Picking Nits
Soviet coach benching Tretiak; undersized Lake Placid crowd; skipped Finland game and podium; missing "take this to your graves" speech; runtime
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:30Read transcript
- The Soviet coach benching Trediak is like Mahomes throwing a first-quarter pick in a playoff game and being benched for Chad Henne for the rest of the game, but in the Super Bowl; they panicked because no one had ever hit them with a haymaker.
- The small, packed 8,500-seat Lake Placid crowd is not captured: the 800 to 1,000 extras are shoehorned into close-ups, and some wear 2004 outfits.
- Al Michaels noting the most expensive face-value ticket was $67 is an inflation aside.
- The movie skips the Finland game and Eruzione calling everyone onto the podium, and Brooks' between-periods line that losing it would go with them to their graves.
- At two hours 17 minutes it is too long, like many Disney sports movies; cut the wife rather than the Finland material, though ending with the Russia game is the right move.