Miracle
The movie Miracle, starring Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, took place during the Cold War. The Cold War was a state of hostility, without direct military conflict, that developed between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II. It ranged from the mid 1940s to the early 1990s, however the movie focused from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. The majority of the movie took place during the 1980 Winter Olympics, held in Lake Placid, New York. Earlier that year, the United States, along with many other countries, had boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. This was a result to the United States, and other countries, protesting the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Some of the other countries that joined the United States in the boycott included Canada, China, Japan, the Philippines, and West Germany. To get revenge on the United States, the Soviet Union, along with their allies, boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Las Angeles, California. Some of the allies of the Soviet Union that boycotted the 1984 games were Cuba, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and North Korea.
Other than their quarrel through the Olympics, there was far more tension between the United States and the Soviet Union as a result of the Cold War. In the 1970s, both the United States and the Soviet Union were practicing a policy of détente. This meant the easing of tension in international relations. This easing of tension was established as a result of many diplomatic events. These include Nixon’s visits in 1972 to meet Mao Zedong in China and to sign SALT-1 treaty in Moscow. Also, in 1973 the Vietnam War had ended. However, while many thought the Cold War was cooling down, others felt that the Soviets were taking advantage of détente. The Americans had this mindset because of the USSR’s aid to left-wing movements in Africa. This was a problem because, during this time, the United States was intervening in some of the small countries of Central America to weaken left-wing movements. More problems arose when the Soviet Union placed new intermediate-range missiles in Eastern Europe. The United States responded by placing new missiles in Western Europe. In 1979, USSR troops were sent to Afghanistan to support an unpopular communist government. The U.S. Senate got even by refusing to ratify the SALT-II treaty. Events in Poland and war in the middle east caused a great deal of additional tension and a new Cold War had started even after it had cooled down in the early 1970s.
This time period is accurately depicted in the beginning of the movie and later throughout various parts of it. Throughout the whole movie, there is a constant struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union for power. Because of such tension, the Olympics became one way of demonstrating a country’s dominance. The USSR Men’s Hockey Team had won the gold medal in the four previous Winter Olympics (1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976). This made the upset by the USA Men’s Hockey Team in the 1980 Winter Olympics such a significant event. It was so important to America that there have been a couple of movies and documentaries about it, one of them being Miracle.
Miracle begins with Herb Brooks deciding to take on the position as head coach of the United States Men’s Hockey Team with a "lofty" goal to defeat the Soviets. He decided that he would change the team and the way it plays, and also make it tougher. Brooks’ team style called for a Soviet/Canadian hybrid. The problem was that most of the players in the U.S. played in the National Hockey League (NHL) which did not allow their players to play for the U.S. National Hockey Team. So, Herb Brooks’ job was to teach a bunch of kids who never played together how to learn a new system. In previous Olympics, the U.S. would just hope to get by the hockey game without getting embarrassed. However, they could not get embarrassed much more than 4 years before when they lost to the Czechoslovakia B-team, 15-1. To add to their troubles, the Soviet Union had beaten the NHL all-stars, which was a combination of the most skilled players in the U.S. who were couldn’t even play on the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team. Nevertheless, Herb Brooks was not nervous because he speculated that the all-stars had relied on individual talent, which the U.S. team didn’t have, meanwhile the Soviets followed a system for the team. Herb’s goal was to beat the best team in the world at their own style of game and he did it. His team consisted of players just out of college with an average age of 21, while some of the Soviets had been playing together for 15 years. USA beat the Soviet Union, 4-3, in the semifinals, then went on to beat Finland, 4-2, in the finals. USA were victorious over the Soviet Union and had received the gold medal. This was significant win for the United States in the Cold War battle.
The main character of the film is Herb Brooks, the coach of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team, but the Soviet team and the U.S. team both act as characters also. Herb Brooks represented the fight in Americans. He was full of determination and it showed when he led the team to a gold medal. One of his many power quotes was when he said,
"Red line, back. Blue line, back. Far blue line, back. Far red line, back. And you have 45 seconds to do it. Get used to this drill. You'll be doing it a lot. Why? Because the legs feed the wolf, gentlemen. I can't promise you we'll be the best team at Lake Placid next February. But we will be the best conditioned. That I can promise you."
This quote shows the mindset of Herb Brooks. He was always pushing the players to the max and making sure that they were in shape. The Soviet team represented the Soviet Union. They were very dominant like the Soviets at that time. A won game symbolized a battle won for the Soviets. The U.S. team represented the United States. The defeating of the Soviets represented a huge turn in events, in the Cold War, between the U.S. and the USSR. So the teams represented the power of the nations and any game between the Soviets and the U.S. was an important one. The Soviet Union was so dominant for so long but now the war and dominance had changed. Now the United States was more powerful and the war was prolonged. The war eventually ended with the United States outspending the Soviet Union until it was bankrupt. This hockey game could symbolize a minor turning point in the Cold War.
The film, Miracle, was prefaced by historical context that portrayed events that occurred during the time period of the movie. More accurate events are included sparingly throughout the rest movie. One event mentioned was the Watergate Affair with President Nixon. A headline was read that said "5 Arrested in Connection to GOP."Then it was announced that Nixon had resigned. This is all very accurate to the real event. The Watergate Affair begun in June of 1973 after five were arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party's Watergate headquarters in Washington. They were caught to be spies with cameras and bugging devices. Later, seven men were convicted of conspiracy, robbery and bugging the Democratic Party's headquarters. The Oil Crisis was accurately portrayed in the film multiple times. In the beginning it was mentioned and also in the middle. When it was brought up a second time, the coaches were on line for gas at a gas station. Also there was a sign that read "we have gas today." This gas line was very true to the 1970s and early 1980s. Carter agreed to temporarily ration gas to conserve. As the sign shows, he needed to conserve because of the limited amount of oil in America. This gas rationing sometimes caused lines of cars to form and the coaches were a part of one of these lines. While on line for gas, the radio broadcaster announced that "Soviets performed a nuclear test yesterday setting off a 75 kiloton bomb east of Kazakhstan." One coach turned to the other and said "there is so much fear lately." The other responded, "seems to me some people will never get along." This was accurate because the Soviets did participate in this act of terror. The coaches show how many people felt in the United States. A constant fear was always present throughout the Cold War which was difficult for Americans and Russians. In the beginning of the film, "the uncontrolled release of radiation from the 3 mile island nuclear facility" was discussed. This event was known as the Three Mile Island Accident of 1979. Three Mile Island is located in Pennsylvania and it was the site of a major accident. The accident cost around $975 million to clean up. The last historical accuracy I will talk about involves the Munich Olympics of 1972. The beginning of the movie mentioned the Munich Olympics upset and how Russia took the gold medal while Americans refuse the silver. This was in basketball and the United States felt that they were robbed of the gold medal so they decided to refuse the silver medal. This was historically accurate just like the other four examples from the movie.
Other than their quarrel through the Olympics, there was far more tension between the United States and the Soviet Union as a result of the Cold War. In the 1970s, both the United States and the Soviet Union were practicing a policy of détente. This meant the easing of tension in international relations. This easing of tension was established as a result of many diplomatic events. These include Nixon’s visits in 1972 to meet Mao Zedong in China and to sign SALT-1 treaty in Moscow. Also, in 1973 the Vietnam War had ended. However, while many thought the Cold War was cooling down, others felt that the Soviets were taking advantage of détente. The Americans had this mindset because of the USSR’s aid to left-wing movements in Africa. This was a problem because, during this time, the United States was intervening in some of the small countries of Central America to weaken left-wing movements. More problems arose when the Soviet Union placed new intermediate-range missiles in Eastern Europe. The United States responded by placing new missiles in Western Europe. In 1979, USSR troops were sent to Afghanistan to support an unpopular communist government. The U.S. Senate got even by refusing to ratify the SALT-II treaty. Events in Poland and war in the middle east caused a great deal of additional tension and a new Cold War had started even after it had cooled down in the early 1970s.
This time period is accurately depicted in the beginning of the movie and later throughout various parts of it. Throughout the whole movie, there is a constant struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union for power. Because of such tension, the Olympics became one way of demonstrating a country’s dominance. The USSR Men’s Hockey Team had won the gold medal in the four previous Winter Olympics (1964, 1968, 1972, and 1976). This made the upset by the USA Men’s Hockey Team in the 1980 Winter Olympics such a significant event. It was so important to America that there have been a couple of movies and documentaries about it, one of them being Miracle.
Miracle begins with Herb Brooks deciding to take on the position as head coach of the United States Men’s Hockey Team with a "lofty" goal to defeat the Soviets. He decided that he would change the team and the way it plays, and also make it tougher. Brooks’ team style called for a Soviet/Canadian hybrid. The problem was that most of the players in the U.S. played in the National Hockey League (NHL) which did not allow their players to play for the U.S. National Hockey Team. So, Herb Brooks’ job was to teach a bunch of kids who never played together how to learn a new system. In previous Olympics, the U.S. would just hope to get by the hockey game without getting embarrassed. However, they could not get embarrassed much more than 4 years before when they lost to the Czechoslovakia B-team, 15-1. To add to their troubles, the Soviet Union had beaten the NHL all-stars, which was a combination of the most skilled players in the U.S. who were couldn’t even play on the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team. Nevertheless, Herb Brooks was not nervous because he speculated that the all-stars had relied on individual talent, which the U.S. team didn’t have, meanwhile the Soviets followed a system for the team. Herb’s goal was to beat the best team in the world at their own style of game and he did it. His team consisted of players just out of college with an average age of 21, while some of the Soviets had been playing together for 15 years. USA beat the Soviet Union, 4-3, in the semifinals, then went on to beat Finland, 4-2, in the finals. USA were victorious over the Soviet Union and had received the gold medal. This was significant win for the United States in the Cold War battle.
The main character of the film is Herb Brooks, the coach of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team, but the Soviet team and the U.S. team both act as characters also. Herb Brooks represented the fight in Americans. He was full of determination and it showed when he led the team to a gold medal. One of his many power quotes was when he said,
"Red line, back. Blue line, back. Far blue line, back. Far red line, back. And you have 45 seconds to do it. Get used to this drill. You'll be doing it a lot. Why? Because the legs feed the wolf, gentlemen. I can't promise you we'll be the best team at Lake Placid next February. But we will be the best conditioned. That I can promise you."
This quote shows the mindset of Herb Brooks. He was always pushing the players to the max and making sure that they were in shape. The Soviet team represented the Soviet Union. They were very dominant like the Soviets at that time. A won game symbolized a battle won for the Soviets. The U.S. team represented the United States. The defeating of the Soviets represented a huge turn in events, in the Cold War, between the U.S. and the USSR. So the teams represented the power of the nations and any game between the Soviets and the U.S. was an important one. The Soviet Union was so dominant for so long but now the war and dominance had changed. Now the United States was more powerful and the war was prolonged. The war eventually ended with the United States outspending the Soviet Union until it was bankrupt. This hockey game could symbolize a minor turning point in the Cold War.
The film, Miracle, was prefaced by historical context that portrayed events that occurred during the time period of the movie. More accurate events are included sparingly throughout the rest movie. One event mentioned was the Watergate Affair with President Nixon. A headline was read that said "5 Arrested in Connection to GOP."Then it was announced that Nixon had resigned. This is all very accurate to the real event. The Watergate Affair begun in June of 1973 after five were arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party's Watergate headquarters in Washington. They were caught to be spies with cameras and bugging devices. Later, seven men were convicted of conspiracy, robbery and bugging the Democratic Party's headquarters. The Oil Crisis was accurately portrayed in the film multiple times. In the beginning it was mentioned and also in the middle. When it was brought up a second time, the coaches were on line for gas at a gas station. Also there was a sign that read "we have gas today." This gas line was very true to the 1970s and early 1980s. Carter agreed to temporarily ration gas to conserve. As the sign shows, he needed to conserve because of the limited amount of oil in America. This gas rationing sometimes caused lines of cars to form and the coaches were a part of one of these lines. While on line for gas, the radio broadcaster announced that "Soviets performed a nuclear test yesterday setting off a 75 kiloton bomb east of Kazakhstan." One coach turned to the other and said "there is so much fear lately." The other responded, "seems to me some people will never get along." This was accurate because the Soviets did participate in this act of terror. The coaches show how many people felt in the United States. A constant fear was always present throughout the Cold War which was difficult for Americans and Russians. In the beginning of the film, "the uncontrolled release of radiation from the 3 mile island nuclear facility" was discussed. This event was known as the Three Mile Island Accident of 1979. Three Mile Island is located in Pennsylvania and it was the site of a major accident. The accident cost around $975 million to clean up. The last historical accuracy I will talk about involves the Munich Olympics of 1972. The beginning of the movie mentioned the Munich Olympics upset and how Russia took the gold medal while Americans refuse the silver. This was in basketball and the United States felt that they were robbed of the gold medal so they decided to refuse the silver medal. This was historically accurate just like the other four examples from the movie.
