To celebrate the return of the Olympic Winter Games to Sochi, Russia in 2014, Gabe Polsky set out to make a documentary about the Red Army. The Red Army teams for those of you who were not aware, were players who served the Soviet Union both on the ice and in the military. This story focuses in on the life and career of Viacheslav Fetisov, one the greatest players to ever come from Russia. This story was really captivating because we can see the highs and lows of what it was like to play for the Soviet Union. Winning was the only acceptable outcome of any hockey game, so when the dominant teams of the 1970’s and 1980’s finally started to come back to reality, tension was at an all time high as players expressed interest in playing in North America and the National Hockey League. Red Army is considered one of the best hockey documentaries out there with a 7.6 rating on IMDb and a 95% rating on RottenTomatoes. I thought this was an eye-opening story because I was barely old enough to fully understand what was going on in the world, but do remember the Russian players coming to the NHL in the early 1990’s. North Americans have always taken the easy routes to the professional leagues, and could really understand what players from other countries would go through. So much time has passed which has allowed old wounds to heal and people to come forward to share their stories. 6/10
Ten Stars or Less 