A self-centered Minnesota lawyer is sentenced to community service coaching a rag tag youth hockey team.A self-centered Minnesota lawyer is sentenced to community service coaching a rag tag youth hockey team.A self-centered Minnesota lawyer is sentenced to community service coaching a rag tag youth hockey team.
- Awards
- 2 nominations total
- Fulton Reed
- (as Elden Ratliff)
- Jesse Hall
- (as Brandon Adams)
- Adam Banks
- (as Vincent A. Larusso)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJake Gyllenhaal, who was unknown at the time, auditioned for the role of Charlie Conway, but his parents wouldn't let him do the movie so the producers ended up casting Joshua Jackson.
- Goofs(at around 1h 19 mins) When the Ducks are playing the yellow team, Banks is simultaneously shown as being on the bench cheering and on the ice with the puck.
- Quotes
[the kids aren't thrilled about being named the Ducks]
Gordon Bombay: I didn't have a choice, we're being sponsored.
Les Averman: By who, Donald and Daisy?
Gordon Bombay: Hey, you don't wanna be Ducks? You'd rather be District Five? Some stupid number?
Peter Mark: Better than some stupid animal.
Gordon Bombay: I'll have you know, Peter, that the Duck is one of the most noble, agile and intelligent creatures in the animal kingdom.
Connie Moreau: But they're wimpy!
Guy Germaine: They don't even have teeth.
Gordon Bombay: Neither do hockey players. Have you guys ever seen a flock of ducks flying in perfect formation? It's beautiful. Pretty awesome the way they all stick together. Ducks never say die. Ever seen a duck fight? No way. Why? Because the other animals are afraid. They know that if they mess with one duck, they gotta deal with the whole flock. I'm proud to be a Duck, and I'd be proud to fly with any one of you. So how about it? Who's a Duck?
Fulton Reed: [pause] I'll be a duck.
Charlie Conway: Yeah, me too.
- Crazy creditsIn the closing Credits, Joshua Jackson's character 'Charlie Conway' is misspelled and listed as "Charlie Conroy"
- Alternate versionsTwo versions of the movie's soundtrack exist (along with two representations of the music list in the credits, usually paired correctly but not always). In one version, when Charlie wins the game with his penalty shot, Queen's "We Are the Champions" plays for about 70 seconds, then as the bus drives away and the end credits begin, Queen's "We Will Rock You" starts, followed by "We Are the Champions". In another version, the musical score continues uninterrupted throughout the victory scene, and the end credits have "Winning It All" by The Outfield and then "We Will Rock You". (One version of the song list has Rock and Champions, and the other has Rock and Winning.) The US DVD has the Champions versions on its English, French, and Spanish dubs, although the French credits list Winning. The US Blu-ray has the Winning It All version in both its English soundtrack and credits list. One possibility is that Champions was always intended, but the rights couldn't be set up in time for the theatrical release and were arranged by the home video releases (then in an earnest effort to be faithful to the original release the Blu-ray lost it again).
- SoundtracksHey Man
Written by Dennis Hill, Joe Phillipy and Greg Higgins
Performed by The Poorboys
Courtesy of Hollywood Records
Aggressive trial lawyer Gordon Bombay has never lost a case. But when he's sentenced to a community service assignment, he must coach a ragtag team of peewee hockey players who can't skate, can't score and can't win. First he teaches the hapless team everything about winning and they teach him that winning is not everything. Watch the pucks fly as they battle their way to the most important game of their lives!
This film is a great story for young up and coming sports people' to watch and learn that winning is not the be all and end all of sport. Sure there are some people such as Coach Reilly, because they are not true sports lovers. Instead they treat sport as a serious event, not something that as Gordon Bombay says should be fun'. In Australia, and my part of this country, we have Aussie Rules football, which again is a very team orientated sport. Although it can have some extraordinary individuals that play, the theme is still the same, that a team has to stick together and try as hard as it can.
This movie has a very young and funny cast, with some old heads thrown in for good team balance. The obvious star is Emilio Estevez, who stars as Gordon Bombay. While he is a very aggressive character in the beginning, Gordon brings his knowledge and experience to a group of young kids that would make any sports coach proud. Estevez has had a good movie career, with some of his more well known movies being The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, and an unaccredited role in Mission Impossible . The other main star is a very young Joshua Jackson who portrayed Charlie Conway, a good ice-hockey player, who reminds his coach a lot of himself as a young peewee hockey player. Jackson has made a name for himself in Hollywood starring in films such as Cruel Intentions, the disappointing Skulls and the popular TV drama, `Dawson's Creek'.
Other cast members also include the rival coach of the Hawks Ice-Hockey team, Coach Reilly played by veteran actor Lane Smith. He also starred in another great film I saw recently, which happened to be on another popular sport, that of golf, the film being `The Legend of Bagger Vance'. All the characters that are on the Mighty ducks team are likeable people. The team consists of a fat kid, a silent kid, a nice kid, a wiseacre kid, a figure-skating princess, and a tough kid. The whole formula works for me anyway.
I thought that this film had some impressive Ice-Hockey scenes that looked real, though I will never know if they are real or not. Ice-Hockey is a demanding sport and this movie shows that this is the case, with heavy bumps and unrelenting pressure on players. It was good to see that this sport has both males and females playing together, again the movie shows how well the two can gel.
So, if you think that sport is not your thing, but want to give it a go, perhaps this film is what you need to watch. Although this isn't the most talented group of athletes to take the ice, and in the beginning the Ducks do really suck', they prove that with some good coaching guidance and team camaraderie, anything is possible if you put your mind to it.
QUACK QUACK QUACK Go the Ducks!
Rating: 8/10 or 4 Stars
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Los campeones
- Filming locations
- Peavey Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA(Adult Gordon meets the District 5 players)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $50,752,337
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,035,133
- Oct 4, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $50,754,850