The Mighty Ducks

I don't think The Mighty Ducks is a masterpiece in any shape or form, but it is an enjoyable film. I do agree that it is predictable, the plot is nothing particularly special and the ending especially doesn't really hold any surprises. But it is nicely filmed, with evergreen cinematography and pretty scenery and the music is pleasant. The script is good on the most part, there are some humorous parts but it is also somewhat touching, and the director Stephen Herek pitches the humour and melodrama at the right level. And the acting is spirited, with Emilio Estevez charming, dignified and fun as the disgraced lawyer who has to coach the worst ice hockey team and Joss Ackland solid as Hans. Also the ice-hockey scenes are done with just the right amount of flair. Overall, a sweet and fun movie, even with the predictable plot it is worth seeing. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A classic kids sport movie, with a story we have seen many times, in The Bad News Bears and many other movies. This time the sport is ice hockey. A new coach takes a hopeless team, full of losers and misfits. Initially reluctant, the coach gets into it, and after some difficulties teaches the kids to love the sport and work hard together, turning them into a winning team.

Not original, but it's done well. It's a feel-good underdog story, made better by some drama between the rival coaches, a star player who has to change teams and a romance between the coach and the single mom of one of the kids. The storytelling is very streamlined and not much time is devoted to any element. But it works. It's fun, and it makes you feel good. Great family movie.

Just recently, I saw D2 and D3, my friend unfortunately did not have the first Mighty Ducks movie, so I had to watch those first then rent this one. The second and the third were pretty good movies, but I felt bad, because it felt like you're getting into a group of friends, and you don't know their history, you weren't there? You know that feeling, and as silly as it sounds, that's how I felt watching the sequels without seeing the first one.

Gordon is a lawyer who has had a little trouble with the lying in his career, therefore, he must do community service. When he sees a group of young pre-teen troubled youths playing a game of hockey, remembering his childhood love of hockey, he volunteers to become their coach in the Pee-Wee games. He starts off on a rocky relationship since he doesn't like kids, but he grows to love them and they do back learning that there is more to a game than just winning, but it'd be nice since they end up in the championships.

I loved The Mighty Ducks, I felt like it was a terrific family film and I'm surprised it wasn't played in my childhood since I was seven years old when it came out, but you know the saying, better late then never, right? I would highly recommend this up lifting story for any family!

7/10

I remember my cousins and I used to always watch these movies when I was a kid. I loved how these bad-playing, poor attitude-having kids could always be inspired to become champions, no matter how tough the odds and no matter how many times movies like this were remade with soccer, football, baseball, and dogs. Even though I've seen it a million times, I still get chills when the team works as a team and goes out to try their hardest. It's enough to make me, one of the least sporty people alive, want to join a sporting team. Another highlight, for me at least, were the guys. I always had at least one guy in the movie who I had a crush on and kept my undivided attention on. Who would've known back then that young Charlie (Joshua Jackson) would grow up to use big words and pretentious speeches on Dawson's Creek? Out of all those inspirational sports-are-good-for-kids movies, this was and always will be my favorite because it is the first one I can remember and the first I've ever seen. 1...2...3...Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!

The Mighty Ducks (aka as the Champions), is one of the great Disney movies I have seen. Not your typical fairytale, but a rugged kids adventure, which also goes into that winning is not everything, but that being in a team and playing as a team is the most important part of any sport and is good measure for a person's life.

Aggressive trial lawyer Gordon Bombay has never lost a case. But when he's sentenced to a community service assignment, he must coach a ragtag team of peewee hockey players who can't skate, can't score and can't win. First he teaches the hapless team everything about winning and they teach him that winning is not everything. Watch the pucks fly as they battle their way to the most important game of their lives!

This film is a great story for young up and coming sports ‘people' to watch and learn that winning is not the be all and end all of sport. Sure there are some people such as Coach Reilly, because they are not true sports lovers. Instead they treat sport as a serious event, not something that as Gordon Bombay says should be ‘fun'. In Australia, and my part of this country, we have Aussie Rules football, which again is a very team orientated sport. Although it can have some extraordinary individuals that play, the theme is still the same, that a team has to stick together and try as hard as it can.

This movie has a very young and funny cast, with some old heads thrown in for good team balance. The obvious star is Emilio Estevez, who stars as Gordon Bombay. While he is a very aggressive character in the beginning, Gordon brings his knowledge and experience to a group of young kids that would make any sports coach proud. Estevez has had a good movie career, with some of his more well known movies being The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, and an unaccredited role in Mission Impossible . The other main star is a very young Joshua Jackson who portrayed Charlie Conway, a good ice-hockey player, who reminds his coach a lot of himself as a young peewee hockey player. Jackson has made a name for himself in Hollywood starring in films such as Cruel Intentions, the disappointing Skulls and the popular TV drama, `Dawson's Creek'.

Other cast members also include the rival coach of the Hawks Ice-Hockey team, Coach Reilly played by veteran actor Lane Smith. He also starred in another great film I saw recently, which happened to be on another popular sport, that of golf, the film being `The Legend of Bagger Vance'. All the characters that are on the Mighty ducks team are likeable people. The team consists of a fat kid, a silent kid, a nice kid, a wiseacre kid, a figure-skating princess, and a tough kid. The whole formula works for me anyway.

I thought that this film had some impressive Ice-Hockey scenes that looked real, though I will never know if they are real or not. Ice-Hockey is a demanding sport and this movie shows that this is the case, with heavy bumps and unrelenting pressure on players. It was good to see that this sport has both males and females playing together, again the movie shows how well the two can gel.

So, if you think that sport is not your thing, but want to give it a go, perhaps this film is what you need to watch. Although this isn't the most talented group of athletes to take the ice, and in the beginning the Ducks do really ‘suck', they prove that with some good coaching guidance and team camaraderie, anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

QUACK QUACK QUACK – Go the Ducks!

Rating: 8/10 or 4 Stars