Miracle: The Boys of '80

Max Gershberg's 2026 documentary recounts the American ice hockey team of college players beating the Soviet side at the 1980 Winter Olympics. The event fell in the tensest period of the Cold War and took on a meaning beyond sport in the America of the time. Its most valuable elements are previously unseen sixteen millimetre footage and the players' testimony today. Coach Herb Brooks's methods, and how he prepared the team almost at the cost of breaking them, sit at the centre and are the only place the film steps outside a celebratory register. The Soviet side's perspective is almost entirely absent, and that is the account's clearest lack. Who it's for: viewers who like sports documentaries and are interested in the Cold War. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a story that hears both sides, or put off by a celebratory tone.