By Alan Samuel
Hockey crazy British Columbia must be sad at the poor showing of The Vancouver Canucks this year. Gone is the incentive to play well since this team is stuffed with over-paid show me the money athletes. Blame stupid owners and more stupid fans for paying extortionist prices to see millionaires shoot a puck down the ice. Incentive is dead in The hockey world this side of the Rockies and North of the 49th parallel. Contrast this lack of will to the young Russian players in The fantastic documentary Red Army. Well worth searching out this show is playing at the International Village Cinemas and select Cineplex Odeon cites around B.C.
Thanks to highlight reel vintage hockey footage director/writer Gabe Polsky gets downright personal. Candid interviews with key players in the infamous Red Army team shows us the ins and outs of the Soviet system and how it relates to forging a winning hockey effort. Audiences will be in awe at the spirit embodied in the young Russian hockey players as they embark on an unbelievable training program, directed from the highest echelons of government in The Soviet Union, to become the best in hockey -come hell or high water.
And once the kids tangle with NHL players in a series of matches shown in all their brilliance it’s not hard to see how our Canadian heroes are left in the dust. Smart, funny and highly insightful, Red Army is a real head-turner of a movie – whether your a sports fan or not
