They Were (Mostly) Unstoppable..."Red Army"

Red Army (2014)

Rated PG

Written & Directed by Gabe Polsky

The Story:

The story of the greatest sports dynasty of all time: The Soviet Union's Red Army hockey team. The only chink in their armor came in 1980 with the "Do You Believe In Miracles" moment in Lake Placid where they fell to the American Olympic team. This is their story, as told by the members of that elite group.

Polsky leaves few stones unturned as he tracked down each member of the team, some more willing to comment and weave stories than others.

The story focuses mostly on team captain Viacheslav Fetisov and his struggles to carry the team, then his desire to leave the team and the animosity it created between him and his country.

The unparalleled success the Russian hockey team enjoyed is examined thoroughly and the debate could be in spite of or because of the way they were treated as to how well they played on the ice.

They would tour the world and beat professional hockey teams soundly in exhibition games.

Then when they were finally able to play professionally, teams snapped them up, but the players were never that successful as they were back home.

Many were not treated the best on their teams to begin with, but their talents could not be harnessed as effectively as when they skated together.

Enter Scotty Bowman, then coach of the Detroit Red Wings.

He brought the Red Army team under his leadership and basically let them skate.

They began to play as they once had, and his advice was to simply keep doing what it is you do.

He sat back and let them skate their way to a Stanley Cup.

Yes, the Soviet team was that good, and so was this documentary, whether you are a hockey fan or not.

Final Grade:  B+