So maybe watching men in skin-tight suits skate as fast as they can around a circle just isn't your thing. Or maybe you can only watch figure skaters fall from their partner's arms and onto the ice so many times before you have to look away. Or maybe watching people ski and shoot things then ski again kind of freaks you out.
Whatever your reason, you don't necessarily have to tune in to NBC to get into the Olympic spirit. In fact, by watching a few winter Olympics films, you might even be more spirited than the people watching the real thing. I mean, Germany might be beating the United States in the medal count, but that really doesn't matter once you see the Mighty Ducks destroy the German team in "D2: The Mighty Ducks."
The best winter Olympic movie has to be "Cool Runnings." This '90s Disney movie was inspired by the true story of the first Jamaican bobsled team in the 1988 Winter Olympics.
The team is born after a sprinter loses his chance to compete in the summer Olympics by a freak running accident. He decides he's going to the games one way or another and meets up with a friend of his father's who lives on the island and won a gold medal for the United States by bobsledding.
And that friend is none other than John Candy, a disgraced athlete who was banned from the games and got his medal revoked after cheating. He wasn't hopped up on steroids; he added weights to his sled to make it go faster.
Think about that— John Candy needing to make something he would be riding in heavier. That alone makes the movie worth seeing.
The team goes through inner struggles — one of the members is the runner who caused the accident that dashed Olympic dreams. They also have to find a way to practice for the game without ever seeing snow.
Yet the team manages to overcome these struggles, finds a way to Calgary and encounters even more challenges. They don't have fancy uniforms — until the coach buys some — or a professional sled — until they paint theirs — but they do have heart. And they hold on to their roots.
The leader of the team wants to copy one of the more professional teams in how they count off the bobsled launch, but the team revolts and goes with, "Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, It's bobsled time! Cool Runnings!" In my opinion, it's a much better way to start off a competition.
The movie doesn't have the stereotypical Disney-Olympic movie ending, which comes as a bit of a shock. Nonetheless, the movie does deliver the warm fuzzies you have come to expect from Disney.
Another warm, fuzzy, based on a true story is a Disney remake of a TV movie, 2004's "Miracle." Kurt Russell is hockey coach Herb Brooks who puts together a team of college players to take on the mighty Soviet Union team in the 1980 Olympic Games.
Move over Rocky, you're not the only one who can win the Cold War for the U.S. by bashing in a Soviet. This movie tries to stick to the history of the game a little more closely than "Cool Runnings." It just seems very real.
The actors look like players, which could be in part because one of the actors, Billy Schneider, plays his father, Buzz Schneider, who scored the first goal for the United States against the Soviets in the 1980 game.
This follows the familiar theme of the underdog coming up on top, but it is done well. It will definitely get you in the hockey spirit.
Finally, if you want a little comedy to go with your hockey movie, you have to rent "D2: The Mighty Ducks."
The sequel to The Mighty Ducks follows Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) and the rest of his team from Minneapolis to the Junior Goodwill Games in California, as Team USA, where they're joined by a few new players and face a familiar challenge — defeating an overly developed team with a scary coach. OK, the Junior Goodwill Games aren't exactly on the same level as the Olympics. But the movie invokes much of the same Olympic ideals, and it's worth watching in the winter, especially during the Olympics.
The classic characters from the first movie — do-gooder captain Charlie Conway, talented Adam Banks, talkative Averman and bumbling goalie Goldberg — are all back, as is the "Flying V," the best hockey play ever written. The new players mesh effortlessly with the old after Bombay ties them all together and makes them skate.
I personally enjoy this movie more than the first because the stakes are a little higher — they have to beat evil Iceland instead of a Minnesota team — and the players are a little more grown-up. The team still struggles with trusting Coach Bombay and like always, everything comes down to a shoot-out.
The Olympics are a time to take pride in your country and its athletes. But you can always use it as a time to take pride in the movie industry and its actors.
Whatever you choose, remember what "Cool Runnings" really means — peace be the journey.
Margaret Harding is the State News enterprise reporter. Reach her at hardin42@msu.edu.
