Sports movies are about story telling into the world of that sport and for as long as it lasts, it does have this special appeal that makes you see the game for what you never saw it to be.
Is Slap Shot a great movie?
I have seen couple of hockey movies, but I think Slap Shot is one of a kind.
The movie is basically about how a threatened team introduced violence into the field of play much to the admiration and cheering of the spectators.... but with some very unpleasant consequences down the road.
I think that is why there is some sorts of violence in the game of hockey where one player can completely destabilize another through their game play.
The plot..(thickens?)
The movie stars Paul Newman and fictional character of the Carlson brothers (who are actual hockey players in real life) called the Hanson brothers.
The movie is based on the fictional Charlestown Chiefs hockey club of the small town of Charlestown.
As it goes, the local mill was having difficulties surviving hence threatening the livelihood of 10,000 workers, which also indirectly was threatening the existence of the town's minor league hockey team.
Cool story right?
These movies have a way of helping is weave fiction into reality and have us live in that moment for as long as we are glued to it.
With the impending closure of the Mill which also leans that the hockey team will soon cease to exist, the coach, Reggie Dunlop introduces the "actively violent and thuggish" Hanson Brothers, into the field of play and much to his amazement, the tactics worked as it brought the crowd to the game.
Human is violence personified and no matter how peaceful we all claim to be, some persons get some kick from seeing some sorts of violence in life.
No wonder, Boxing, UFC, MMA etc draws the most crowd during game nights.
With violence comes consequences and their rival team soon starts towing the line and even getting even more aggressive and rowdy than the initiators.
Ned Braden (Paul Newman) who is the team's star player didn't take the violent play seriously as it soon starts affecting his life and that of those around him.
No spoilers intended, the movie is what it is.
This 1977 classic was written by Nancy Dowd and directed by George Roy Hill while, it was produced by Robert J. Wunsch and Stephen J. Friedman.
The scripting, the cast, the performance and the games are so beautiful that it kinda makes me sound bias that it may be the greatest hockey movie ever made.
Hockey is a sport in which two teams play against each other using a hockey stick to manoeuvre a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal.
Did you know?
- Did you know that, Slap Shot was named the "Best Guy Movie of All Time"?
in 1998, Maxim magazine? - Did you know that, Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #31 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films"?
- Did you know, in the November 2007 issue of GQ, Dan Jenkins proclaimed Slap Shot "the best sports film of the past 50 years?
Well, now you know?
Don't take my words for it, just go watch the movie and decide for yourself if it is to beat.