“The Mighty Ducks”1992
*** of ****
Director: Stephen Herek
Cast: Emilio Estevez, Lane Smith, Joshua Jackson
When I was younger, The Mighty Ducks movies were always favorites of mine. My mom always had a basket of VHS tapes (back in the day) that she considered “classics” (Or in other words, movies that the family wouldn’t mind watching on a rainy Saturday afternoon), and the Mighty Ducks tapes were always in there. (Along with Toy Story, of course!)
It had occurred to me when I began thinking of movies to do for this segment that I hadn’t seen any of the Mighty Ducks movies in years, and so I decided to watch and review them for my very first edition of this installment.
Coach Gordon Bombay (Estevez) becomes coach of “The Mighty Ducks”, a pee-wee hockey club, when he is forced to do community service. Take a coach that doesn’t want to be there, a bunch of diverse kids, and put them together. What do you get? The Mighty Ducks. (Uh.. wait. I mean CHAOS!)
The whole first film is about how everyone learns to work together as a team. You have a group of diverse kids, ranging from bullies, to geeks, to average kids, to the fat goalie from Philadelphia. You have hockey skills ranging from amazing to “you suck” on the talent meter. All of these kids are joined together in one place, and unified as one through the Mighty Ducks. Not only do the players have to learn to get along with one another, but as a whole they need to get along with their un-enthusiastic coach who they butt heads with constantly throughout the film. In the end, the Ducks rise above adversity to win the Pee-wee hockey championship.
Like I mentioned before, always a favorite of mine. It has a great plot, it was funny, IT ENTERTAINED ME. That is what I look for with movies like this (family movies, sports films) TO BE ENTERTAINED. And I was. So I was happy, and still am to this day. Adults are not the target audience, however, watch this with your families. As my mom would say, this is a good one for a Saturday afternoon.
3 Stars. A good one, but my favorite of the 3 comes with the sequel, “D2: The Mighty Ducks”.
“D2: The Mighty Ducks”1994
*** out of ****
Director: Sam Weisman
Cast: Emilio Estevez, Kathryn Erbe, Joshua Jackson
Ahh, the sequel. My favorite of the three, and from a critical standpoint, the best of the three. In this one, Coach Bombay is back again for more, only this time, he isn’t coaching the Ducks. Nope. He is coaching none other than Team USA.
Remember that group of kids that learned to work together so well last year and can now call themselves a team? Well now that same group of kids have to find a way of getting along with some MORE kids, this time from all over the United States. The Ducks, joined together with kids from all over the country, and coached by Bombay, make up Team USA.
You’ve got girls, cowboys, Asian figure skaters, and Russ “from da hood” with his special “Knuckle-puck”, all mixing together with the Ducks to form Team USA. And if you think getting along with one another last season was tough, just imagine what this year will be like. The goal this year: To work as a team to beat Iceland, the toughest team in the world. But with bad attitudes and things distracting Bombay, it doesn’t seem possible, and the team starts to give up. Bombay needs a wake-up call, and the Ducks (whoops, I mean USA)..... need some faith. The whole sequel is about how The Ducks (whoops, I mean USA).... overcome adversity to become champions of the world.
This one is my favorite, for a few reasons. First, it is the most realistic of them all. The hockey scenes, even for a bunch of kids, looked real, not staged. Second, this one has a good over-riding message. Never give up. Shoot for your goals. (Get it, shoot? haha) Rising above adversity. Common themes played perfectly into a family/children’s type movie. On top of that mushy crap, it was entertaining. It is a fun family film. I recommend that if you and the family are looking for something to watch together one afternoon, do a double feature, and see the first 2 “Ducks” movies.
Don’t bother seeing the 3rd. It is crap. Totally pointless, irrelevant crap. But as for “D2”, it gets 3 stars from me. Very good.
Well, that does it for this edition of Diggin Into the DVD Archive. I hope you enjoyed it. The second edition will follow shortly. In the next edition, you will have a chance to look at my thoughts on “Fun With Dick and Jane (2005) and Mr. Woodcock (2007). I know a lot of you groan at those titles, however, read Edition 2, because I believe that a lot of you will be surprised at what I have to say. Until next time, this is Randy. Happy Reviewing!
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