The movie “Miracle,” directed by Gavin O’Connor, was released on Feb. 6, 20 years ago.

The movie’s cast had some significant names, including Sean McCann, Billy Schnider, Eddie Cahill and Kurt Russel. After the initial release, the movie skyrocketed because of its portrayal of real events.

Not only did this movie win the hearts of the people, but also won the 2004 “Best Sports Movie ESPY Award.“

The reason the name of the movie is “Miracle” is because the players were brought together to face the greatest hockey team in the world at the Olympics: the USSR.

The movie is about the 1980 USA hockey team that was assembled of 18 to 20-year-old hockey players. They were not national stars, but instead young new talent who played on different teams.

When O’Connor brought in Russell, he was already a well-established actor, which the director knew would give the movie attention. During the casting process, O’Connor wanted authenticity, so the seven main characters he cast were former hockey players. 

Although this movie shows 20 hockey players winning gold in the Olympics, it focuses more on the head coach, Herb Brooks (Russel). Brooks is a veteran hockey coach from Minnesota who was asked to do the impossible: put together a winning team to represent America in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

The Soviets had a powerhouse team due to their different approach to coaching and previous ten years playing together. Brooks sends a message to his players that it’s not important what they’re playing for, but instead who you’re playing for. Russel’s performance was brilliant, and the inspirational coach effect was portrayed well. 

The movie did an amazing job of representing a big moment in hockey and even more so in U.S. history. During the 1980 Olympics, Team USA was the ultimate underdog, but they rose to the top to become the greatest hockey team in the world.

This movie is one of the greats, and I would rate it a 9.6 out of 10. This score is based on high quality of acting, storyline and historical accuracy. If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it.