on Ice.” There were numerous sub-plots to this game; Democracy vs. Communism, amateurs vs. the paid professionals, the ongoing hostage crisis and an overall discontent with then President Jimmy Carter. This victory by the USA amateur team served as a boost to the American psyche, which was very fragile during this time. It will be interesting to see if it can be captured within the movie.

Why am I skeptical? Since the script has already been written it should be easy to make a movie like this, right? Yes and no. You only need to think of the most recent movies “Ali” and “61” which both fell short of capturing the aura to which defined the moments being portrayed. Don’t get me wrong, there have been sport movies that I loved, but there is distinct difference in these movies. Hollywood has found success in creating fictional moments and characters in movies like “Hoosiers” and “The Rookie,” which are both revered as classic sports movies. Whenever there is an attempt to recreate that which is true, the movie seems to lack when comparing it to the real thing.

It’s difficult to duplicate real life dramatic sporting moments on the big screen. Some of these moments are so amazing, that they enter the realm of unbelievable. I think back to a quote during the recent Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders. Brett Favre, the quarterback for the Packers, was playing the game with a heavy heart. His father had passed away the previous day and there was doubt whether or not he would even play in this critical game that would determine the playoff status for the Packers. After discussing it with family and friends, Brett decided to play. He called a private meeting with his teammates and informed them that he had made a commitment to them, and intended on keeping it. The meeting was very emotional and the team seemed to rally around Favre in his time of need. The football field became his escape, and escape he did into a near perfect game. After Favre had thrown his 4th touchdown pass, Al Michaels, who was calling the game, stated “You could not give this script to Hollywood; they would throw it out because no one would believe it”. He was right. Some moments were meant to remain original and can not be duplicated.

And besides... wasn't the greatest hockey series ever - Canada vs Russia in '72?
  ¶ 8:18 PM