(Photo by Magnet Releasing/courtesy Everett Collection)
Let’s talk about the sport that combines sharp blades, blunt sticks, 100-mile-per-hour pucks, and regularly scheduled fistfights. You’d think hockey and Hollywood would go together like and ice and blood, but that sport-to-movie pipeline is still being built, and we’re still a ways off before movies about hockey can compete with football, basketball, baseball, and Jamaican bobsledding.
We’ll start with the 10 best-reviewed hockey movies, with Certified Fresh films at the top. Red Army is a Soviet-focused documentary, especially on the five players that played for the Detroit Wings in the 1990s. (This so-called Russian Five got their own doc of the same name in 2018.) But if you want to see the Soviets get beaten, then check out 2004’s Miracle, which re-stages the U.S. Olympic hockey team victory at the legendary 1980 match.
Goon captures the day-to-day essence of hockey (an accolade typically shared with 1977’s Slap Shot) and an empathically comedic look at the enforcer, a position further explored in doc Ice Guardians.
Hockeyland highlights the role of the sport in a small Minnesota town. And you can’t go this long talking about hockey without mentioning Canada, as Youngblood, The Rocket 9, and Indian Horse will attest. —Alex Vo
#1
Adjusted Score: 95191%
Critics Consensus: Fun and fascinating, Red Army delivers absorbing documentary drama for hockey fans and sports novices alike.
#2
Adjusted Score: 86563%
Critics Consensus: Kurt Russell’s performance guides this cliche-ridden tale into the realm of inspirational, nostalgic goodness.
#3
Adjusted Score: 84656%
Critics Consensus: Goon is a crude slapstick comedy with well-formed characters and a surprising amount of heart.
#4
Adjusted Score: 83950%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#5
Adjusted Score: 36386%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#6
Adjusted Score: 54183%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#7
Adjusted Score: 86451%
Critics Consensus: Raunchy, violent, and very funny, Slap Shot is ultimately set apart by a wonderful comic performance by Paul Newman.
#8
Adjusted Score: 77715%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#9
Adjusted Score: 21360%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#10
Adjusted Score: 16903%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#11
Adjusted Score: 44585%
Critics Consensus: Seann William Scott remains as watchable as ever in the title role, but Goon: Last of the Enforcers repeats its predecessor’s violent and profane formula to diminishing effect.
#12
Adjusted Score: 39832%
Critics Consensus: The lack of hockey action and authenticity left critics cold.
#13
Adjusted Score: 24547%
Critics Consensus: The Mighty Ducks has feel-good goals but only scores a penalty shot for predictability.
#14
Adjusted Score: 10754%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#15
Adjusted Score: 19207%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#16
Adjusted Score: 13470%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#17
Adjusted Score: 20728%
Critics Consensus: Dwayne Johnson brings the full force of his charm (and his appropriately pale chompers) to the title role, but flat direction and a committee-written script render The Tooth Fairy unacceptably dull.
#18
Adjusted Score: 4434%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.