Review - The Mighty Ducks Trilogy (1992-1996)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, it looks like Disney is getting ready to head back to an older franchise with their newest Disney+ original series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, which will see Emilio Estevez return to his iconic role of Gordon Bombay. So, before the official debut of the new series, I'd like to go back and take a look at the 90's movie series that started it all: The Mighty Ducks trilogy.

         So, The Mighty Ducks, released in 1992, focuses on Gordon Bombay, who was a top Pee-Wee Hockey star as a child, but lost a championship game by missing a penalty shot, which disappointed his coach, a "win-at-any-costs" kind of guy named Jack Reilly. Years later, a now adult Gordon is working for a Minneapolis law firm run by Gerald Ducksworth, and let's just say that Gordon himself has adopted that "win-at-any-costs" mentality, and applies it to his legal career. One night, however, Gordon is arrested on a DUI charge, and is sentenced to several hours of community service...by coaching Pee-Wee Hockey. Specifically the worst team in the league, District 5. The team consists of a few players of promise, such as Charlie Conway, Connie Moreau, Guy Germaine, and Jesse Hall, but the rest of the ragtag team of misfits, including Lester Averman, Greg Goldberg, Dave Karp, Peter Mark, and Jesse's brother Terry Hall, just seem kinda there to fill up space, and heck, Averman really doesn't show any skills aside from running his mouth and saying something stupid. Overall, a mixed bag, but entertaining nonetheless.

       So, District 5 loses their first couple of games with Gordon as coach, and Gordon later goes to meet with an old family friend and mentor, a hockey supply store owner named Hans. After skating on the ice for himself for a while, Gordon gets Ducksworth to sponsor the team, getting them decent hockey gear, as well as rink time. It's here also that Gordon brings in some reinforcements for the team in the form of figure skating prodigy Tammy Duncan, her little brother Tommy, as well as bruiser Fulton Reed, whose slapshot impressed Gordon quite a bit. After getting through the basics of hockey with some unorthodox methods, like using raw eggs to practice passing the puck softly, and roller blading through a shopping mall to help Fulton with building his skating skills, Gordon reveals the new team name as the Ducks. With the new name, and a new confidence, Gordon and the Ducks manage to end their next game in a tie, which according to Hans, could be the key to the Ducks making the Pee-Wee playoffs, as another team is out for the season due to illness. 

        It's here where Gordon learns of a recent redrafting of district lines, and that one of Reilly's star players on the Hawks, Adam Banks, should be on the Ducks. Several Ducks, including Peter, Jesse, and Terry, decide to leave the team, due to Bombay's perceived loyalty to the Hawks, and remarking about how the Ducks are "losers." So, things fall apart, and Gordon goes to meet Ducksworth, who has gathered both Reilly and Adam Banks' father, who have arranged a deal with the Pee-Wee Hockey league, that Adam remains on the Hawks, and the lines will be redrafted to keep him there, but only if Gordon withdraws his claim to having Adam on the Ducks where he belongs. Gordon, having finally learned the concept of teamwork and fair-play, refuses, is dismissed from his job at the law firm, and goes to the Ducks to make amends. Adam joins the team, they win their next game, and make the playoffs. It's also around this time that Gordon starts to become romantically involved with Charlie's mother, Casey, but it only really lasts for this one movie.

       After a trip to a professional rink where they get to skate around before watching a Minnesota North Stars game, the Ducks plow through the playoffs, making it to the championship game against the Hawks. The game starts rough, Adam is taken out on injury, and it comes down to a penalty shot, with Charlie being chosen for to take it. As opposed to Reilly, who put pressure on Gordon's shoulders all those years ago, Gordon tells Charlie that win or lose, he's proud of the team for getting to the championship. Charlie makes the goal, the Ducks win, and Gordon goes to try out with a local minor league hockey team, ending the movie. 

         D2: The Mighty Ducks, released in 1994, picks up with Gordon, now a minor league hockey superstar, getting ready to be called up to the NHL, but a career-ending knee injury sends him back to Minneapolis, where he is picked up by Hans' younger brother Jan. It is here that Gordon learns that the Junior Goodwill Games committee is looking for a new coach for Team USA Hockey, and Gordon, based on his work with the Ducks, is the ideal choice. The team is also getting a new sponsor, Hendrix Hockey Apparel, who sends an executive named Don Tibbles to convince Gordon to agree to coach Team USA. So, Gordon rounds up a number of the Ducks, including Charlie, Jesse, Averman, Goldberg, Adam, Connie, Guy, and Fulton. Unfortunately, Tammy, Tommy, Terry, Karp, and Peter didn't make the cut this time, but new players from across the United States are joining up to fill in the ranks: Luis Mendoza, who is a terrific speed skater with difficulty in stopping, Ken Wu, who is a former Olympic figure skater, Dwayne Robertson, who is one of the best puck handlers in the sport with an obnoxious tendency to showboat, Dean Portman, who is a big bruiser of an enforcer that prefers to shove people around than play hockey, and Julie "The Cat" Gaffney, who is a top goalie with a fast glove. Honestly, she's a better goalie than the Ducks' resident goalie Goldberg. After a scrimmage between the Ducks and the newbies, Gordon gets to some training, and some fun as well. Meanwhile, we also meet Michelle McKay, who serves as the team tutor during their time in Los Angeles competing with youth hockey teams from around the world, including Italy, Germany, Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, and the main rival team this time around, Iceland. 

         The Iceland team is coached by former NHL star Wolf "The Dentist" Stansson, whose team dominates over Team USA in their first match-up. In fact, Iceland wins with a score of 12-1 over Team USA. This is mainly due to overconfidence setting in, and Gordon being distracted by Hendrix pampering the crap out of him with a gorgeous house in Malibu, massive parties with sports icons like Kristy Yamaguchi, Cam Neely, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After a heart-to-heart with Jan, who reveals that he was the one who recommended Gordon to the Junior Goodwill Games committee, Gordon goes back to the team, and starts coaching again, not as a hard-ass, but as the Bombay who coached the Ducks. Adam, meanwhile is benched with a wrist injury and Charlie recruits local street hockey player Russ Tyler, whose signature move is the "knuckle-puck," where he tees up the puck, smacks it, and it flips end-over-end to the goal net. 

       Team USA eventually makes it to the championship game, where they'll be in a rematch against Iceland. The game itself takes place at the (at the time) newly minted Hockey rink, Arrowhead Pond, in Anaheim. Adam's wrist is healed, and Charlie steps down, as the team needs both Adam and Russ on the ice. Iceland does well, but Team USA keeps it close, only behind by three points. Throughout the first two periods, Portman and Fulton, who became known as the Bash Brothers, knock a few heads in, as does Ken, who becomes the third Bash Brother, while Dwayne uses his lasso to grab an Iceland player before the guy can check Connie into the boards. Dwayne gets two minutes in the penalty box for doing so. Team USA, after their break, enters into the third period with new jerseys, those of the Ducks. Not the Ducks' jerseys from the first movie, but a new set of Ducks' jerseys with a new look on them. Now the USA Ducks, the Ducks tie the game up, ending it in a shootout, where Julie catches the last goal against Iceland's Gunnar Stahl, winning the game for the Ducks. The movie ends with the Ducks having a campout in the woods.

         The third entry of the series, D3: The Mighty Ducks, was released in 1996, and sees the Ducks offered full athletic scholarships to prestigious high school Eden Hall Academy, where they will become the new Junior Varsity Warriors. Another one of the Ducks, Jesse, has departed, and doesn't join the Ducks at Eden Hall. In addition, Gordon reveals to Charlie that the Ducks won't have him as coach this time, as Gordon got a major offer from the Junior Goodwill Games committee, which would have Gordon oversee the junior hockey program on a global scale. 

         The Ducks, consisting of Charlie, Averman, Goldberg, Luis, Julie, Ken, Russ, Connie, Guy, Dwayne, Adam, and Fulton meet their new coach, former Minnesota North Stars player Ted Orion, whose much less focused on fun and scoring, and more focused on defense, looking to teach the team to play two-way hockey. Orion's methods clash with Charlie constantly, and Charlie's captain spot is left vacant on purpose. Adam is placed on the Varsity team, and Portman decides to stay in Chicago. After some not-so-good games, and a prank war between the Varsity and the Ducks results in a face-off between the two teams, Charlie and Fulton leave the team. 

       After a sit-down with Hans, who tries to convince Charlie to be better, as it's what Orion expects, and knows is there, Charlie spends an afternoon hanging out with Fulton at the Mall of America, and Fulton decides to go back to Eden Hall and the team. That night, Charlie goes to meet with his mother, who informs him that Hans passed away. After the funeral for Hans, Gordon goes to show Charlie a few things. First, that Orion has a daughter, who is in a wheelchair due to an injury during a car accident, and the reason he left the North Stars was because he wanted to stay in Minnesota for his daughter's sake, while the team made the move to Dallas, becoming the Dallas Stars. Also, Gordon reveals that he told Orion that Charlie was the real "Minnesota Miracle Man," and that hopefully both Charlie and Orion would learn from each other. 

        Charlie goes back to Eden Hall, and asks to rejoin the team. Orion, moved by Charlie's sincerity, accepts him back on the team, but to bad news: due to the team's record, the school's board of regents is voting to revoke the Ducks' scholarships. Orion bring in Gordon, who threatens to make a legal case out of the matter if the boards proceeds with revoking the scholarships, slapping them with an injunction taking them to court, and collecting damages. Gordon also tells the board that given their shot, the Ducks will succeed both on the ice and in the classroom. The board then votes to reinstate the scholarships, keeping the Ducks in Eden Hall. Orion and the Ducks, using unorthodox training techniques like using actual garbage to practice "picking up the trash," prepare for the JV/Varsity Showdown, with Orion giving the team back their Ducks jerseys. 

       So, it's come to this. Eden Hall Ducks vs Eden Hall Varsity Warriors. The Ducks hold Varsity at a tie, and Portman decides to sign the scholarship, joining the team heading into the third period. Portman and Fulton have their Bash Brother fun, Portman ends up in the penalty box, where he literally takes off his jersey, pads, and shirt, getting the crowd roaring with laughter and excitement. Orion eventually gives Charlie back his captain spot, and Charlie, about to make the winning goal, passes to Goldberg, who makes the winning goal. Bombay looks on from the crowd, proud to see how Charlie has matured, shows a new banner over the Eden Hall Warriors emblem: the banner of the Eden Hall Ducks. 

         So, The Mighty Ducks trilogy is definitely fun, but only for those of us who actually grew up with these movies. The original is a classic, and the kids are terrific. While D2 feels like "wash, rinse, repeat," I do like the idea of the Ducks competing against youth hockey teams from around the world. It was my favorite of the three as a kid, and I still enjoy it quite a bit. D3 was the one I enjoyed the least as a kid, but I've since warmed up to it. I mean, heck, High School was the next logical choice to take the Ducks after the first two movies. 

        The cast of these movies, which includes the likes of terrific actors like Joss Ackland, Carsten Norgaard, Michael Tucker, Kathryn Erbe (for any Law and Order fans out there), Jeffrey Nordling, and David Selby round out this trilogy's cast of adult actors, and each one is terrific in their own right. The kid actors, including the likes of Joshua Jackson, Elden Hensen, Marguerite Moreau, Vincent Larusso, Danny Tamberelli, Brandon Adams, J.D. Daniels, Jussie Smollett, Matt Doherty, Ty O'Neal, Kenan Thompson, Mike Vitar, and so forth, are all terrific in each of the three movies. Heck, most of these kids went on to successful careers as adults, with Joshua Jackson and Elden Hensen being the two biggest breakouts of the trilogy. 

       Now, while the idea of a team of misfits has been done before this, with The Bad News Bears being a prime example, I feel like The Mighty Ducks works in its own way, as many kids of the 90's weren't familiar with the earlier film, and it came out at a time when hockey was hitting its stride, as roller blading was getting popular, and with it came an influx of kids playing street hockey. So, to see Disney capitalize on the hockey craze early on with these movies is a smart move. 

         Individually, I'd rate The Mighty Ducks 5/5, D2 3.5/5, and D3 4.75/5. The overall Mighty Ducks trilogy, however, would get an accumulative rating of 4.5/5. I enjoyed these movies as a kid, and I still enjoy them today. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next week, when I cover Warner Bros. and Legendary's MonterVerse films starting with Godzilla.