Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Highly Overrated But Still Good

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Made to capitalize on the fact that Russia got to host the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, this documentary directed by Gabe Polsky looks and acts like a propaganda film by its trailers. It sounds like it was going to tell the story of the Soviet Union's dominance of ice hockey during the Cold War, however, after watching it, it's really doesn't explore much of that. It's more about the social and cultural parallels between the collection styles of the Soviet Union vs the Individual. It told from the perspective of its captain, Viacheslav "Slava" Fetisov, who witness it, during the early and late 1980s. Don't get me wrong, it's cool to see a story about a man fighting against the system, but I thought it was going focus more on CDKA (Centralnyy Dom Krasnoy Armii) AKA Soviet Union's Red Army hockey club and its members, throughout its 46 years history. The film barely talk about the past members of the hockey team like Vyacheslav Starshinov, Boris Mikhailov, Vitaly Davydov, and Viktor Yakushev during the pre-1980s era, nor does the movie explore or explain the different between the Soviet Union national ice hockey team and that of the CDKA. The film makes it seem like, all of the championships was completed all by the same team, when technically; it wasn't. It's like if a movie was made about the New York Rangers, and made them, seem like they won, all the Olympic golds for Team USA when in truth, they're two different teams. It's a bit misleading. The film also fails to talk about the discussion of steroid use, a drug that the Soviet Union was very open in using in sports in that time, nor the fact that there were scandals, where other Russian hockey's clubs intentionally lose to the Red Army in order to make the CDKA look strong. Also, the depiction of today's Russian stars perceived lack of patriotism for their country was a bit misleading. Internationally, Alexander Ovechkin has represented Russia in multiple tournaments. Also, the movie is a bit misleading when it comes to Fetisov and his relationship with the NHL. The film makes it seem like Fetisov didn't have an interest in joining the NHL, until the late 1980s, in reality, Fetisov had been interested in joining, even before the 1980s Winter Olympics. In fact, he was drafted by the Montreal Canadians in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft eleven years prior to Soviet's newfound glasnost policy, but couldn't committed to it, due to trouble with travel papers. Also, Fetisov's trouble transformation from Soviet Union's style of hockey to NHL's style was also somewhat fictional. He debuted with the Devils in 1989–90 and recorded eight goals and 42 points, both NHL career-highs for Fetisov. In fact, most of the years, he spent with the Devils, they got to the playoffs. Plus, the film fails to mention that Fetisov was their assistant coach for some time. The film also fails to mention, the June 13, 1997 limo crash that Fetisov, along with teammate Vladimir Konstantinov and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov got injury from. It would had help the human story that the film is trying to tell with Fetisov's backstory about friendship and the death of his brother. I like that side of the story about brotherhood, and I think you would like it, too, even if you're not a sport fan. There is a wonderful shot of teammate, Alexei Kasatonov getting interview about his betrayal of Fetisov, and you can't help, feeling bad for him. In my moment, most of the talking-heads interviews were beautifully lightened, place, and shot, even if some of them were awkwardly put in, like the ex-KGB member, Felix Nechepore, being interrupted by a little girl about his sunglasses. It adds to the charm of the film. Even Fetisov is introduced to us as a douche bag, but softly shown as a very complex, but busy, old morals good person. It really took me completely by surprise. The film is also very good at its editing. The archive sport event/ training footage mix with the interviews, match so well. The music and effects for it, was amazing. The pacing, not so well. For a movie about the Red Army, it really stop talking about it, 2/3 in. Yet, it was also very surprising that they would talk about the 1980's 'Miracle of Ice' moment so early, in the movie. 20 minutes in. I thought, that would had been the climax, but whatever. In the end, 'Red Army' is a must-see documentary, whether you're a hockey fan or not. Overall: I highly recommended seeing this film.

There has never been such beauty in sport than ice hockey performed by the Soviet Union at its best. How was it possible? It's pretty obvious that it all was due to propaganda reasons. The Communist human was superior, according to Soviet leaders. Or at least they wanted to think so; but the almost only way to prove it was through the athletes.The legendary Fetisov tells most of the story here. How the players were kept almost as slaves under the regime of KGB man Tichonov. And when finally the Soviet system broke down, Fetisov and his comrades were allowed to play in NHL. But had to give most of their money to the embassy.A sometimes breathtaking documentary and the system succeeded in creating some of the best athletes ever. And yes, they impressed the West. But the price was high.

"Do you believe in miracles?! YES!!" That was sportscaster Al Michaels' immortal exaltation at the end of the 1980 Olympic hockey game which became known as "The Miracle on Ice". An American team of amateur and college hockey players had defeated the vaunted team from the Soviet Union, which had won the gold medal in the last four Winter Olympics and six of the last seven. The U.S. team would go on to win the gold medal by defeating Finland. The highly improbable American victory over the Russians was named by Sports Illustrated as the greatest sports moment of the 20th century and spawned a TV movie, a documentary film and the 2004 feature "Miracle" starring Kurt Russell. But what of the Soviet team? How did this shocking loss affect them? And was this the beginning of the end for Russian dominance of international ice hockey? The documentary "Red Army" (PG, 1:25) answers those questions and many more as it delves into the stories of the men behind the hockey masks and the dramatic history of their national sport.The story of the Soviet Red Army hockey program is one of athletic, social, political and military influences that reflected the larger phenomenon of the Cold War and dictated the fates of those involved. This film contains the kind of interviews that you'd expect from such a documentary and also uses little-seen archival footage, creative modern graphics and skilled editing to tell this story in a very engaging way. The main interviewee is Soviet team captain Viacheslav Fetisov who describes his story as it felt back then and apparently still feels today. Interviews with his wife, his former teammates, a former KGB agent and a few journalists tell of their experiences and give valuable color commentary, but just as revealing is what is NOT said in the documentary. Co-producer, director, writer and interviewer Gabe Polsky is smart enough to turn the camera on early, keep it rolling and edit into the film the honesty and emotion that shows itself in the candid moments and unguarded reactions of his interviewees.The film's scope covers over four decades of the Soviet Union's hockey program, but focuses mainly on the 1980s, a decade which began with Cold War tensions heightened by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and ended with the rapid decline of the USSR as a unified state. During this period, Fetisov and his teammates absorbed that crushing Olympic defeat, dealt with the changes that followed, rose to new challenges and, eventually, began to consider careers in the NHL, as the Soviet government gradually loosened its strong grip on its players, just as it began losing control of its people and its empire. Polsky uses all the tools at his disposal to illustrate how the Russians ran their program and what that program meant to the country. We see children from all over their massive and diverse nation training, playing and competing within the program. We observe "the best of the best of the best", as one interviewee describes them, transition from hockey players to Russian icons, and cogs in the Soviet Union's propaganda machine. We learn that these elite players were to place hockey above literally everything else in their lives. We come to understand that their purpose was to embody the superiority of their communist system. We get to peek behind the Iron Curtain and contemplate an untold story unlike any other in sports."Red Army" doesn't just reveal the untold story of the Soviet Union's ice hockey program, but helps us see that the men involved were more than their government's propaganda puppets, but were human beings with desires for their lives, both common and uncommon problems, and impressive amounts of talent and work ethic. This is a documentary that feels like a drama. The film brings openness to a notoriously closed system and tells a story that most audience members have never thought about, but will be unable to avoid thinking about after seeing this movie. The only weak spot I noticed was the soundbites of the director's amateurish interviewing techniques. That aside, this is a fascinating film which raises the bar for future documentaries of its kind. "A-"

"Red Army" (2015 release; 78 min.) is a documentary about they heydays of the Soviet national hockey team (nicknamed the "Red Army") of the 1980s. As the documentary opens, we are introduce to Slava Fetisov, the poster child of that hockey team during that time. After some quick introductions to the tensions and rivalry between the US and the USSR in the cold war-era, we quickly get down to business and are told the story in a pretty straight-forward manner but which showcased again that at times facts are stranger than fiction. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: first and foremost, this is NOT a documentary about the "Miracle on Ice" 1980 Olympic game between the US and the Soviet Union (it is deal with in a matter of a few minutes in the documentary), so if you're expecting major attention to the Miracle On Ice, you are bound to be disappointed. Indeed, the beauty of this documentary is that the focus is almost entirely on the Soviet hockey players, as the documentary advances based on their own retelling of the events. Second, you may wonder whether this documentary is worth watching if at best you are a casual hockey fan, no worries. I am at best a casual hockey fan myself, but the documentary is so much more than about hockey: it's about the state of the USSR in the 70s and 80s, it's about people living within that system, it's about the prison-like conditions in which these celebrated hockey stars/national heroes lived day in, day out (they lived away from home in "hockey camps", which truly were like prisons, 11 out of 12 months of the year, just mind-blowing), etc. In short: this is a HUMAN story/documentary, not a SPORTS story/documentary. Kudos to writer-director Gabe Polsky for his laser-sharp focus on the Soviet characters, all along while displaying a nice sense of humor and tongue firmly planted in cheek. The amount of propaganda for the hockey team in the Soviet media was unparalleled. At one point, we see a group of younger/junior hockey players sing a song on Soviet TV, where they deliver the lines "Real men play hockey/Cowards don't play hockey" without any sarcasm. Just priceless. The last part of the documentary deals with the possible approval by the Soviet politburo to allow these player to go to the NHL. Fetisov's tale will have you shaking your head... Last but not least, I notice that Werner Herzog is credited as an Executive Producer of this documentary. I am a big fan of his non-fiction films, and he rarely is off the mark. As soon as I saw his name in the opening credits, I was quite certain that I'd be in for a good time. And I was."Red Army" opened last weekend without much pre-release fanfare or advertising at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, and I'm happy to report that the evening screening I saw this at a few days ago was surprisingly well attended, given that it was a weeknight. Hopefully the positive word of mouth will carry this "little documentary that could" to a wide audience. Bottom line: "Red Army" is a delightful documentary that will entertain and amaze you from start to finish. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!