Great Sports Movies: Miracle (2014)

There are sports movies, and then there’s Miracle — a film so inspirational it makes you want to lace up skates, chant “USA,” and run wind sprints in your living room even though you absolutely should not. Again!

Released in 2004, Miracle tells the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, a group of college kids, long shots, and future history trivia answers who somehow managed to defeat the unstoppable Soviet Union. You may already know the outcome, because America has politely reminded you of it for the last 40+ years, but Miracle makes the journey feel just as important as the win — and occasionally just as exhausting.

At the center of it all is Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, delivering one of the most intense coaching performances ever put on film. This is not a warm, fuzzy sports dad. This is a man who believes discipline is love, conditioning is religion, and if you don’t skate hard enough, you will skate again. And again. And again. The movie doesn’t just tell you Brooks was demanding — it shows you by making the players (and the audience) deeply familiar with the phrase “AGAIN!”

What makes Miracle work so well is its commitment to realism. The hockey scenes feel fast, physical, and chaotic, like real hockey rather than slow-motion inspirational ballet. You can almost smell the ice and the fear. These players don’t magically become superstars overnight; they grind, clash, and slowly learn how to become a team instead of a collection of talented individuals who occasionally glare at each other in the locker room.

The film also leans hard into its Cold War backdrop, because nothing raises the stakes like reminding the audience that this game was about more than sports. The Soviets aren’t villains in the cartoon sense, but they are presented as disciplined, machine-like, and terrifyingly good at hockey. When the U.S. team finally faces them, it feels less like a matchup and more like David vs. Goliath… if David had bad haircuts and a severe underdog complex.

And then there’s that game. Even if you know every beat by heart, Miracle still finds a way to make it thrilling. The goals feel earned, the tension is real, and by the end you’re emotionally invested enough to forget that this is, technically, a movie about a group of men chasing a puck. When Al Michaels’ iconic call hits, it lands not as nostalgia bait, but as a genuine payoff.

Watching Miracle today still works, whether you’re a hockey fan, a casual sports viewer, or someone who just enjoys being emotionally manipulated in the best possible way. It’s earnest without being cheesy, intense without being cynical, and inspirational without pretending the work was easy.

In short, Miracle is the rare sports movie that earns its goosebumps — and then makes you want to shout “USA!” at least once, just to see how it feels.