The Mighty Ducks (1992)
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A self-centered lawyer must coach a ragtag youth hockey team as part of his community service.
The story
Gordon Bombay, a successful but arrogant Minneapolis defense attorney, is sentenced to 500 hours of community service after being caught drinking and driving. He is assigned to coach the 'District 5' Pee-Wee hockey team, a group of kids who lack proper equipment and skill. After a humiliating loss in their first game, Bombay must find a way to connect with the players and rediscover his own passion for the sport. With the help of his mentor and the support of his team, he begins to transform the group into 'the Ducks' while navigating the challenges of coaching and the complexities of his own past.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Gordon Bombay, a successful but arrogant Minneapolis defense attorney, is sentenced to 500 hours of community service after being caught drinking and driving. He is assigned to coach the 'District 5' Pee-Wee hockey team, a group of kids who lack proper equipment and skill. After a humiliating 17-0 loss in their first game, Bombay begins to mentor the players and reconnect with his own passion for hockey. The team is renamed 'the Ducks' and they recruit new players, including siblings Tommy and Tammy Duncan and a powerful shooter, Fulton Reed. A conflict arises when a star player, Adam Banks, is eligible to join the Ducks, but a misunderstanding leads to the team nearly disbanding. Bombay refuses to compromise his principles to keep the team together, and despite being fired by his boss, he regains the team's trust. The Ducks qualify for the playoffs and face their rivals, the Hawks, in the championship. During the final game, a penalty shot situation mirrors a moment from Bombay's past. He encourages Charlie Conway to do his best, and Charlie executes a 'triple-deke' to win the title. Following the victory, Bombay prepares to attend a minor-league tryout, encouraged by the team to believe in himself.
- First release year
- 1992
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stephen Herek
- Writers
- Steven Brill · writer
- Cast and characters
- Emilio Estevez · Gordon Bombay; Brock Pierce · Gordon Bombay at 10 years old; Joss Ackland · Hans, Gordon's mentor; Lane Smith · Jack Reilly; Heidi Kling · Casey Conway, Charlie's single mother; Josef Sommer · Gerald Ducksworth, Gordon's boss; Joshua Jackson · Charlie Conway; Elden Ratliff · Fulton Reed
- Genres
- sports comedy drama; children's comedy-drama
- Themes
- teamwork; redemption; self-belief
- Tone and mood
- feel-good
- Premise and plot tags
- sports; underdog
- Franchise connections
- Mighty Ducks
- Reception
- The film was a financial success despite receiving mostly negative reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 27% · scale: percentage · review count: 30; Metacritic · score: 46 · scale: 100 · review count: 18; CinemaScore · score: A · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The Walt Disney Company founded an NHL hockey team named the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1993.; Jake Gyllenhaal turned down the role of Charlie Conway.; The film was also known as D1: The Mighty Ducks and Champions in some regions.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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