1 Makin' it look mean!
Since I grew up playing hockey, and have been a lifetime fan of the game, I have been a Slap Shot fan since I first saw the film. I have never given a link to a review before, but Slap Shot is one of the few movies I have written an on-line review for. If you are so inclined you can read it here: http://www.geocities.com/skywalker77.geo/slapshot.html
2 Hilarious hockey high jinks.....
Psst! Hey sports fans. This film is truly funny stuff. But you certainly do not have to be a hockey (or sports) fan to enjoy "Slapshot" for its off-color, often irreverent humor that holds up as well today as it did when the film was released in 1977. Aging player-coach of the Charleston Chiefs, Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) does just about anything to hold his losing team of misfits and malcontents together. It is with the signing of the Hanson brothers, a trio of young hockey phenoms from the frozen ponds of northern nowhere that the fortunes of the Chiefs, on ice at least, are forever changed. Virtually every scene this trio steal are priceless gems of side-splitting low-ball comedy. The ultimate fate of the Chiefs however, is beyond the knowledge or control of Dunlop. Only the secretive team manager (wonderfully played by Strother Martin) knows that secret. Paul Newman displayed a deft touch for comedy in this work and his technique is quite different than his usual style of acting. Newman later confessed his role of Dunlop as among his personal favorites. "Slapshot" is good humored fun but so profane and so bawdy it should not be viewed by children. For obvious reasons it can never be shown in its uncensored entirety on television. When it is aired, it is so heavily edited as to sometimes render its outrageous humor awkwardly ineffective. "Slapshot" uncut is one of the funniest adult comedies, sports genre or not, ever filmed.
3 a MUST read for fans of Slap Shot
No need for another review of Slap Shot (the best movie ever made) but for those fans of Slap Shot not aware of the new book:
"The Rebel League : The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association
by ED WILLES"
stop everything and get this book today! stay home from work and read this book...
4 Maybe the greatest sports movie ever
Ask hardcore hockey fans (the kind that are familiar with the Montreal Maroons or that understand that present-day hockey is virtually figure-skating compared to the seventies) what their favorite sports movie is, or ask hockey pros what their favorite sports movie is; probably more than half the time, you'll hear "Slap Shot". Some "serious" sports films suffer from self-importance or a lack of realism; try watching a good war documentary for actual life-and-death situations. Thankfully, "Slap Shot" doesn't take itself terribly seriously yet still manages to paint an accurate, believable picture.
Sure, the humor is rude and crude, but necessary to paint a somewhat accurate picture of `70's minor league hockey (surely these guys weren't discussing Plato or speaking in blue-blood accents). It may be offensive to uninitiated people (e.g. people who don't watch hockey or team sports in general), but the humor is oft-hilarious for hockey fans.
Paul Newman plays crafty, alternately obnoxious and charming player-coach Reg Dunlop, leader of the mediocre minor league Charlestown Chiefs (though in reality the movie was filmed in Johnstown, PA). Fearful that the team is going to fold (now that the big mill in town is closing), Reg concocts a scheme in which he'll find a way to make the team better and profitable in the hopes that the yet-unknown owner will opt to sell the team rather than disband it.
What eventually generates interest and success in the team is their change to a rough-and-tumble style of play, mercilessly beating on opponents (a la the typical style of play for many `70's teams), largely thanks to the infusion of the three Hanson brothers (who in real life actually were minor-league bruisers), who also provide much of the humor in the film. Michael Ontkean plays Ned Braden, the Ivy Leaguer who is a skilled scorer and naturally is unhappy with the fight-first direction of the team. His dysfunctional relationship with his young alcoholic wife serves as a subplot and also reminds Reg of his own unhappy marriage, largely due to his hockey life.
The film is full of fantastically funny moments: Reg's disbelief upon seeing the Hanson's for the first time ("They brought their f**kin' toys with `em!"), the players being forced to do a fashion show that goes awry when one of the players strips, the great Strother Martin as the cheapskate conniving general manager, the French-Canadian goaltender having hallucinations after being pummeled with shots, the Hansons starting a fight before the national anthem even starts, etc.
This is definitely one of the best sports films ever made (both in terms of comedy, and strangely, realism); don't expect anything highbrow, though, "THIS IS HOCKEY!" as the Chiefs rug-adorned announcer yells as the Chiefs are mercilessly pummeling their opponents.
5 Sports Film Classic
Riotously funny film about a minor-league hockey team that turns it's fortunes around when it gives the people the ultraviolence it wants. Paul Newman in a departure for him plays the profane player-coach of the team. Film is augmented by the prescence of the goofily roughneck Hansen brothers, players so dirty that the cops are waiting for them outside the locker-room after every game. Film was notorious in it's day for it's liberal use of the "F" word(I think they counted 129 uses) that has since been supplanted by three times by "Scarface". Film made a real commentary on the state of professional hockey when it came out because violence was considered a real problem in the sport in 1977. Film really hit close to home in Philadelphia because our team, The Flyers, had the monicker "The Broad Street Bullies" and wore that title proudly. On a final note I'd like to note the presence of one of my favorite character actors, Strother Martin, who plays the team owner.
6 awsome, and now i understand why...
it truly is considered one of the greatest sports movies of all time. LOL!!!
Slap Shot is about the Charleston Chiefs of the American Federal Hockey League, a minor league Hockey system. The Chiefs are in financial debt and rumors are that the team is about to be sold, attendence is bad, and the mill is about to close for good.
so Paul Newman, coach/player comes up with the perfect way to draw people and interest in the team, put on a show. He starts by saying things about one of the goalies wife, and this leads to the first awsome brawl of the game.
with the addition of the Hanson brothers, the movie gets awsome. the hanson brothers play so brutal, you'd be glad they were on your team. they hit, hook, spear, slash, and beat the crap out of opposing teams, which starts to lead to a fan following and a booster club.
Newman turns one of the soft spoken players into Killer, a blood mess like one of the fellas called him. he puts a bounty on the opposing coach, and starts a rumor that the team is about to be bought out by a florida retirement group.
they make it all the way to the title game, and then that's where i really don't understand it. they get into a huge fight, and the one guy that won't fight cause he wants to play it straight, starts to skate around undressing, leading to the opposing team hitting the ref getting disqualified. i don't really understand that whole part, but other than that, the movie is awsome.
it really captures the realness that these minor league hockey teams go through, like helping out with fashion shows.
Slap Shot is a great movie, i hope they another hockey movie in the near future as great as slap shot.
7 Stupid Stupid Stupid
I heard it was the best movie ever. But I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in it. The movie was shoddily thrown together with some displays of Paul Newman's million dollar smile, juvenilistic flashes of the "Moon", bad fight scenes, and some one-liners attempting to be humorous. There wasn't enough good Hockey in this movie. This is definitely not a movie for the kids. For some reason, they decided to throw in a One Night Stand. I liked the Hanson Brothers. I'll give it that. This movie might have stood a chance if it was better written and only about the Hanson Brothers.
8 Hey, Hanerhan! Hanerhan!
It's hard for me to imagine why this movie is never on TV. Slap Shot has to be one of the funniest movies of all time. It set the bar for other movies like Major League where you get a cast of the weirdest players, staff, and fans available, and let them beat the crap out of each other.
This is not a movie fit for vigin ears. The amount of language is probably why the movie never appears on TV. Whole scenes would just be empty dialogue or crummy voice overs. It needs to be seen unedited to get its best effect.
There's not a lot I can tell you without getting this review yanked from the site for bad language. I will say that the Hanson Brothers are one of the funniest group of characters I've seen in any movie (Hey Coach, want some foil?) Watch for the great shift in hockey scene.
The violence is staggering in this movie and the authentic hockey action is amazing. Its great to see hockey played with no helmets and we see how brutal that could get. Even the fights seem authentic. This is the premier hockey movie of all time. All kneel before Slap Shot.
9 Hockey team revamped, and reorganized, in such a strange way
When a hockey team is almost down and out the coach/player, played by Paul Newman, decides it's time for some reinvigoration, at least for this, their last, season. When it comes to a lousy bunch of hockey players there is no better example then Newman's rabble. Their jobs are going out the door, with the closing of a mill, and no one has a future. Therefore, Newman makes one, a new rougher image. With the addition of three new "nerd-like" brothers off the ice, and killers on the ice, the team starts winning. Yet, not all like how, and Newman's ideals and tactics on and off the ice are being questioned.
Now, I think this movie is ok and only that, and not because of the hockey. Instead, it is Newman's Othello like confliction that makes the movie interesting. While the walls of despair fall around him, he still keeps them up for his players to have hope. Is it right to fall lower if you can build other's up if only for an instant? This theme is an interesting one, and that is the theme of the film that I like.
The problem is that, in the telling of this theme, the movie just is not interesting. Like I said, there is no real excitement in the hockey games. The humor is lacking, and when it is there just plain crude. In fact, besides the theme there are no ascertainably good qualities. Therefore, instead of the inspiring, or controversial, movie it could have been, this film stands at a three out of five star rating. The movie is saved only a little by the theme.
10 One of the all-time great sports movies
What can you say? An all-time classic. The "Caddyshack" of hockey ... never grow tired of watching it. Enjoy this over and over again. The Hansen brother highlights are priceless.
11 HAT TRICK.
Many were amazed that SLAP SHOT was written by a woman when it was released in 1977. More amazing was that Nancy Dowd's original screenplay was robbed of an Oscar nomination in 1977. Dowd got the feel of the game and the players as perfect as the paint on the blue lines (her brother Ned Dowd plays the infamous Oggie Ogelthorpe in a nano-second cameo that has reverbs throughout the film). George Roy Hill works his A-list players, Newman, Strother Martin and the now heralded Hanson Brothers, into sports (not just sports films) legends. SLAP SHOT is a winner.
12 Baldwin needs to be a little more observant!
Um, did you perhaps fail to notice that this is an R rated movie? That usually means that there is a fair amount of coarse language, expletives, violence, nudity, etc. Just what made you think that this was a movie for children? Anyway, it's a great movie and being a *huge* Paul Newman fan, I really enjoyed seeing him in this very amusing comedy role.
13 Baldwin you are clueless
As a hockey player and hockey coach I can tell you one thing, you are not a hockey dad. This movie is definately one of the most hilarious sports movies ever. Don't even bother with any other hockey movie, except maybe Youngblood, because those other movies, especially Mighty Ducks (puke) is not hockey, flying V my behind (did we forget about offsides?).
The Hanson brothers were everyone's heroes. While we all wished to be Gretzky or Orr, we all wanted to be the Hansons. They are some of the best caricatures of hockey players in the 1970s. Hockey was a brutal, lawless game that while some had skating skills, most had fighting skills. It was fun growing up in the 70's and early 80's playing hockey as a kid. While playing high school and college was not quite like this movie, go see a junior game or a USHL game and this is what you'll see, albeit a bit more toned down.
Mighty Ducks - please. Give me Reg Dunlop, Killer Carlson and the Hansons - which being from Minnesota gives me pleasure seeing some hometown skaters. Enjoy the movie, enjoy the hits and the humor.
14 Baldwin NY totally missed the point!
Um, I hate to inform you Baldwin, but you SHOULD HAVE READ THE BOX. It's rated "R" for a REASON and that means NOT FOR CHILDREN. "Slap Shot" is an incredible ode to how hockey was in the 1970's: and they nailed, it too--the cursing, the boozing, the fights, the missing teeth, bloodthirsty owners, the checks into the boards. Sportsmanship is a gracious concept, but it doesn't change the fact that hockey is a quick, brutal, and dangerous game. Your child will have to learn this, and the sooner the better! George Roy Hill produced perhaps the funniest sports story ever committed to celluloid and all the cliches ring true: the punching, the rivalries, even the refs take a beating in the final scene. Goons are still a part of hockey, although not as extreme as depicted here. (I barely survived Rangers games while in Madison Square Garden--having beer flung on you in the stands is NOT fun, but hey, I treasure those memories!) The best scene reminds you of how out-of-control hockey was--the Hanson Brothers hit the ice and pretty much everyone else around them. I saw players who wanted to leap into the stands to attack hecklers--"Slap Shot" takes this one step further by showing it. Does anyone besides me remember when there was more fighting than passing? The movie is a reflection (albeit very comical) of what really happened back in the NHL. Knowing this sport is a lot more than just sportsmanship. You might not have a bounty placed on your head like poor Tim McCracken, but it's a fairly true picture of how wild things were. And here's some trivia too: Jennifer Warren who plays Reggie Dunlop's wife in the film is ALSO in "Ice Castles" as Deborah Macklin, the coach. Both movies had shots from rinks in Minnesota and the old Broadmoor in Colorado. Watch these two films back to back--the rink shots are IDENTICAL! "Slap Shot", and the latest movie "Miracle" about the 1980 US team are two of the reasons I love hockey. No one remembers Emilio Estevez's name in "Mighty Ducks", but everyone knows Dickie Dunn, Reggie, the Hansons and Killer Carlson! By the way, did I mention I'm a figure skater? What else can I say? I adore my big brother sport. Even when the players might be missing a few teeth, the love shines right out of those black eyes! And true fans will agree. LOL
15 What a hilarious film this one
What more can be said about a movie that endures despite its old age and that stars the Great Paul Newman next to a bunch of no-name minor hockey- rejects? Not much but this 1977 classic is definitely a keeper for anyone who likes either hockey, r fighting, or Paul Newman, or just plain having a roar of a time while watching a film. This hilarious portrayal of the grind of minor league sports has become a must-see for an entire country! Newman is fantastic as the old geezer whose best days are behind him and who can't really get a grip on what to do once his days ion the ice come to an end. His handsome yet vulnerable looks are perfect for the role and is performance is so affable and low-key that you barely notice that a superstar walks among the rest of this cast.
That supporting cast though is what really gives the film its attitude. The mix consists of a couple of old school hockey players, a couple of French-Canadian dorks, a few past-their-prime primadonnas and a couple of roughhousing drunks. Sound like a hockey team to you? Sounds great to me! The kicker though, is went the Hanson Brothers, hockey's equivalent of the three stooges sporting boxing gloves join up with the team and inject it with new life through their aluminum-foil covered fists. Once these dudes come along, the blood starts filling the ice and the laughs start pouring out of your mouth! I suggest you get nice and trashed too before you watch this, as it helps get into the mood of what's going on through the player's heads! Among all major sports, hockey players are often regarded a the most fan-friendly and approachable and that's because they never hesitate to poke fun at themselves and even the millions they earn rarely push them into taking themselves too seriously. They are after all boys playing a game and this film shows us what fun the game can be!
This film would be a nightmare to current NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his annual plans to "overhaul the game" and make it cleaner and more popular south of the Canadian border. But for longtime hockey fans here in the Great White North, this film will always remind us of a time when hockey was just a simple game and that once in a while, benches would clear and players in their underwear would file out of the dressing room and trade punches with each other even before the beginning of the game... ahh, the good old days of old time hockey...
16 Don't buy this for a child hockey fan!
I bought this for my son who is a huge hockey fan. This movie is not for kids, and quite honestly not for Hockey fans either. Most of this movie is focused on a bunch of sex crazed vulgar, middle aged, wanna-be athletes. This is a terrible example of the sport of hockey. The use of violence as a way for this team to succeed is not the lesson I want my young athlete to learn. If you want your hockey player to see a movie that shows the spirit of fair play, teamwork and sportsmanship, buy the Mighty Ducks movies.
17 Textured Time Capsule
So much has been written about the movie's content, indulge as I put it in (personal) context. I grew up playing near Buffalo, NY, where hockey was THE sport. In 1977 (I was 12), our family moved to California, and there were no sticks or pucks to be found (and this soft little game called "four square"). So my memories of hockey are frozen in the Slap Shot era. You can almost smell the black tape and feel the hits. And from current Stepfordian sprawl and Starbuckian "charm" ("Have a nice day") you can tune into the Chiefs to get a genuine feel for hometown working class heroes. Remember the 1970's, when working class, grit and realism (and plaid polyester) were good things!
18 Historically (and hysterically) accurate sports comedy flick
Think about all the movies that were made during the 1970's whose storylines actually occurred during that same time. It'll probably take you a long time to come up with a relatively short list. Next, think of how many of those movies still get shown (albeit in an edited format) in regular rotation on network, local, or cable TV. There really aren't many of them, are there? "Jaws", "Saturday Night Fever", and the James Bond movies that Ted Turner runs during his semi-annual "Bond Marathons"...and that's pretty much it.
Except, of course, for the timeless gem that IS "Slap Shot". This movie really has everything...violence (presented in a format that most people outside of Canada and the Northeastern US weren't used to seeing at the time), profanity (even Wayne Gretzky admitted in his autobiography that he tends to "turn the air a little blue" during games), drunkenness (by players and fans both on and off the ice), Canadian accents ("Two points, eh!"), bad hair ("WHY DO YOU WEAR THAT RUG?"), REALLY BAAAD clothes (they had to have raided the set of the last "Superfly" movie for some of those duds), bad cars (Reggie's Pontiac GTO...who ever came up with the notion that vinyl tops were EVER cool?), a '70's soundtrack (thankfully and blissfuly restored to the DVD) that would do Quentin Tarantino proud, and of course... (yes, that's Ralphie's mom from "A Christmas Story" in bed with Paul Newman, topless, discussing her lesbian affairs. That's enough to curdle the blood and land a kid in therapy for years). If that wasn't enough, there's also a running audio commentary track by the Hanson Brothers (sure, they have real names, but who cares?) recalling their own minor league hockey exploits from the '70's, as well as papers from various police blotters(!)
At the time this movie was made, violence in hockey at all levels had reached epidemic proportions. At the top levels, superstar Bobby Hull staged a personal one-game strike in the WHA against the level of violence that was being permitted, and the Philadelphia Flyers had made it to three straight NHL Stanley Cup Finals (winning twice) while playing the most physically abusive style of hockey in memory (has anyone besides me noticed how closely Tim McCracken's Syracuse team uniforms at the end of the movie resemble the Flyers' outfits at that time?)...and of course in the lower league levels of the pro game there was far less scrutiny and things were only magnified as players anxious to do anything for a big-league call-up would in fact do things very similar to those captured in this movie.
Yeah, okay, but what's all that really mean? Nothing of consequence. This is an entertaining movie, pure and simple. Hockey season isn't really hockey season until you get together with some friends, wrap your mitts 'round a few brews and watch this movie as it starts to get cold outside. For those of us living outside the NHL's (very limited) influence from the time the Atlanta Flames (look for their logo in the movie on an advertisement poster) left up until the NHL started to expand again in the early 1990's, this WAS pro hockey. The 1980 Miracle On Ice Olympic team was something diferent...somehow other-worldly in comparison...but the two are mutually exclusive outside of NHL markets as being the lasting impression of a fantastic sport.
On a personal note, in 1994 the Atlanta Knights (now sadly defunct) were winning the International Hockey League's (ALSO sadly defunct) Turner Cup Championship in their home arena, The Omni (yes, this is gone, too). Richard Adler, Knights VP, had hired this guy "Claude the Happy Trumpeter" (from Quebec, I think) to wear a Knights jersey, blow his horn, and lead cheers during the Playoffs. Early in the 2nd period of the clinching game, he announces himself with a fanfare, runs down the aisle to the plexiglass, throws himself up against it...and crashes through to the ice below, knocking himself out. The game was delayed about twenty minutes as they collected him off the ice and replaced the panel he'd shattered (he was okay...he came back near the end of the game wearing a neckbrace; it was hilarious). All I could think of, other than trying to keep from spilling my beer and pissing myself with laughter, was that the whole thing was just so utterly "Slap Shot"-esque...and that somewhere Up There, Strother Martin had to be smiling.
19 Disappointed
I've tried to find something very positive to say but cannot. I thought a Hill - Newman film couldn't miss but even as a comedy, this falls flat. The film ends up little more than a series of violent hockey games, even an attempt at 'old time hockey' at the end fails and team wins by beating up their opponents. Maybe the movie reflects the period of the mid-70s when it was produced.
20 Paul Newman's best performance!!
brando, bogart, stewart, olivier, de niro, and hanks wouldnt know eddie shore if he bit them in the a$$. paul newman could skate!!!!!
21 best hockey movie around
the story of the worst to firts Charlestown Chiefs is a story to remember. When Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) finds out the team is folding he figures out the way to get people into the stands is to play dirty and to do this he gets the aid of three goofy looking goons that the GM traded a used puck bag for the team beats the heck out of everyone while Ned Braydon the team's scoring ace refuses to play dirty and struggles to keep his wife. The movie all comes down to the championship game where the chiefs play old time hockey
22 The Movie
This is the hockey movie. Actually it is one the best movies of all time. This movie is so hilarious. It involves a brutal team that shows what they go through. They get the Hanson brothers. Now soon as these three guys get playing you wont be ablke to stop laughing they are so funny. I would recomend this movie to anyone except for children because it has lots of swearing in it. But otherwise than that a very great movie. Bought it on dvd and watched it 5 times already. So hilarious. I'll leave you with a few words from the goalie: Who own de chief? OWNS! OWNS! have fun watching this movie and dont laught too hard
23 Contempary ROLLERBALL anyone?
Reggie (Paul Newman) is a down and out hockey star and the newly appointed coach of The Chiefs, a low grade minor league hockey team, who (literally) hits on a winning strategy to improve their game: by physically attacking their opponents. Predictably this helps build up a huge following for the team.
Despite its predictable underdog-wins-the-day story, SLAP SHOT is actually pretty pucking good. Sports fans will love it, and Paul Newman gives one of his best performances. But you can't help but wonder if this movie is single handedly to blame for inspiring the Emilio Estevez MIGHTY DUCKS trilogy of films. Belatedly followed 25 years later by a direct-to-video sequel. The DVD extras include commentary by the Hanson brothers (Don't worry, it's NOT the "Mmbop" drips) and trailers for SLAP SHOT 1& 2.
24 Hockey Heaven!
This is one of the greatest hockey movies that I have ever seen. Paul Newman is the player-coach of a losing team. The quotes are hilarious! And the hockey players are funny too! On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being worst, 10 being best): I give it a 9.5 for its action, comedy and hockey! Put the kids to bed for this one, there is foul language, stuff on which I say once in a while.
25 THE HANSON BROTHERS RULE !
I own 1&2! I love these movies! I think everyone should whatch this movie. You"ll laugh to you die!
26 They brought their bleep-ing TOYS with them!
Not even a question on the rating. I'd rate it higher if I could. A must-see for anyone who has ever lived in a town with minor league hockey team, or anyone who's even been to a minor league hockey game for that matter. Watching this movie still brings back memories of going to Springfield Indians/Falcons games as a kid, where a fight would inevitably break out at least once a period, even in the playoffs. Even the footage of fans is accurate. The comedy both on and off the ice, while a bit puerile, is still top notch. All I have left to say is that if you don't like this movie and you're any kind of real hockey fan, you ought to "go to the penalty box, and feel shame".
27 A classic, plus good special features
This movie itself is a hockey classic, and is a sports movie along the same lines as "The Replacements" and "Major League".
The plot is simple, the Chiefs are a losing hockey team, and the teams existance is in jeopardy as attendance is low, and the local mill is about to close. We are quickly introduced to a colorful assortment of charachters, and as the movie progesses, we learn the story of these charachters more so than in other similar movies.
Over time, the teams player-coach, played by Paul Newman, schemes his way into several plans to help the team win, increase attendance, and actualy stay in business. When the cheapwad owner hires three goons (The Hanson brothers) the action really picks up, and the team begins playing very agressively. They start to win, and earn the attention and loyalty of their fans in the process.
Overall, there is a lot of crude, low brow humor, but this movie does it well. You can easily get suckered into thinking you are actually watching a season of a minor league hockey team. The movie is indeed inspired by actual events, at least many of the charachters and situations.
Special features inclue production notes, the original trailer, and a feature commentary by the Hanson brothers. This is one of the best parts of the special DVD, and it was one of the best feature commentaries I have seen in a long time. After watching the movie a few times, it is definitly worth checking out. And this movie is one that you could watch over and over again, especially if you are a sports fan.
28 Perhaps the funniest sports comedy of all time
This is simply a hilarious movie about a hockey team fighting for its very survival in Charlestown, West Virginia. The style of hockey portrayed in the movie is Don Cherry-style "Old Time Hockey" - Sweethearts who don't like violence in sports should check out another video.
Although Paul Newman stars, it is the no-name actors (minor league hockey players in real life) who play the Hanson brothers who steal the show.
Life eventually imitated art: A couple of years after this movie came out, the Boston Bruins went into the stands to beat up fans in New York's Madison Square Garden, and, a few years later, the Montreal Canadians and Philadelphia Flyers had a huge brawl before the game even started - just like in this movie.
29 Gets better with time
Beyond a shadow of a doubt the greatest sports movie ever made. Funny and truthful. Slap Shot shows you what hockey used to be. And what minor league hockey was back in the 70's. Nothing more than a brawl every night. 90% of the characters are based on real people and the life these minor league hockey players lead is the basis of this great movie.
The movie was shot in the Northeast at various minor league hockey arenas in Johnstown, Syracuse, Utica, and at Colgate college.
The DVD is awesome. You get commentary from THE HANSON brothers telling you where each scene is shot and real life stories about what happened when they played at these various arenas in real life. If your not a hockey fan, this will make you one. If you are a hockey fan this just reinforces why you are one.
30 Best hockey movie?
Yes. Foul language is everywhere in this movie. I liked it. The transfer really held up over the years. It could have used a new audio transfer because at some points it was too quiet, but the image makes up for it.
Funny? Yes.
Touching? Not as much as Mystery, Alaska (which needs special edition treatment).
Paul Newman in awful outfits? Oh yes. Watch it to see what cool guys were wearing to bars in the 70s. His pants alone are worth the price of the rental.
31 Correction
The movie was made in the spring of 1976 ( at least started ).
32 slap shot fan
Slap shot is an old school hockey movie. Take it from me, to be honest it is one of the best hockey movies to date. Slap shot is about a hockey team that was going through a rough time and will to anything to win. The team is the Charlestown Chiefs. This movie was made in my hometown of Johnstown, PA. The chiefs are known know as the Johnstown Chiefs in the ECHL.
33 Blazing Satire
"Slap Shot" is one of most innovatively original films of the post-war era. Nancy Dowd, who won an Oscar the following year for Best Screenplay teamed up with Waldo Salt and Robert Jones for "Coming Home," delivered a script with numerous laugh lines and a satirical plot exposing the illogical nature of super machismo, as evidenced through a small town professional hockey team led by player-coach Paul Newman.
The film involved a successful re-teaming of Newman with director George Roy Hill. It was a potent combo, as evidenced by the fact that they earlier combined in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "Sting." Newman was also performing opposite a brilliant character actor with whom he achieved earlier successes, Strother Martin. That team enjoyed mutual successes in "Butch Cassidy", "Harper" and "Cool Hand Luke." In "Slap Shot" the two seasoned performers play together brilliantly with Newman as player-coach and Martin as general manager of a team that appears to be going nowhere fast until its entire plan of operation changes.
The big change occurs after Martin has been heavily berated by Newman for calling up some slow-witted brothers from an even lower rated team. Newman sees them arguing heatedly as they operate their joint electric train in their room. "What are you sending me, mental retards?" Newman bellows. Martin replies that he has heard good things about the brothers.
Eventually Newman becomes so short-handed that he puts the brothers on the ice, discovering that they wield their hockey sticks like members of Murder Inc. with social consciences to match. They are promptly inserted into the lineup and the team begins winning.
Newman becomes heady with delight and Machiavellian in his pursuit of victory. One of his players refers to a victory effort as a "garbage win." It occurs when, in the midst of a scoreless tie late in the match, Newman goads the opposing team's goalee by insensitively reminding him of his wife's penchant for lesbianism. The goalee abandons his station to attack Newman, upon which an easy goal is scored and Newman's team prevails 1-0.
After Newman learns that his team will be disbanded at the end of the season he angrily demands to see its owner. General manager Martin laments that this is a secret he has been warned to never divulge. Newman blackmails him by reminding him of a past incident when Martin was arrested by the local police for cross dressing. His blackmail tactic wins him the name and address of the woman who owns the team. When he confronts her in front of her home she reveals that her accountant has told her that buying the team was once a good tax move but no longer is, upon which she has decided to terminate it. After an angry discussion Newman leaves.
The team earns its way into the championship match against a group of renegade thugs rounded up by the opposing squad. When it skates onto the ice it looks more like the roster of a high security prison than a professional athletic team. For the first half Newman and his team is physically clobbered as he has decided that the team would play its last game as a nostalgic salute to old time hockey and the tradition of Boston Bruin great Eddie Shore.
A furious Martin storms into the dressing room at halftime and launches a tirade at Newman and his team. "The scouts are out there!" he fumes. "The scouts are there?" Newman's patented blue eyes beam with delight.
Intent on achieving a continuing future in hockey, Newman and his team match the opposing goon squad in violence. One player on Newman's squad, Michael Ontkean, becomes disgusted with the display of unmitigated violence. In one of the most daringly original ends to any film, Ontkean brings down the house with a strip act, shedding his uniform all the way down to his athletic protector. When he skates around the mayhem on the ice with carefree disdain, the opposing team captain, who personifies runaway violence in motion, shrieks at the referee, calling Ontkean's performance "Degenerate!" He protests loud enough to get his team disqualified, giving Newman's contingent the league championship.
Screenwriter Dowd comes from Framingham, Massachusetts, near Boston. It was claimed that she was writing about the Eastern League in the fifties, which was known for its super machismo brawling.
34 Slapshot
Simply put a must have - one of the greatest sports movies of all time. The Hansen's are timeless characters to be loved by all. The movie features a ... tease that is widely touted, but detracks from the old time hockey of the Hansen's. Enough to make even Eddie Shore proud.
35 A puckish satire
Paul Newman skates away with his role as the coach of a run-down minor league hockey team in this classic sports comedy. When Newman finds out a possible sale of the franchise may be imminent, he decides to play "dirty" in order to pull his team out of thier slump. Hilarity ensues. All the actors are wonderful, and the frequently quotable, riotously profane dialog will have you rolling. Strother "Failure to communicate" Martin is reunited with Newman as the team manager, and steals every scene he's in. Lindsey Crouse is memorable as a sexually frustrated "sports wife" in a rare comedic role. The movie works on a certain level as a comment on the endless public thirst for violence as "entertainment" (kind of a less heavy-handed, and infinitely more amusing version of "Rollerball"). As in similar offerings like "North Dallas 40" or "Bull Durham", you don't need to be a rabid sports fan to enjoy the story. The movie features THE funniest "striptease" bit ever filmed, and the endearingly sociopathic Hansen Brothers have to be seen to be believed. Score!!
36 Historically (and hysterically) accurate sports classic.
Think about all the movies that were made during the 1970's whose storylines actually occurred during that same time. It'll probably take you a long time to come up with a relatively short list. Next, think of how many of those movies still get shown (albeit in an edited format) in regular rotation on network, local, or cable TV. There really aren't many of them, are there? "Jaws", "Saturday Night Fever", and the James Bond movies that Ted Turner runs during his semi-annual "Bond Marathons"...and that's pretty much it. Except, of course, for the timeless gem that IS "Slap Shot". This movie really has everything...violence (presented in a format that most people outside of Canada and the Northeastern US weren't used to seeing at the time), profanity (even Wayne Gretzky admitted in his autobiography that he tends to "turn the air a little blue" during games), drunkenness (by players and fans both on and off the ice), Canadian accents ("Two points, eh!"), bad hair ("WHY DO YOU WEAR THAT RUG?"), REALLY BAAAD clothes (they had to have raided the set of the last "Superfly" movie for some of those duds), bad cars (Reggie's Pontiac LeMans...who ever came up with the notion that vinyl tops were EVER cool?), a '70's soundtrack (thankfully and blissfuly restored to the DVD) that would do Quentin Tarantino proud, and of course SEX (yes, that's Ralphie's mom from "A Christmas Story" in bed with Paul Newman, topless, discussing her lesbian affairs. That's enough to curdle the blood and land a kid in therapy for years). At the time this movie was made, violence in hockey at all levels had reached epidemic proportions. At the top levels, superstar Bobby Hull staged a personal one-game strike in the WHA against the level of violence that was being permitted, and the Philadelphia Flyers had made it to three straight NHL Stanley Cup Finals (winning twice) while playing the most physically abusive style of hockey in memory (has anyone besides me noticed how closely Tim McCracken's Syracuse team uniforms at the end of the movie resemble the Flyers' outfits at that time?)...and of course in the lower league levels of the pro game there was far less scrutiny and things were only magnified as players anxious to do anything for a big-league call-up would in fact do things very similar to those captured in this movie. Yeah, okay, but what's all that really mean? Nothing of consequence. This is an entertaining movie, pure and simple. Hockey season isn't really hockey season until you get together with some friends, wrap your mitts 'round a few brews and watch this movie as it starts to get cold outside. For those of us living outside the NHL's (very limited) influence from the time the Atlanta Flames (look for their logo in the movie on an advertisement poster) left up until the NHL started to expand again in the early 1990's, this WAS pro hockey. The 1980 Miracle On Ice Olympic team was something diferent...somehow other-worldly in comparison...but the two are mutually exclusive outside of NHL markets as being the lasting impression of a fantastic sport. On a personal note, in 1994 the Atlanta Knights (now sadly defunct) were winning the International Hockey League's (ALSO sadly defunct) Turner Cup Championship in their home arena, The Omni (yes, this is gone, too). Richard Adler, Knights VP, had hired this guy "Claude the Happy Trumpeter" (from Quebec, I think) to wear a Knights jersey, blow his horn, and lead cheers during the Playoffs. Early in the 2nd period of the clinching game, he announces himself with a fanfare, runs down the aisle to the plexiglass, throws himself up against it...and crashes through to the ice below, knocking himself out. The game was delayed about twenty minutes as they collected him off the ice and replaced the panel he'd shattered (he was okay...he came back near the end of the game wearing a neckbrace; it was hilarious). All I could think of, other than trying to keep from spilling my beer and pissing myself with laughter, was that the whole thing was just so utterly "Slap Shot"-esque...and that somewhere Up There, Strother Martin had to be smiling.
37 Instant Guide to Canadian Machismo
"In the true spirit of competition, hatreds begin to build." --Maple Leafs' assistant coach Keith Acton between periods during this years Stanley Cup playoffs.
... Slap Shot is virtually a documentary! Not on the National Hockey League, but on many of the minor leagues around North America, and, in particular, the North American Hockey League in the '70s.
In Slap Shot, the Hanson Brothers (Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson, and Dave Hanson), Ned Dowd (that's Ogie Ogilthorpe) play in the Federal League. In real life they played with the Johnstown Jets of the North American Hockey League. Even Paul Newman's character, Reggie Dunlop, has a basis in real life. Namely former NHL tough guy Reggie Fleming, who, just like Newman in the movie, just wouldn't retire from the game he loved.
The script, written by Ned Dowd's sister, Nancy, was based on her own experiences. Of course, lots of it is pure fiction. But there were also lots of stuff going on in that league that were so unreal no one would believed it. Or would you believe I team being so fight happy that the opponents had to skate off the ice backwards just to avoid being jumped?
Remember. Unlike baseball, football, and basketball players, hockey players didn't go thru college back then. They usually came from mining towns or the wheat country, without any education to fall back on. Hockey was their one-way ticket out.
And, yes, I love this movie. It's easily one of the best sports movies ever made. Don't take my word for it. Most NHL players seem to enjoy it just as much as I do.
And if you're a hockey coach, I can't think of anything better to pump up the players before a game than showing this movie....
38 Just like Eddie Shore (or is that Eddie Shack?)
This movie is to hockey what the Rocky sequels are to boxing - the form is close, but not particularly realistic. Having said that, it's the most realistic hockey movie out there, but look at the competition (the Mighty Ducks? Come on!). This is the story of a down-on-its-luck hockey team that brings in 3 goons (the infamous Hansons), learns to play dirty, and starts to win (and win back their fans). Naturally, there's the common plot about making the playoffs, the owner who just wants a tax write-off, and the big championship game (which, of course, is nonexistent in North American pro hockey, they always play series).
The movie is quite funny, but as a hockey fan since birth, I thought the best moments were the inside jokes about old hockey players, etc. I'm not sure if the average "layman" will appreciate all the subtleties. Having said that, it's not all about hockey (and, in fact, the hockey scenes get to be repetitive and are not particularly realistic), it's more about the team and the players, fans, etc.
The effect was much more striking in its day, I'm sure. The film is liberally laced with profanity, homosexuality is treated in a very matter-of-fact way, etc. These things aren't nearly as shocking today, so part of Slapshot's edge (and appeal) has worn down. It's still enjoyable, however. This DVD edition looks pretty good. The sound (at least on my system) was a little erratic in volume. The extras are essentially non-existent - no commentaries, one theatrical trailer, and some typed-up production notes and actor bios.
39 Dave's a Mess!
This movie is by far the best movie about hockey ever made. It takes the essence of the game and rolls it up into a wonderful story with a variety of characters that the viewer cannot help falling in love with no matter how grotesque they may be considered in real life. Paul Newman's portrayal of Reg Dunlap, a veteran player/coach wanting nothing more than to make is team believe in themselves, is phenominal. This is a must own DVD for all fans of the game.
40 The best movie ever created
I dunno about characters. and frankly, I dunno about plot. and I dont really like most movies. But I loved this movie. It is hilarious. If you've never even watched a hockey game, you'll love this. It's about more than hockey. It's about blood and integrity and love and the terror of possible usurpation and a lot of cursing. This movie has so much cursing. I loved this movie. I worship this movie. Loving hockey is not a prerequisite for this movie, but it helps to understand some of the humor. It doesnt matter, if you have ever laughed in your life, you will laugh at this movie. you will bow down to it's glory and greatness and you will say to those who have never see it : "Feel shame".
41 Old Time Hockey
This is both the most boring and funniest movie I have ever seen. Basically, when the Hanson brothers are not on the ice you are likely to fall asleep, but when they lace up and come to exact justice on the league you better strap on your Compton hat. The thought of someone stopping at the blue line to take a slap shot while they're on the breakaway (let alone hit the organ player in the head with the shot) is enough to cause serious brain damage due to oxygen deprivation caused by uncontrollable laughing. Is this your key chain?
42 Slap Shot Shoots & Scores
Paul Newman & George Roy Hill had teamed together to make such movie classics like The Sting & Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid prior to making this film. Their previous efforts as mentioned had been mostly westerns and period pieces, so it seemed a bit unlikely that they would make a comedy about a struggling minor league hockey team. Just like with their other efforts, Slap Shot is a winner. Mr. Newman is at his charming likable best as an over-the-hill player/coach of the beleaguered Charleston Chiefs. The team is drawing no one and the owner is going to fold the team up. He devises a scheme in which he tells the team that they being sold and moving to Florida if they start winning. In order to win, he encourages his team to goon it up and fight their way to the title. Michael Ontkean is good as the one player who has talent and doesn't agree with the new style and Lindsay Crouse is funny as his drunkard wife who splits from him due to being depressed by the surroundings. The team is made up of misfits and loser and the three bespecaled Hanson Brothers particularly stand out. Slap Shot is one of the best sports movies ever made and certainly one of the funniest.
43 GREAT HOCKEY MOVIE
I have to say this is one of the coolest Hockey movies I have ever seen. Very funny and packed with a lot of hockey action. I do have to say that the vulgarity is a little thick. Could have done without some of it. But overall I like this movie a lot.
Buy it!!
44 Everone has to see this movie
This is a movie that everyone should see. It is not the best movie ever made or even close, but it has some of the biggest laughs of all time. The Hansons comming on the ice for the first time is the funniest moment of any movie ever in my opinion. I have never laughed harder in my life when the organist gets hit in the head with the hockey puck. The editing in this movie was pretty bad. There were a lot of parts that didn't need to be in the film. It was a little too long, I think it could have been cut a little better. This is not an amazing movie that deserves 5 stars because it does drag on in between the good scenes. If you like comedies and laughing at pure comedy though, you MUST see this movie. The Hanson brothers are characters unlike any you will see in any movie. You should see this movie just for them.
45 This ain't no wrist shot!
The language of "South Park" minus the "Blame Canada" and Brian Boitano, the real star of this movie are the three goons: Steve, Jack, and Jeff Hanson whom if I ever saw on the same sheet of ice as I, I'd be finding ways to the penalty box. The story of an amateur hockey team Charlestown Chiefs that boasts for attention and the player slash coach (Paul Newman) leads the team to stardom. For few palyers to tried to get their stardom from the "fashion show" and well, the guest left. No one in the Hansons are singing "umm-bop" but just giving out bruises, bloody noses and playing with race cars in motel rooms. "Slap Shot" is the icon movie of all hockey flicks which gave hockey the brutality image in the past. Maybe one of the Hanson guys should replace Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner. Or all three. There is no penalty free game in this one.
46 Slapshot . . .
If you like Hockey, you will like this movie. If you do not, do not buy it. The picture and Audio is 70s quality, but that is what makes the movie funny. If you like hockey fights, then this is deffinatly for you. Easily the best hockey flick ever, one of the best sport movies around
47 Best Satire of American culture ever filmed
So the movie is chock full of profanity (anybody been in a men's or women's locker room lately?), and it is violent (seen any American TV news briefs lately?). The entire film uses hockey as a metaphor of American culture, and what a superb metaphor it is! For instance, violence is okay, but sex and nudity aren't okay. Lust is also okay, but genuine affection and understanding aren't okay. Take a good look at the main street movie theatre's marquee during the parade at the end of the film: it makes a powerful statement about American morals and values, then and now. This superb movie (one of Paul Newman's best, and possibly his most courageous!) doesn't hit you with a hockey stick with its message, but uses rare humor, pathos and genuine affection for the characters (dysfunctional all!) to tell its outrageous story, and if viewers "get the message" that's, well, a bonus. A fine transfer to DVD: color, sound, clarity all excellent. Also nice to have the original soundtrack back in the movie. All in all, a remarkable multi-leveled movie, and one that can and should be savored again and again.
48 One of the best sports movies ever made
This is one of my favorite sports movies...the transfer to DVD is good and sound quality excellent...
49 Never play "Lady of Spain" again!
Yes, perhaps my title is a bit non-sensical, but once you have experienced the film classic that is "Slap Shot," these and countless other pieces of dialogue will roll of the toungues of you and your friends with much hilarity. It is a prerequisite to own "Slap Shot" if you are a hockey fan, or simply a fan of comedy. Though lude at times, the humor is not completely derived from shock value, but from clever and witty situations and unforgettable characters (the Hanson Brothers, Reggie Dunlop, Jim Carr, and Denis Lemieux). Definitely a film classic and a mandatory addition to your DVD library.
50 A COMEDY CLASSIC...
I just want to say thank u to my husband, a huge hockey fan, for showing me this movie.
I have seen it a couple of times now and it gets funnier every time. Slapshot is one of the few comedy classics to come out of the 1970s.
51 I'll be damned if he didn't hee hee hee!
The quinessential late seventies classic. The off color humor and esoteric hockey/canada references never stop!
52 Fantastic, Funny, a CLASSIC for ANY Hockey Fan
Slap Shot is a great hockey comedy. It's a hilarious, vulgar, completely wild joyride through the trials of a failing 70's steelmill-town based, utterly amateur hockey team. Failing, that is, until their players resort to pure violence in an attempt to keep their franchise alive.
Paul Newman plays the womanizing player/coach who, after a series of embarassing losses (including one to a visitng team's center who's flat drunk) needs to work with a 3 brother gang of misfits, who all look alike and have an incredibly aggressive style of playing.
Chaos insues when Newman's character decides to finally play these "goons" with his other teammates, and he watches as the fan base increases when they proceed to physically demolish - without any love for the game - the opposing teammates in an series of hysterical scenes that combine the best in hockey photography with hilariously explicit dialouge and violence. The shot of the goon's nonchalanty skating past the visitor's box and smacking each of them in the head with their sticks is classic.
This action scenes in this movie is everything you wished your NFL highlight tapes to be. The DVD itself is excellent quality, including the true film soundtrack (copyright limitation prevented some of the songs from appearing on the VHS and cable versions).
Extra bonus features are pretty nonexistent - just some scene selections and generic Actor Profiles that were prelevant in the first generation of DVDs created a couple years ago - but the quality and entertainment value of the movie more than makes up for these shortcomings.
53 A Hockey Classic!
Maybe you need to be a hockey player to enjoy this movie, but I can't understand why anyone would give this movie a bad review. This movie has as many classic lines (maybe even more) than Caddy Shack. I, as I know my fellow hockey compatriots of the past, will never get tired of the Hansons'!
54 Very disappointing
I was not happy to see Paul Newman, a great talent, wasted in this movie. Sorry, I had to turn it off and rewind after suffering through a little more than half of it. The language, not a complete sentence, just vulgarity, was carried too far. Hockey is a rough sport. Was it necessary to insult hockey players intelligence?
55 Very disappointing
I was not happy to see Paul Newman, a great talent, wasted in this movie. Sorry, I had to turn it off and rewind after suffering through a little more than half of it. The language, not a complete sentence, just vulgarity, was carried too far. Hockey is a rough sport. Was it necessary to insult hockey players intelligence?
56 Really funny, clever movie.
Slap Shot is a classic movie. It's really, really funny and Paul Newman gives the best performance I've ever seen him give. Newman plays a down-and-out player coach who turns around his team by convincing them to play dirty. Don't miss the always-hilarious Hanson Brothers, who provide some excellent comedic moments.
Be fairly warned that this film is not for kids! Profanity abounds, and adult themes/words also have prominent appearences. But if you're of proper age, this is one funny movie.
57 Old Time Hockey
Slap Shot follows the travails of a minor league hockey team as it struggles to make money. The player/coach played by Paul Newman decides that he wants to goon it up to increase attendance. His team becomes the most hated one in the league with people protesting the thugs anytime they roll into an opposing city. As with any sport the addition of the violence does increase attendance.
The star player for the team disagrees with his coach over the direction the team has taken. He puts on one of the most unique displays of rebellion at the end of the movie that is sure to invoke many laughs.
Slap Shot features three of the most interesting characters ever to appear on film: the Hanson brothers. They are three goons that the coach picks up to improve the team's fighting ability. The Hanson's not only fight the other team, but they fight the other team's fans. The funniest scenes in the movie involve the Hanson brothers gooning it up.
Slap Shot is not the typical Paul Newman film. But it does shine as one of his best performances and best movies.
58 The hockey movie of the millenium !
This is the best sports comedy of all time ! Although the french version is better than the original version, I own both version of the movie. The translation of the french version is from Quebec and the language is for a very mature audience ! It is true that the soundtrack of the new version is awful compare to the original one. This is my THIRD copy of the movie. I taped it on television the first time, and watched it so often, I taped it again and finally bought the videocassette in french and english. I learned a lot of that movie from an article on the Hanson's brothers in the Hockey News. Did you know that the big brawl in the stands is true ? That the jail part, also is true ? I was amazed by reading that, even after watching the movie over a hundred times !
59 THE REAL HANSON BROTHERS
To all of you who think the hanson brothers are a child musical group who umbopped themselves to stardom... your in for a real shock. This movie is the real hanson brothers. Slap Shot is a classic movie! the ground work for other sports parodies like Major Leauge and Necessary Roughness. If you cant laugh watching this movie , I suggest a funny bone transplant. Its a great nostalgic trip into 70's fashion, cars, and a killer soundtrack of 70's music.This cast of misfit hockey players, the french canadian goalie Denni Le Moiux's allergy to the fans, the iron leauges rejects the hanson bros., and the perverted humor of Morris( moe) is classic.Filled with hockey action on and off the rink, Slap Shot is a timeless and timefull classic. A MUST SEE!
60 What happened to the soundtrack??
The movie is great! Several subplots roll into a great ending. WARNING! The VHS version that I have has a different soundtrack with all the great popular 70's songs replaced with some crummy generic sound alike music. A really big let down. It seems the DVD has the original soundtrack. The music is a big part on the movie. I sure hope they restore the original songs to the VHS version.
61 A Hoot.
This movie is a real stitch. The Hansen boys are real winners. It'll help if you've ever lived where kids learn to skate before they walk, but most everyone will get the idea. If they had left a lot of the profanity out it would have still been pretty funny. The way it is, it would be best if kids didn't watch it for that reason.
62 At last, the original version is saved
I have just received (and watched) the DVD version of "Slap Shot", and I thank the powers that be for restoring the original sound track to the movie. The generic music that was released on VHS took the heart out of the movie. With the restoration, and the excellent digital quality of the movie, my favorite film is complete. Now, a full 5 stars only because I can't give it 10.
63 Funny Fun Funny Fights Funny Sport
The only movie I have ever watched 3 consecutive times without getting bores once
64 PUTTING ON THE FOIL
Granted, this isn't Woody Allen type humour. Lowbrow. Still, it isn't without some of the funniest scenes I have ever sat in a theatre and howled at. I was ten when this came out. My parents took me to see it as they felt any Paul Newman vehicle was worthy fare. HO HO HO. They were horrified by the violence and profanities which seemed never to end. I was laughing so hard during the Hansons' initial foray onto the ice that I nearly had an asthma attack--I was crying all over myself. No movie has ever made me laugh so hard. Meanwhile, the behind-the-green-door-of-professional-sports-as-big-business scenes are simply priceless(ever notice how the less-successful NHL squads fight more?). Finally, while Paul Newman is the major draw, the Hansons are one of hollywood's greatest comic inventions--Frankenstein's monsters on ice. Oh,and Strother Martin. The film is spotty and I can understand how someone might not be in the mood to watch this brand of humour. Nonetheless, there is in this film a good deal of classic, highly absurdist physical comedy which is matched nowhere else .
65 The best ice hockey movie ever
This movie is one of the all time classics. And if you are an ice hockey fan it's a must to see or even own this masterpiece. The storyline can sometimes feel a little long but the action scenes from the ice makes uo for it. I have personally seen this movie more times than I can remember and I'll keep watching it every chance I get. And I recommend it to all my best friends
66 Slapshot grabs you by the balls and keeps you there.
Slapshot rocks, bro'. The theme song rocked, too, bro'. Remember it: And it's all right and we're getting strong we got to get it right back where we started from, love can be ... Anyway, you get the point. Michael Ontkean turned in his best performance this side of Making Love with Kate Jackson and the man who played Ontkean's paramour in the film, Harry Hamlin; as an aside, Ontkean never resurrected his career after that ill-fated endeavor into the gay drama -- America just wasn't ready for it yet. Oh, back to Slapshot, the Hanson brothers remain screen legends even twenty-two years after their seminal performances. Love the goons, as well. Five mo'fo' stars, Jack.
67 A MUST for all TRUE hockey fans
This is by far and away the best sports,let alone hockey, movie ever made. It is an absolute must for anyone who plays or loves hockey. Its so good, that you'll be quoting phrases from this movie with your teammates for years to come.
68 Classic sports comedy
This is one of the classics. Who are these people giving this film 1 star? Are they too uptight to understand the humour. The story is great - anyone who has been invlolved in minor league hockey should enjoy this movie. I was invlolved in Roller Hockey for 3 seasons and this movie captures the mood and essence of minor league hockey players and their "happy-go lucky" spirit about the game of hockey and the game of life. The story within the story captures today's sports world. The team owners threats to move the team to Florida have become a reality in the 1990's.
69 A Horrible Movie
I am surprised Paul Newman was in such a horrible movie! He could have been a better. I've seen some excellent movies with Newman and I thought this would be excellent and very funny but I was dissapointed. The hockey games were funny but that was it.
70 A Great Hockey Film!
One of the best hockey films of all time! Slap Shot has the best on ice action that I have ever seen. The screenplay can only be described as laugh out loud funny. Newman is superb as an older but still competative hockey player. His interaction with the younger guys on the team is sincerely heartfelt. Anyone can enjoy this film, hockey fan or not!
71 Great Comedy Classic - Best with Original Soundtrack!
I have been a BIG fan of this since it's original release, But was VERY disappointed with the "new" lame soundtrack. What did they think that we wouldn't notice it! GEEZE! I would pay the couple bucks more for the version with the original score that made the original a classic! The Hanson brothers all being native Minnesotans are not happy either!
72 The Best Sports Comedy Ever - and it has a MESSAGE!
Slap Shot, believe it or not, was written by a woman, who knows an awful lot about both the sport and the business of hockey. Not only is this a comedy classic, but this film has a strong political edge. The entire premise of the film centers on the relationship between the team and its blue-collar hometown of Johnstown, PA. The mill is closing, the fans are about to give up on the team, so the owner - a Volvo-driving woman - wants to sell the team. And the final joke is that the team might be moving to Florida! What was funny in 1977 is reality today. A masterpiece from the director of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Just one more reason the 1970's was the greatest decade ever for American movies.
73 The best hockey movie ever...
This movie is a must-see if you are a hockey fan. Hilarious is the only way I can describe it.
For the guy who rated the movie one star because it glorifies violence in sports and the humor is "not sophisticated", all I can say is "Lighten up!!"
74 On point for its time or our time. (1980')
Why is this different than today professional wrestling? This one is real, that is fake. Although not an acadamy award performance, one that makes one think and feel, maybe better than the acadamy? A "classic" if anyone knows what that means. Watch it and then watch a professional hockey game on prime time and see if it does not ring true. Wear a pear of "taped glasses" to the next hockey game if you dare."
75 SOPHOMORIC AND BANAL
I wish I could say something positive about this movie but that is impossible.The humor is on a high shool level at best, and at times plumets to new depthswith offensive sexist and homophobic humor. The use of coarse language only serves to pander to the lowest strata of our society. Glamorizing violence in sports only sets a bad example for our children.
76 hillarious!!!!!!!!!!!!11
THIS IS A PAUL NEWMAN CLASSIC FILLED WITH SOME OF THE ONE LINERS...UP THERE WITH CADDYSHACK FOR REUSED AND OVERUSED MOVIE ONE LINERS.. THE HANSON BROTHERS LIGHT UP THE SCREEN JUST WHEN THE MOVIE STARTS TO LAG AND MAKE THE BEST TURNAROUND OF ACION HUMOR AND HOCKEY ADLIBS...THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OUT THERRE....TOO BAD THE SOUNDTRACK HAS BEEN REPLACED THE 70'S CLASSICS/ORGINALS ARE GREATLY MISSED AND CERTAINLY ADDED TO THE MOVIES HUMOR
77 Slap Shot lights the red light
This is the mother of all hockey movies. And if the Hanson Brothers couldn't get you in the game then you're out of luck because this movie has put the game of hockey on the bad boys list. Paul Newan is a hockey player-coach for the Charlestown Chiefs trying to bring up their rapport with the locals. And when things got bloody, they bled face down on the ice for the finals. "Slap Shot" has inspired the bad nature for the game of hockey. Check it out.
78 One of the funniest sports movies EVER!
I agree with Puck about the soundtrack being changed,.....does anyone know why this happened? The original soundtrack was GREAT,.....the new soundtrack, while it don't change the movie , certainly DOES take something away from the movie,...at least for me it does.
79 Universal did a great job on this DVD.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the quality of this DVD. Slapshot comes with a hilarious theatrical trailer, as well as all the actor biographies. The quality of the picture is excellent. The team jerseys, and the scenery are much crisper than in VHS. In addition, the original music score has returned to this movie which makes it that much better. For the avid slapshot fan, I'd recommend going and putting on the foil and picking up a copy of this one.
80 Newmans Best on DVD!!!!
For years after going to Hockey games one of my Favorite things was going home and watching SLAP SHOT on VHS.. yes the quality was Awful... But why lie this film is such a Riot I LOVED IT!!! So when I bought it for my DVD player It was the first pre-1980 movie I bought and I have to say I watched it (after I went to a Kings game none the less) in a whole new light.... The Hockey sequences (especially in the Beginning) Sounded Incredible...I noticed little things that I have never seen before (look at the Hansons Jackets for example).. I was BLOWN AWAY!!!Also It is the original score of the film.... But I never know there were FLEETWOOD MAC songs in this Movie... (My VHS version has some crappy filler songs) Overall it was a great viewing experience and a MUST for all Hockey fans
81 the best hockey team around
After looking at the locations of the previous reviews and after having watched the movie and the team on a regular basis i felt the need to inform those who didnt actually know that the chiefs are a real organization. Some differences exist between the chiefs of the movie and the real thing, such as in the movie they refer to the city the chiefs hail from as charleston, whereas the team is actually from johnstown PA, the movie was actually filmed in johnstown and during the ending game the band playing in the background is the johnstown high school marching band. The chiefs still exist todoy and play in the same war memorial, they place in the ECHL and currently are doing fairly well. if your a big fan of the movie you will be proud to know that the chiefs are as rowdy as ever in real life, just yesterday i witnessed a game where both benches cleared and a man climbed over the glass out of the penalty box to fight. the brawl that ensued lasted nearly 25 minutes and four people were ejected. The chiefs won the game 6 to 5 in an overtime shootout. If your near Pennsylvania, find your way to johnstown and support the team, oh, and by the way, the hansons are treated as gods here and occasionally make appearances.
82 Timeless
Being in minor league hockey, I can say that, aside from all of the tremendous humor, this is the most accurate hockey picture ever made. Sure it's all a bit exaggerated, but you wouldn't believe how much isn't. The inner workings of management, the hypocrisy, the showmanship, the differences in players, the way they talk and interact, the amenities, the way they're treated in town, plus the way the action is shown is all dead on. Contrast this to Youngblood, a decent movie that just isn't realistic enough.
83 The Ultimate Hockey Movie!
Paul Newman is brilliant in what has to be the greatest hockey movie ever made. Newman plays Reggie Dunlop an over-the-hill player/coach of a last place hockey club, which is about to go bankrupt as the steel town of Charlestown is about to close its primary source of income, the steel mill. With nothing left to lose Coach Dunlop begins to "use his imagination and roll with it" by getting his players to play "Old-Time Hockey" in hopes of getting intrest in selling the team to a group of Florida Businessmen. Laughs abound from an excellent supporting class that includes Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse and Jerry Houser. I found the DVD quality to be excellent. The greatest addition on the DVD over the video is the restored original soundtrack, with 70's classics from Leo Sayer, Elton John and Maxine Nightengale. If you love hockey, comedy and Paul Newman, this is a must have!
84 One of the funniest films ever!
Like USED CARS, this movie is bawdy, rude, over the top, politically incorrect, profane, gratuitous, and loving every minute of it! Newman plays the captain of a bush-league hockey team that's going down the tubes. For most of the players, it's either hockey or an assembly-line job, so Newman decides to bring in the fans with violence. He succeeds, thanks to some brilliant manipulation and a trio of hockey-playing idiot savants (mostly idiot) named the Hanson Brothers. This is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. The first scene where the Hanson's get off the bench (heck, EVERY scene with the Hansons) is a classic and will make you laugh until you need surgery! The DVD isn't much better than the VHS, unfortunately, as far as picture quality or features go. There are some alternate language tracks (if you're a big fan of Newman in French), but no director's commentary, etc. SEE THIS MOVIE! Every performance is hilarious and perfectly-cast. George Roy Hill (who also directed Newman in the classics BUTCH CASSIDY and THE STING) seems to just bring out Newman's best no matter what the genre. Also Strother Martin (of COOL HAND LUKE, "failure to communicate") fame, is in this and is totally hilarious!
85 GREATEST MOVIE EVER. PERIOD.
DROP-DEAD FUNNY, GREAT DRAMA, ROMANCE, SOCIAL/POLITICAL MESSAGE, ALL THE ELEMENTS OF GREATNESS. WHATEVER ONE'S DESCRIPTION OF A 'GREAT MOVIE' INCLUDES, SLAP SHOT HAS IT! GREAT VISUALS, CAMERA ANGLES, CASTING, MUSIC... IT WORKS ON ALL LEVELS, FROM SIMPLE STUPID COMEDY ALL THE WAY TO PERSONAL/SOCIO-ECONOMIC/POLITICAL STATEMENTS! ENJOY! IT JUST GETS BETTER THE MORE YOU WATCH IT!!
86 After 22 years it still has plenty of laughs
In 1977 this movie had the most profane foul lanquage I'd ever heard for a big studio release. Today you can have your grandmother watch it. There are a lot of funny moments in this movie and it only appears dated with the funky disco era clothes everyone wears and the soundtrack has some songs from 1976-1977 recording stars. The antics of the infamous Hanson brothers is worth the price of this DVD. The burnt orange leather suit that Paul Newman wears is a real winner.
I was very disappointed with the quality of the video transfer on this DVD. The images appear a bit grainy and the colors and contrasts just don't seem up to the DVD standard that I'm used to. No surround track either.
87 Great Classic Sports Movie
Slapshot is the best hockey movie ever created. It has enspired many people to persue the wonderful game of hockey. The best thing about this movie is that you do not need to be a hockey fan to enjoy the great jokes.
88 Incredibly negative and hilarious anti-PC masterpiece!!!
"Slap Shot" is a wonderfully negative and violent anti-PC masterpiece about a minor-league hockey team that would probably rate an NC-17 for language if it were released today. It contains some of the nastiest sexist and homophobic slurs ever put on film. It's also one of the funniest movies ever made. All in all, an obscene masterpiece!!!!
89 BEST HOCKEY MOVIE EVER MADE
PAUL NEWMAN WAS GREAT. A MUST SEE MOVIE FOR ALL HOCKEY FANS. EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A HOCKEY FAN THIS MOVIE WILL HAVE YOU ROLLING ON THE FLOOR WITH LAUGHTER.
90 A must see for true hockey fans
This comedy about a minor league hockey team set in the 1970's is a must see for any hockey fan. Between the on-ice scenes, the Hanson Brothers, those 70's clothes, and all the one-liners, you will be laughing throughout. A movie I've enjoyed over and over again.
91 Movie content ruined by phoney soundtrack
The movie "Slapshot" is an absolute classic, and whether or not he will admit it, one of Paul Newman's best appearances. However, the video release has replaced an excellent music soundtrack with some phoney set of songs made up to somewhat resemble the original rock oldies music that was such an intergral part of the movie. After numerous inquiries, I have been unable to find out why such a thing was done, or how to get an original copy of the movie.
Even with this serious flaw, "Slapshot" is still well worth seeing over and over, and in its original form would be nothing less than "5 stars".
