Buena Vista Home Video Miracle Match, The

From the team that wrote and produced "Hoosiers" and "Rudy", this David-and-Goliath type, feel-good movie also tugs at the heartstrings. True story about, arguably, the greatest upset ever in World Cup history. Kind of as if a team of MLB baseball All-Stars had traveled to the Brazil for a world baseball championship, and had lost against a British baseball team of amateurs and semipros. Unthinkable. The U.S. coach, Bill Jeffrey, was then the Penn State University coach and will go down as one of the all time winningest coaches in NCAA soccer history. The PSU soccer stadium, Jeffery Field, is named after him. The player that assisted on that famous goal, Walter Bahr, was also a great coach at PSU after Jeffrey. Bahr's sons, Matt & Chris, were soccer All-Americans at PSU and went on to successful NFL kicking careers in the 70's and 80's. Matt won Superbowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers and NY Giants. When the 1-0 score came across the wires, the British media initially thought it was a typo and some reported it as a 10-0 win over the Americans in their morning papers. After that 1-0 loss, the British NEVER wore those blue jerseys again - They currently either wear a white top or red top. YOU'LL LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!

It's terrific that this movie has finally brought to a larger population the wonderful underdog story of the 1950 Men's National Soccer Team in the World Cup in Brazil. Beautiful cinematography communicates the authentic feel of the Italian "Hill" neighborhood in St. Louis, and the incredible geography of Rio de Janiero, and the actors do an excellent job of portraying some likeable (and some not so likeable) characters while playing attractive soccer - and most of the actors did not have doubles. A wonderful choice for families . . . inspirational and enjoyable!

I am a movie buff and this movie is the best one that I have seen in years! Excellent acting, story, directing, just the best. My viewing tends toward mystery movies, but this movie is wonderful no matter what your favorite genre is. Patriotic, people working together to accomplish something really great not only for themselves but for the country. I guess I should mention that I am a Gerry Butler fan and this movie was made during the same year as "Phantom of the Opera", so Gerry is around 34 in this movie.

This is a movie where hockey is played outside with cars headlights, freezing cold temperatures and a lot of determination of the players. This is a must have movie and then you can see how different hockey is played today.

My title line should not be a spoiler: "Can we do it? Yes, we can!" If so, the movie title is a spoiler: "The Miracle Team"! What do "miracle teams" do? They come from the underdog position to win! The cobbled team of St. Louis-New York players won the World Cup in the 1950 Championship game against the world's best team and best player in a 1-0 victory. How did it happen? How could this major sports upset even conceivably take place? After try-outs, two weeks of practice, and personal, ethnic, religious, and regional clashes of differences, the team finally jelled, even during the game for this sports coup. Do you know the applied meanings of Apollonian and Dionysian styles of doing things? The New York team was Apollonian--structured, intellectual, controlled. The St. Louis team, comprised of Italians from the famous Hill area, was Dionysian (think god of wine)--loose, fun-loving, instantaneous. The two styles were a major conflict. New York was led by a man of German-descent, Walter Bahr (some of these men from St. Louis had served in World War II). St. Louis's leader, Frank Gorghi, was the go-to guy in leaving words of wisdom and guidance, while Walter was a cool, calculating, but also wise leader. The two were able to work together and make the team eventually click. Going against the manager's decision, they went as a unified front to convince Joe Gaetjens, an African player attending school in America, a natural athlete, and later the soul of the team, to play. Breaking elements down: PRO: 1. Considering that the movie was made by the same people making HOOSIERS and RUDY, both exciting sports movies, this movie was criticized for lacking that same excitement. I found the championship game most exciting and was on my feet cheering most of the time! 2. A major point is that the story was made into a movie enjoyable to watch, good for a family entertainment. Maybe another group later can remake it to include what other reviewers saw as weaknesses. 3. Only two actors' names stand out (Gerard Butler and Patrick Stewart). I liked the use of little known or unknown actors. It makes the viewer not single out favorites to watch. I know Gerard Butler is getting to be a big name now, but not at the time the movie was made. 4. The film looks professional. It is not an embarrassment for the celebration of this major American sports event or the players. CONS 1. Lack of character development. There was enough for the viewer to get a working knowledge of each one's background or some little aspect of his character, but not enough. 2. What happened to the players after this major game? Viewers always want this information just out of curiosity. Did the game change them? Not change them? 3. One reviewer criticized the use of the sports reporter narrating part of the story to give background and explanations. This technique is not an uncommon use of characters. I saw nothing wrong with it. It gave a Greek chorus kind of narration. Overall, "The Miracle Match" is a highly satisfying movie. I watched it a second time recently and discovered to my major surprise that I immensely enjoyed the movie much more this time. At the first viewing, I was not really into watching soccer. This is a great movie to watch on July 4th, or in celebration of the American spirit to win at all odds, just like the revolutionists did in 1776. That was a miracle match, as are the teams in this movie. Both times the Americans defeated the British!

..."The Miracle Match" is another Gerard Butler film that i purchased in order to get a closer look at this amazing actor's theatrical range--i was quite please...very credible acting on all who participated in this film--i just couldnt get into the actor that played Patrick Stewart's part as a younger man...but other than that,the performances were natural and a compliment to the men being portrayed...and although there were other "big name" actors in this film, everyone is on the same page in making the viewer believe this larger than life piece of sport history...there wasnt a whole lot of unnecessary "lets just focus on this one or that one", just a simple formula of how a group of friends beat the odds of being labled not good enough...and that my friend, was good enough for me...

I grew up on The Hill and many of the names are very familiar to me. However,, my brother, the soccer player in the family, knew many of the players from the hill, so I invited him over to see the movie. It was so good. My brother played soccer, and so did my father and my children, both son and daughter. My husband and I coached soccer. My brother also was an extra in the movie. The movie was very personal to us. It is a treasure I will keep.

I never knew this movie existed until I heard about it on a soccer podcast (American Fiasco. Hosted by Roger Bennett. The true story of how not to win the World Cup. With Roger Bennett of the Men in Blazers podcast.) Terrific movie with better acting than I expected for a movie I never heard up. Very cool true story.