Veia de Campeão

There are a lot of angry Canadian people expressing hatred for this movie. I can totally understand where they are coming from. I play the game of hockey, and I find it hard to believe that every time a player touches the ice, he's scoring goals. Added to that, how he learns to fight, and works out for a week, and all of a sudden beats up a guy that kicked his butt a couple of weeks before. BUT.... You also have to understand something else. Since Slap Shot, an undoubtedly awesome classic to all hockey fans around the world, there had not been an attempt at a movie that mainly focused on hockey. The makers of this movie had to be creative to attract attention for the sport. For example, the stick fight, the constant beautiful goals, the way he won the fight. It had some reality to it like the jokes played on the rookie in the bar and when they shave him, you know, down there. The way he was put up in someones house. The most impressive thing about the movie, was the beginning and how it set up the rest of the movie. It starts with a home video of Dean(Rob Lowe) when he was very young playing with his older brother and their friends. It shows how clearly dominant he was and that leads into the present time with him saying, "I've been offered a tryout with the Hamilton Mustangs." And to Canadians who feel like this movie disrespected your great sport (yes, i mean GREAT sport), remember this. When they are on their way to Canada, Deans older brother who is driving him says you are gonna have to learn, "Oh, Canada" and also when Dean says, "They'll never catch me" showing cockiness like he's superior to anyone in the league, his brother says, "Oh, they'll catch you." I love hockey, I loved this movie. Did it have it's flaws? Yeah, plenty of them. But if you're looking for an inspiring, action filled drama, give this movie a whirl.

I loved it in terms of hockey. But at times found it quite cheesy and poorly written, but in terms of hockey I liked it but defiantly could've been better. I find most hockey movies to appeal an American audience tends to always need to include fighting and violence -- although I do agree the fighting adds emotion, but I'm the one hockey fan that can live without the fighting.

What I found cheesy was before I watched the movie I thought the title was deemed towards the premise being a young hockey player hoping to go pro, but making Youngblood the character's last name. I think what they should've done was given him a true last name that hockey fans would take seriously. But the other thing was should've done the whole junior thing a lot differently because it's not a tryout for juniors, you get drafted or invited. Also, trading in sports always makes the story better as I wish they traded Racki away or Youngblood is traded away because the team didn't believe in him or a team gave him a second chance because they saw what he could do.

Other than that, it's a good hockey movie. I just think the movie would be a lot more relevant had they done things right in a genuine hockey perspective.

I cannot imagine how anyone would think of this movie as a 'bad movie'. It showed just how much hockey players have to go through to become successful. The acting was not the best but it was still interesting to watch. It also did not hurt that Rob Lowe was really good looking. 2.5 out of 4

Maybe it's because I neither follow hockey nor care for it, or maybe it's because I'm a 15-year-old female teenager, but I liked this movie. Sure, it's nothing special or extraordinary, in fact its plot has been done a million times. But I just liked it. It's virtually impossible not to like Dean Youngblood (and it's got nothing to do with the fact that Rob Lowe is hot) and to cheer for him when he finally learns how to hit a guy. The romance between Dean and Jessie actually doesn't seem forced; the two of them have a certain chemistry that is quite obvious to viewers like myself. Cynthia Gibb is all-natural in her role as Jessie, and Patrick Swayze evokes empathy in the viewer as the high-school drop-out who is *this close* to being a pro hockey player. But it is Rob Lowe who basically carried the whole movie, and once again, it has got nothing to do with the fact that he is hot.

Overall, this is a feel-good hockey movie that I liked. I usually can't stand sports movies, as I hate sports with an intense passion, but this one is just...well, it's just nice. And then there's Rob Lowe...

...what Youngblood attempts, which is to tell the story of an up and coming star at a crucial point in his hockey career. Of all the hockey movies I've seen, including Slap Shot, The Mighty Ducks movies, The Cutting Edge (which focuses on hockey for only the beginning of the film) and the Van-Damme action-film Sudden Death, (which in my opinion is the absolute worst hockey-related movie ever made) the plot of Youngblood is the most reasonable to me. I have not seen Mystery Alaska, but from a friend of mine's description, it sounds quite far-fetched. (although I suppose a group of Alaskans probably would have a chance against the Rangers :)

I was born late in 1979, and first saw Youngblood when I was quite young. In fact, it was the first hockey movie I ever saw, and to date the only one I own. Part of my fascination with this film resulted from my passion for the sport of ice hockey, which I began playing at the age of 4 and maintained competitively through the collegiate level.

What I like most about Youngblood is that the story is centered around one player (Dean) and his struggles to advance his career, despite his talent. The obstacles he faces in the film: lack of toughness, and clashing with the coach, and knowing his chances to go pro are running slim, are typical themes hockey players share as they advance toward the ultimate goal of one day playing in the NHL. While Slapshot is hockey's cult classic, it is more like Animal House on Ice than a realistic attempt to portray ice hockey, which Youngblood attempts, and quite honestly a film of such nature should be produced for the avid hockey fans around the world.

Without a doubt, Youngblood fails to portray skillful hockey, and the off-ice action only mildly captures the life of a junior hockey player, but had the proper research been done and certain changes made pre-production, Youngblood could have joined Slapshot in hockey fans' movie collections. The games needed to be faster, the dialogue snappier, (especially the Keanu Reeves brainbusters) and the Rocky-ish training diminished the quality of the film, because not only would Dean not go from being the weakest in the league to kicking the toughest guy's butt in a week, but most wannabe professionals and junior teams have regimented training programs to follow on a regular basis, and do not begin two days before the championship game of the league they're in.

Cutting that scene could have made room for a far more realistic side of the game, such as Dean being contacted by prospective coaches, agents and other interested parties to notify him they'd be coming to watch his games. (like most prospects with hopes of going pro have to deal with)

Dean simply mentions that he wants to go pro and needs to play juniors if he's going to get a contract, but that is the last we hear about him playing pro, aside from mentioning it to Jessie, coach Chadwick's sexy daughter, and Dean's love interest. From my experiences, any player in junior hockey who did not receive a fair amount of attention from scouts was quite likely not going anywhere, so there should have been some effort to include them to advance the plot of his odds of making it, because scouts would have certainly had more influence on Dean playing tougher than anyone in the film does, although in reality his teammates should have been getting on him too.

As for character interplay, Dean's relationship with Chadwick's daughter is entertaining, if far-fetched. Perhaps the most realistic relationship between characters in the film is the one between Sutton and Youngblood, as the top talents of hockey teams often have an appreciation for one another and pal-up off the ice. Not to mention, the Hollywood impact on the film is the only logical explanation for Youngblood leaving the team after Sutton's injury. In all my years as a player, I'd never heard of that one, although, I suppose it just explains Dean's irrational behavior resulting from his conflicts with coach Chadwick and his nemesis, Racki.

On the whole, I appreciate this movie, but I certainly wish it had more of an advanced pace and that it better explored and explained some of the typical stereotypes of hockey players that it shows (star player chases and gets the girl everyone wants, the bar scene, the initiation, the opposing team's heckling fans, etc.)

As a long-time hockey player and fan who now studies Scriptwriting at Ithaca College, I feel somewhat obligated to pen a true-to-life hockey film for the die-hard lovers of the game out there. Somebody needs to!! Youngblood, if nothing else, at least will make a decent reference.