History Film / Miracle

* TheDreaded: The Soviets. Destroyed all comers in four cycles of Olympic play. The NHL All-Stars got routed 6-0 by the squad. Herb lays out that the reward for going through Olympic play is a showdown with the best team in the world, full stop.

-->'''Herb''': Boris Mikhailov. Captain for the last six years, he is the best player at his position, including as we just found out, the NHL. Vladislav Tretiak. You score on Tretiak, keep the puck; it doesn't happen often. 42 games in the last three months, 42 wins. Their main weapon is intimidation; they know they're going to win, and so do their opponents.

* DavidVersusGoliath

** Every major moment/play, many of the little details (the way the original players held their sticks, Eruzione's victory-run across the ice, etc), and ''even the actors' likenesses'' were rigorously gone over from the original game(s) to make it as close as possible. Just look at the making-of extras.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "Who do you play for?" is the question Herb keeps asking the team and he keeps getting the expected answers from his team of bitter rivals and prideful players ("Massachusetts!" "Minnesota!"). It takes constant drilling and verbal abuse and even more constant drilling together for the team to finally understand what it means to be the American Olympic Hockey Team. "I play for... [[spoiler: The United States of America!]]

* HellYesMoment: Invoked by Brooks during the semifinal game against the Soviets. At the start of the second period, [[DidntSeeThatComing Vladislav Tretiak is substituted by Vladimir Myshkin]]. Brooks uses it as a rallying point for his players, pointing out that [[HolyShitQuotient they, a bunch of scrappy college players and amateurs, managed to bench arguably the best goaltender in the world.]]

* AwesomeMomentofCrowning: the medal ceremony, after Team USA beats Finland for the Gold.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "Who do you play for?" is the question Herb keeps asking the team and he keeps getting the expected answers from his team of bitter rivals and prideful players ("Massachusetts!" "Minnesota!"). It takes constant drilling and verbal abuse and even more constant drilling together for the team to finally understand what it means to be the American Olympic Hockey Team. "I play for... [[spoiler: [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome The United States of America!]]]]

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

-->'''Rob''': I AM A HOCKEY PLAYER! YOU WANT ME TO PLAY ON ONE LEG! I'LL PLAY ON ONE LEG! ''*restrained by teammates while trying to go after Herb*''

-->'''Asst. Craig Patrick:''' ''(smiling)'' Oh yeah. I'll clean up.

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

* UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents: Herb definitely carries a strong Upper Midwest accent, but although he's from Minnesota, he is most certainly NOT MinnesotaNice, at least to his players.

* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: In the background of the build-up to the Lake Placid Olympics, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is threatening to cancel the whole thing before the hockey team can get there.

** Every major moment/play, many of the little details (such as the way the original players held their sticks, or Eruzione's victory-run across the ice), ''even the actors' likenesses'' were gone over rigorously from the original game to make it as close as possible. Just look at the making-of extras.

-->'''Herb (out of earshot leaving the room)''': Think that'll get them going?
-->'''Asst. Craig Patrick (smiling)''': Oh yeah. I'll clean up.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Downplayed for Brooks regarding his decision to keep the US players from interviewing the media during the Olympics in order for them to keep their focus - reporters suggest he's doing it to hog the spotlight for himself.

* OpposingSportsTeam: The Soviets, though they're not portrayed as an "evil" team like most examples of this trope. They're simply shown as being a superior hockey team -- which, in all honesty, they were. As Brooks pointed out, if their Olympic team played the Soviets ten times, the Soviets might win nine...but not that night. And not that game.

* TrainingFromHell: After a particularly lackluster exhibition performance, Herb has them skating line sprints well past the time the arena lights go off until they understand who they play for. [[EnforcedMethodActing Counts for the cast as well]]; to make their fatigue look as real as possible, they actually did the sprints for hours on end over three days.

-->'''Rob''': I AM A HOCKEY PLAYER! YOU WANT ME TO PLAY ON ONE LEG! I'LL PLAY ON ONE LEG! *restrained by teammates trying to go after Herb*
-->'''Herb (out of earshot leaving the room)''': That'll get them going?

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!]]'''''

-->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!]]'''''

->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!]]'''''

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: The Soviets had won gold for the previous four Olympiads. To put this in perspective, the last time the Soviet Union ''failed'' to win Olympic gold, most of the Miracle team had not yet been ''born''. No wonder they were scared.

* OpposingSportsTeam: The Soviets, though they're not portrayed as an "evil" team like most examples of this trope. They're simply shown as being a superior hockey team -- which, in all honesty, they were. As Brooks pointed out, if their Olympic team played the Soviets ten times, the Soviets might win nine... but not that night. And not that game.

* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: The final game for the US was not against the Soviets, but Finland, who were also a very strong team. [[note]]The U.S. again had to rally to win, this time from a 2-1 third-period deficit. Herb Brooks sent a simple message to his players during the second intermission: "If you lose this game, [[MyGreatestFailure you'll take it to your graves]]...your [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] graves." Cue yet one more American rally, and one last Crowning Moment for the Miracle Team.[[/note]]

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

* ShownTheirWork: During the USA's game against West Germany (FRG), the scoreboard mistakenly shows the team abbreviation GDR, which was German Democratic Republic, or ''East'' Germany. However, the mistake wasn't made by the filmmakers; rather, it happened in the original game.