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(Photo by Courtest of Crave / Heated Rivalry)The latest: Heated Rivalry became a sensation over the holidays, with its lead stars heating up the ice rink. See where it ranks on our list, and then check out the Winter Olympics!
Let’s talk about the sport that combines sharp blades, blunt sticks, 100-mile-per-hour pucks, and regularly scheduled fistfights. You’d think hockey and Hollywood would go together like and ice and blood, but that sport-to-movie pipeline is still being built, and we’re still a ways off before movies about hockey can compete with football, basketball, baseball, and Jamaican bobsledding.
We’ll start with the 10 best-reviewed hockey movies, with Certified Fresh films at the top. Red Army is a Soviet-focused documentary, especially on the five players that played for the Detroit Wings in the 1990s. (This so-called Russian Five got their own doc of the same name in 2018.) But if you want to see the Soviets get beaten, then check out 2004’s Miracle, which re-stages the U.S. Olympic hockey team victory at the legendary 1980 match.
Goon captures the day-to-day essence of hockey (an accolade typically shared with 1977’s Slap Shot) and an empathically comedic look at the enforcer, a position further explored in doc Ice Guardians.
Hockeyland highlights the role of the sport in a small Minnesota town. And you can’t go this long talking about hockey without mentioning Canada, as Youngblood, The Rocket 9, and Indian Horse will attest. —Alex Vo
#1
Critics Consensus: Fun and fascinating, Red Army delivers absorbing documentary drama for hockey fans and sports novices alike.
Synopsis: Hockey captain Slava Fetisov and four other players form a nearly unbeatable unit known as the "Russian Five," but their [More]
#2
Critics Consensus: Goon is a crude slapstick comedy with well-formed characters and a surprising amount of heart.
Synopsis: Though a misfit among his brainy family members, Massachusetts bouncer Doug Glatt has a knockout punch that lands him a [More]
#3
Critics Consensus: Kurt Russell's performance guides this cliche-ridden tale into the realm of inspirational, nostalgic goodness.
Synopsis: When college coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is hired to helm the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic hockey team, he brings [More]
#4
Synopsis: Shoresy moves to Sudbury, Canada, to join a senior AAA hockey team in his quest to never lose again. [More]
#5
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In the late 1980s, the Detroit Red Wings work to finally break their decadeslong Stanley Cup drought by extracting players [More]
#6
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Hockey enforcers struggle to rise through the professional ranks as the role slowly disappears from the game. [More]
#7
Synopsis: A romance set in the world of hockey; Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are two stars in Major League Hockey, [More]
#8
Synopsis: A community in Sweden places its dreams of revitalization on the teenage shoulders of its junior ice hockey team; the [More]
#9
Synopsis: After failing to make the cut to join the now powerhouse Mighty Ducks junior hockey team, 12-year-old Evan's mother encourages [More]
#10
Critics Consensus: Raunchy, violent, and very funny, Slap Shot is ultimately set apart by a wonderful comic performance by Paul Newman.
Synopsis: In the small New England town of Charlestown, the local mill is about to lay off 10,000 workers. The town's [More]
#11
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Minnesota is the heartland of US hockey, creating more skaters--on the local rinks and in the NHL--than any other state. [More]
#12
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A Canadian First Nations boy survives in a residential school in the 1970s. [More]
#13
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Working-class Quebecois hockey player Maurice Richard (Roy Dupuis) becomes a hero to French Canadians as he stars for the famous [More]
#14
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Dean Youngblood (Rob Lowe) is an exceptionally skilled young ice hockey player trying to make a name in the Canadian [More]
#15
Critics Consensus: Seann William Scott remains as watchable as ever in the title role, but Goon: Last of the Enforcers repeats its predecessor's violent and profane formula to diminishing effect.
Synopsis: A lockout has reunited old teammates and brought a crew of new players to the bench for the Halifax Highlanders. [More]
#16
Synopsis: One can discern hockey's greatness live or by watching a game on TV, but the sport's ultimate attractions -- speed, [More]
#17
Critics Consensus: The lack of hockey action and authenticity left critics cold.
Synopsis: A publicity stunt turns into the ultimate lopsided competition, when the world-famous New York Rangers face off against the team [More]
#18
Critics Consensus: The Mighty Ducks has feel-good goals but only scores a penalty shot for predictability.
Synopsis: After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids' hockey team [More]
#19
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An international competition for junior league hockey teams is being held in Los Angeles. Coach Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is [More]
#20
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Having achieved a modicum of fame from their earlier adventures, all the members of the Mighty Ducks hockey team are [More]
#21
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A chronicle of the life and career of NHL goaltender Terry Sawchuk. [More]
#22
Critics Consensus: Dwayne Johnson brings the full force of his charm (and his appropriately pale chompers) to the title role, but flat direction and a committee-written script render The Tooth Fairy unacceptably dull.
Synopsis: Rough-and-tumble hockey player Derek Thompson (Dwayne Johnson) is a terror on the ice, earning the nickname "Tooth Fairy" by separating [More]
#23
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A young man is torn between his traditional Indo-Canadian family expectations and his dreams of playing hockey. [More]
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