Buena Vista Home VideoMiracle Match, The

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.CONS1. 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!

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!!!!

This movie tells, pretty accurately, the story of one of the great upsets in team sports - as the United States, fielding a soccer team of working class St Louisans and Ivy League Easterners, who were different in just about every aspect (gameplay, personality, education )and only had two weeks to come together, played the British team in the World Cup and, astoundingly, beat them (Britain claimed to 'invent' soccer, and had, at that time, one of the best teams in the world). The Americans were playing for pride, for country and for the chance to be part of the World Cup. No one thought they could win....The movie is done pretty well, letting you get to know the St Louis players (less so the Easterners), and showing what was needed to mold them all into a team. The soccer scenes are exciting - you truly understand why one character refers to soccer as the most democratic of sports.The end, with the title match, seems rushed, though, and I would have liked to see how the team dealt with the experience and what they'd learned about each other as well as the game. A wrap-around device with Sir Patrick Stewart as the St Louis sports journalist who covered the team is kind of a waste, though it's always good to see him.The acting is generally good, with Gerald Butler as the Eastern goalie with some confidence issues, Wes Bentley (who actually plays soccer and organized a youth league in his hometown) as the Eastern team captain who needs to learn how to loosen up, Costas Mandylor as a St Louis player who 'treats every opponent as if he wants to send him to the hospital' and John Rhys-Davies, nearly unrecognizable, but wonderful as the Scotsman assigned to coach what he sees as a willing but ragtag team.

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.

This is based on a true story about a soccer match where the US team actually...well, you should watch the film to find out what happens. There is a good ensemble cast, the character development isn't deep but then this isn't a character-driven film, it's a soccer movie. If you like soccer, the games actually get a bit exciting, even though you know what's going to happen. A good production overall, and if you're a Gerry Butler fan hunting down his earlier works, this one is a pleasant viewing.

Brill