Saturday, March 18, 2017

Chris' #94: D2: The Mighty Ducks (Sam Weisman, 1994)


Starring: Emilio Estevez, Michael Tucker, Jan Rubes, Kathryn Erbe
Director: Sam Weisman
Writer: Steve Brill
Release Date: March 25, 1994 (we're a week away from the 23rd anniversary)

First Time
'94-'95. I don't have any theater memories of this one and I probably saw it for the first time when it debuted on ABC/Disney.

Why it's on the List
To destroy any remaining credibility that I might have.

We can file this one as a nostalgia pick and a cult classic. I have to think that D2's following is limited to people - who am I kidding...men - between the ages of 35 and 28. To call this movie "ridiculous" would not do it justice. It's insane but a lot of fun.

I had a tepid hockey phase in the mid-90s, thanks to the first two Mighty Ducks movies and Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey on Nintendo 64. I even had a favorite team, the Colorado Avalanche, although I never watched a single second of any of their games.

But more than the sport itself, the cast, the characters, and the storylines are the main draws for The Mighty Ducks and D2. Even though it has been done to death (and had been, even in the 90s), the scrappy underdog story will always have its appeal.

For those who vaguely remember the two movies, D2 features the Junior Goodwill Games (I have no idea if such a thing exists or not, and I refuse to look it up), with Team USA facing off against Iceland in the championship game. This is also the one that features the knuckle puck. I remember fucking around in gym class during the hockey unit and trying to score a goal with a knuckle puck shot. Turns out it was movie magic that propelled Kenan Thompson's hockey skills.

With the fall of the Soviet Union, we were looking for a new enemy. I would love to know why Iceland was selected as the main rival. 

The last thing that I want to say about this movie is that when Team USA comes back out onto the ice for the start of the third period in the championship game, they switch uniforms from patriotic colors to white and maroon Duck uniforms. The announcer then goes on to say that there is nothing in the rule book stating that they cannot change uniforms. This does not make any sense and I love it.

Additional Notes/Stats
  • This is the first of ten sequels on my list (two of which are standalone films in trilogies).
  • The only note I have on the director, Sam Weisman, is that he was born in Binghamton.
  • Jake Gyllenhaal was originally cast as Charlie Conway in the first movie, but his parents made him turn the role down so that he could get his education. I can't see Charlie being played by anyone other than Joshua Jackson.
  • I have no idea if this will stay on my list or not. There's an endless catalog of movies I've watched that are better than D2, but I'd be lying if I said that they meant more to me.

4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. For whatever reason, D3 never resonated with me. No Bombay, no thanks.

      Delete
  2. I enjoyed this write up a lot. Makes me want to watch it again. Along with Dumb and Dumber, this may be the most frequently quoted/referenced film of our lives.

    ReplyDelete