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Hockey Films - Slap Shot

Slap Shot VHS Cover

What the boxes say...

“Ice Hockey - The Last Word In Blood Sports

This irreverent and outrageously funny look into the world of professional ice hockey has Paul Newman as the coach of the Chiefs, a third-rate minor league hockey team. To build up attendance at their games, management signs up three odd looking players whose job it is to literally attack and demolish the opposition, to the delight and cheers of a steadily increasing throng of fans.

SLAP SHOT’s hockey sequences, reminiscent of the football games in M.A.S.H. and The Longest Yard, offer a freewheeling mixture of slapstick humour and grisly physical violence.”

 

View From Block 107...

Slap Shot DVD Cover

When this feature made it’s debut on the site in September 2000, I began with Slap Shot.  Why?  Well, it is seen by many as THE definitive hockey film and there’s no harm in starting at the top!   Now, two years on in 2002 and it is the film’s 25th anniversary - occasion enough for a DVD re-issue of the film - in the States at least!  You can buy the 25th anniversary edition as a stand alone DVD or as part of a double box set with the straight to video/DVD sequel - Slap Shot 2 : Breaking The Ice.  I figure if the 25th anniversary is reason enough for a DVD re-issue it’s a good enough reason for this section to be updated! 

So, 25 years on from its initial release, is it any good and how does it compare against more recent hoclkey films? 

As a sports film in general, it has been hailed as “One of the Top Ten Sports Movies Ever!” by Sports Illustrated, ESPN.com and The Sporting News.  As a hockey film it is a true classic and one that should be in any hockey fan’s collection.

One of the areas sports films can sometimes suffer is in the depiction of the actual sport with games appearing very choreographed.  Fortunately, Slap Shot doesn’t particularly suffer with this and although some of the action is exaggerated by the antics of the Hanson Brothers it is on the whole believable.

The story that links the hockey action together stays away from some of the sickly sweet stories you get in sports films today - anyone seen MVP?! - and also manages to keep you amused with the jokes in there.  One of the examples of the humour, and for me, one of the highlights of the

film, is the demonstration of some of hockey’s infractions to a TV interviewer by the Chiefs’ netminder with painful results for the presenter!

One thing that is worth mentioning here is that the film is rated 18 and the language in it is befitting such a certificate - while it is possible that kids of today hear this sort of language every day in the school yard parents may want to pre-view the film before allowing those younger hockey fans in the family to watch this one.

The continued popularity of the film is reflected in the range of Chiefs merchandise available to buy - from jerseys to action figures of the Hansons -  25 years after the film was released.   And this popularity is more than justified as  whether considered as a general sports movie or a hockey film in particular, Slap Shot meets it’s billing as a classic and is one not to be missed! 

PD - 27/7/2002

Charlestown Chiefs Wallpaper

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Slap Shot Wallpaper

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Related Pages : Hockey Figures - Slap Shot

Do you agree or disagree with the View From Block 107? Do you want your opinion heard? If so, email me with your comments on Slap Shot and they will be included in this section. Don’t forget to provide some details about yourself when contacting me though.