Who over the age of 25 wasn't ever looked up and saw ducks flying and screamed "THE FLYING V"! Or used the horribly racist term "The Oreo Line" I know I sure refer to rich white kids as "Cake Eaters" but I'm sure poor kids eat cake as well! if any of these lines ring a bell then your well aware of the Trilogy know as The Mighty Ducks and you had a pretty damn good childhood!
I have a special love for these films, and seeing the creator Steven brill is from my home town of Utica NY, it has a spot in my heart. The first film came out and my grandmother took me to see it and the next day my mom took me to get roller blades, a stick, and all the pads! I was hooked and hockey was now the center of my world. My friends and I even started a street team called the Wall Street lightning, sadly we were the only ones who had the idea and had no other teams to play, but we practice every day and rocked it!
The story is a common one, an underdog story of misfits who suck, then get better and pull off a miracle. A format that has been done over and over, but not to many spawn a real professional sports team, don't see a baseball team called "The Bad News Bears" do you? I didn't think so!
Let's take a look at the films shall we! Gordon Bombay, a cocky, selfish, alchocalic lawyer, and former pee-wee hockey star haunted by the death of his father and a missed goal he had 30 years ago. Gordon gets arrested for a DWI, Gordon forced by his boss to take a break from work and plead guilty and do community service coaching a pee-wee hockey team named District 5, "D-5". A group of rag tag misfits of all colors and backgrounds.
The leader of the misfits Charlie Conway, a fatherless spaz who needs a father figure, and tips on how not to suck in hockey. Gordon starts off by hating it because he hates hockey after his father died, which why does he hate hockey it's not like hockey killed his dad or his dad was in a hockey accident, but I digress. After a game or two Gordon try's to get the kids to cheat, to take dives, after this back fires Gordon is told he needs to remember how to fly by Hans his hockey father figure and owner of a hockey equipment shop . Gordon finds his way, and teaches the kids not only to play hockey but how to live outside the blue lines. The D-5 Team finds a sponsor in Gordon's boss Mr. Ducksworth making the teams new name "The Ducks! Now they have a new name, gear, and a homeless street thug who can't skate but has 1000 MPH slap shot.
In the cut throat world of peewee hockey, enters the movies heel, Coach Jack Reilly now as far as Disney kids sports movie he is a pretty bad dude, let's do a check list, he cheats, tells a player to take out and injury another child, he lies, picks on poor kids, blackmails kids, and torments a guy about a missed goal he had at age 10 after his dad died, yeah a heel if I ever saw one!
After some trick plays and playing hockey their way the ducks find them self in the finally game agains Gordon's old team The Hawks, and his skelitor coach Reilly. After no time is left Charley is Hooked and the ducks are given a penalty shot with the game tied it could win the game. Gordon let's charley take the shot and tells him do the triple deek cause it worked so well for him 30 years ago.
Charley hits the ice takes his shot and wins the game. Now this story has been told over and over many times but it's the characters the feeling, it's the jokes and one liners that make this film so much more. It's been almost 22 years sense this movie has been around and it still holds water it still is a good movie, and I feel that it will stay that way years to come. If you have never seen The Mighty Ducks then you are truly missing out, do your self and kids a favor and watch it together!
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