History Film / Miracle

* ArtisticLicenseMusic: As with Creator/{{ABC}}'s broadcasts of the Olympics from 1968 to 1988, Leo Arnaud's "Bugler's Dream" is played under Jim [=McKay=]'s commentary of the USA Hockey Team's victory against Czechoslovakia. The version heard here is the Boston Pops Orchestra's 1996 rendition as arranged and conducted by Music/JohnWilliams.

''Miracle'' is a 2004 film starring Creator/KurtRussell based on the true story of 1980 US UsefulNotes/IceHockey team and the "Miracle On Ice" at the 1980 [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Winter Olympics]].

In 1979, the United States is in turmoil, knee-deep in the UsefulNotes/ColdWar and international conflict, escalating in the U.S. eventually boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow as a response to the UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan. While the Winter Olympics had no such problem for the U.S., as it was to be held in Lake Placid, New York, Americans were still uneasy at the idea of the Soviet team, winners of the last four Olympic hockey gold medals dating back to 1964, coming to American turf and kicking everyone's ass.

* ForWantOfANail: That game tying goal in the final minute of the opening game of the tournament against Sweden is shown to be a confidence booster and gives the team momentum for the remainder of the Olympics. However in terms of the final standings it was much, much, much more important than basically anyone remembers, or even realized at the time. [[note]]At that time the final round was not an elimination round as has been done in every Olympics since 1992, and has been standard in almost every other sports tournament in the world. Rather the top two teams from the two pools advanced to the medal round and played the top two teams in the other pool. The medals would then be determined by the points standings after these games. Just to make it even more confusing, teams carried their points they’d earned against the team who also advanced in their pool into the medal round, but not the points against the teams that did not advance. Since the Soviets had beaten Finland in pool play they came into the medal round with two points, but the USA and Sweden entered with only one point since they had tied. Finland entered with zero points since they had lost to the Soviets. The film does point out that the USA still had to beat Finland to secure the Gold. But had they not tied Sweden in the last minute of that first game, they would’ve finished the medal round with four points instead of five meaning they’d have been tied with the Soviets. Okay, so the USA beat the Soviets so they get the tiebreaker, right? Nope. The first tiebreaker is goal differential, which the Soviets had the edge in due to beating Sweden 9-2 giving them a +6 differential compared to just +3 for the USA. In other words that one last minute goal against Sweden spared the USA, and possibly the entire world, [[AllForNothing from the most baffling and anti-climactic result in sports history.]][[/note]]

* TheSeventies: While the Games are played in February 1980, the recruiting and training are still in the '70s, while the culture and events are clearly still rooted to this decade.

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: The medal ceremony, after Team USA beats Finland for the Gold.
* BasedOnATrueStory
* BigGood: That being said, Herb's real position seems to be more of this trope.

** Calling it David vs. Goliath is actually a massive understatement to the point where it might as well be considered half a David vs double a Goliath. The movie does make a good effort to try to explain just how different the two teams are, largely that while the American team had experienced players and the better part of a year to train together the Soviet team had spent most of the last 10-15 years together. [[note]]By the time of the film’s release professionals had been competing in the Olympics for more than a decade, and the previous two Olympic Hockey tournaments had featured NHL players. In 1980 the Olympics were strictly a competition of amateur athletes. However the communist definition of amateur wasn’t exactly the same as that of the capitalist definition. The Soviet players did nothing but play hockey. Many were technically in the Army or had some other job title for the state, but realistically they were spending all of their time playing hockey in state of the art facilities. The top American players were all playing in the NHL, and hundreds more were playing in the Minor leagues. Meaning none of them were eligible to play in the Olympics. Coach Brooks had to rely entirely on College players, or recent graduates, who had not yet signed a pro contract. While one could argue that top college players could compete against pros, many top hockey players do not play in college and instead go straight to the minors or play professionally overseas. It should be noted that the members of team USA for the most part never made it to the NHL or had very limited careers there. Likewise several members of the Soviet team were drafted in the NHL in 1989 when the Soviet Union finally allowed them to play there. Slava Fetisov in particular became an All-Star when he was 38 and won two Stanley Cups with the Red Wings.[[/note]]

* DownToTheLastPlay: Being based on the true story this was Averted. Team USA takes the lead halfway through the final period and holds the lead all the way to the end through furious, determined talent. It's also mentioned in passing they still had one more game to play before winning the Gold, but most everyone knew this was the deciding game of the Olympics.

''Miracle'' was another evolution of sports movies for Creator/{{Disney}}. After a wave of kid-aimed slapstick sports comedies in the 90's, Disney scored a commercial smash in 2000 with ''Film/RememberTheTitans'', a football movie that, while still aimed at families, was an outright drama, although VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory. ''Miracle'' goes a step further into a full-on {{Docudrama}}, staying close to historical accuracy whenever possible, avoiding a BroadStrokes approach, and, unlike nearly every Disney-branded film at that point, was a drama aimed at older audiences (for instance, there are no major speaking parts for children). Disney replicated ''Miracle'''s docudrama format several more times, with ''The Greatest Game Ever Played''[[note]]about 1913 U.S. Open amateur champion Francis Ouimet[[/note]], ''Invincible''[[note]]about bartender-turned-walk-on-Philadelphia-Eagle Vince Papale[[/note]], and ''Film/GloryRoad''[[note]]about the 1966 Texas Western College basketball team, who was the first team to win the NCAA Championship with an all-black lineup[[/note]]. ''Miracle'' was directed by Gavin O'Connor, who would direct two more critically acclaimed sports movies with ''Film/{{Warrior}}'' (mixed martial arts) and ''Film/{{The Way Back|2020}}'' (high school basketball).

->11 seconds, you've got 10 seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. ''Do you believe in miracles? '''[[BigYes YES!]]'''''

Enter Herb Brooks (Russell), decorated head coach of Minnesota's college powerhouse hockey team and a former player who was the last man cut for the 1960 U.S. Olympic team that won gold that year. Assembling a roster of collegiate players, his job over the next year is to shape them into a team capable of taking down the Soviets, learning how to play with and for one another and for their country. Both the U.S. and Soviet teams emerge from the Olympic group stage to face each other on February 22, 1980, with the right to play for the gold medal hanging in the balance. What looked like the biggest David vs. Goliath matchup on paper turned into arguably the greatest upset in American sports history, capped at the final buzzer with announcer Al Michaels famously asking the viewer if they believed in miracles, hence the title.

The film was another evolution of sports movies for Creator/{{Disney}}. After a wave of kid-aimed slapstick sports comedies in the 90's, Disney scored a commercial smash in 2000 with ''Film/RememberTheTitans'', a football movie that, while still aimed at families, was an outright drama, although VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory. ''Miracle'' goes a step further into a full-on {{Docudrama}}, staying close to historical accuracy whenever possible, avoiding a BroadStrokes approach, and, unlike nearly every Disney-branded film at that point, was a drama aimed at older audiences (for instance, there are no major speaking parts for children). Disney replicated ''Miracle'''s docudrama format several more times, with ''The Greatest Game Ever Played''[[note]]about 1913 U.S. Open amateur champion Francis Ouimet[[/note]], ''Invincible''[[note]]about bartender-turned-walk-on-Philadelphia-Eagle Vince Papale[[/note]], and ''Film/GloryRoad''[[note]]about the 1966 Texas Western College basketball team, who was the first team to win the NCAA Championship with an all-black lineup[[/note]]. ''Miracle'' was directed by Gavin O'Connor, who would direct two more critically acclaimed sports movies with ''Film/{{Warrior}}'' (mixed martial arts) and ''Film/{{The Way Back|2020}}'' (high school basketball).

'''''Miracle''''' is a 2004 film starring Creator/KurtRussell based on the true story of 1980 US UsefulNotes/IceHockey team and the "Miracle On Ice" at the 1980 [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Winter Olympics]].

* DirectToDVD: Its fate in the UK (see also ''Invincible'' and ''The Greatest Game Ever Played'').