The Mighty Ducks

"Be careful man, it almost hit me that time!"
"Goldberg, you're the goalie. It's supposed to hit you."
"Does that sound stupid to anyone else?"

Gordon Bombay (Estevez) is a successful lawyer with a reputation for winning.  He is arrested for drunk driving and is sentenced to community service, specifically to coach little league ice hockey.  His team, District 5, is the worst in the league and do not have proper uniforms or gear.  Their first game is against the league champions, The Hawks.  As a child Gordon was the star player for the Hawks, and his missed penalty shot lead to the only 2nd place finish for the Hawks.  The teams is still coached by Coach Reilly (Smith), who was Gordon's coach / mentor until he quit hockey.

The Hawks claim a massive victory over District 5.  Gordon tries to teach the team to cheat, but ultimately realizes that he needs to teach them to love the game.  With a little help from his friend and former boss Hans (Ackland), can he take the new "Mighty Ducks" team to victory?


This film came out when I was in elementary school.  I remember loving it and watching it every chance I could get.  I didn't own it then and still don't now, but I love and continue to enjoy this film.  This film was successful enough to spawn 2 sequels (D2: The Mighty Ducks and D3: The Mighty Ducks) along with an animated TV series also called Mighty Ducks.  It also inspired the AHL hockey team the Anaheim Ducks (from 1993-2006 it was the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).

An entertaining sports movie that is predictable, but still fun to watch.

The Mighty Ducks (1992) 100 minutes
Director: Stephen Herek
Starring: Emilio Estevez as Gordon Bombay
Joss Ackland as Hans
Lane Smith as Coach Reilly
Heidi Kling as Casey Conway
Josef Sommer as Mr. Ducksworth
Joshua Jackson as Charlie Conway
Elden Ratliff as Fulton Reed
Shaun Weiss as Greg Goldberg
M.C. Gainey as Lewis
Matt Doherty as Les Averman
Brandon Adams as Jesse Hall
J.D. Daniels as Peter Mark
Aaron Schwartz as Dave Karp
Garette Ratliff Henson as Guy Germaine
Marguerite Moreau as Connie Moreau
Danny Tamberelli as Tommy Duncan
Jane Plank as Tammy Duncan
Jussie Smollett as Terry Hall
Vincent Larusso as Adam Banks