Slap Shot (1977)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writer:

Nancy Dowd (writer)

Release Date:

25 February 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Slap Shot out slaps... out swears... out laughs...

Plot:

A failing ice hockey team finds success using constant fighting and violence during games.

Plot Keywords:

Ice Hockey | Booster Club | Team Bus | Violence | Small Town

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Reggie 'Reg' Dunlop
Strother Martin	...	Joe McGrath
Michael Ontkean	...	Ned Braden
Jennifer Warren	...	Francine Dunlop
Lindsay Crouse	...	Lily Braden
Jerry Houser	...	Dave 'Killer' Carlson
Andrew Duncan	...	Jim Carr
Jeff Carlson	...	Jeff Hanson
Steve Carlson	...	Steve Hanson
David Hanson	...	Jack Hanson
Yvon Barrette	...	Denis Lemieux
Allan F. Nicholls	...	Johnny Upton (as Allan Nicholls)
Brad Sullivan	...	Morris 'Mo' Wanchuk
Stephen Mendillo	...	Jim Ahern
Yvan Ponton	...	Jean-Guy Drouin

Also Known As:

Schlappschuß (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Agrio paichnidi (Greece) [el]
Colpo secco (Italy) [it]
El castañazo (Spain) [es]
Lämäri (Finland) [fi]
La castagne (France) [fr]
Lancer frappé (Canada: French title) [fr]
Na lodzie (Poland) [pl]
Schlagschuß (West Germany) (TV title) [de]
Slagskott (Sweden) [sv]
Slagskudd (Norway) (video box title) [no]
Slap Shot (Denmark) [da]
Todo vale (Argentina) [es]
Vale Tudo (Brazil) (cable TV title) [pt]

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Singapore:PG | Brazil:16 | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Australia:R | Argentina:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, New York, USA

Company:

Kings Road Entertainment

Trivia:

Universal Pictures offered Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson and David Hanson the chance to star in their own spin-off film. But all three turned it down to return to their professional hockey playing careers.

Goofs:

Continuity: The amount of beer in Dunlop's glass changes when he sees his wife come into the bar and then asks her to dance.

Quotes:

Reggie Dunlop: You know, your son looks like a fag to me.
Anita McCambridge: I beg your pardon?
Reggie Dunlop: You better get re-married again, or he's gonna have someone's cock in his mouth before you can say Jack Robinson.
Anita McCambridge: How dare you! How dare you!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Making of 'Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains' (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING

Puck Lords, Crashed Boards and Ice Hockey Ultraviolence

Paul Newman in a schlocky-hockey movie? Is that one of the most inspired ideas of 1970s cinema or what? Slap Shot is a board-crashing classic thanks not only to Newman's charisma and verve, but an outstandingly funny supporting cast and a witty script.

Slap Shot centres around the terrible minor league side, the Charlestown Chiefs, a franchise despised by their fans, on the verge of being sold and suffering with low attendances as the town's factories are due to close. This is a sports movie though, so naturally all that's got to change, and it does as Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman as the veteran player-coach) uses a bit of the old ultraviolence to flip the team's fortunes and get the fans into a frenzy.

A mediocre gang of chumps become championship maulers and the results are spectacular. The addition of the (now infamous) Hanson brothers, a bunch of mad, spec-wearing weirdos who love nothing better than wanton destruction adds to the cocktail of on-ice destruction. Fists fly, blood flows, profanities are fired all over the place. All in all it is extremely entertaining.

Slap Shot may be stupidly sexist and stuck in the 70s (just dig Newman's brown leather suit and lapels), but the dated aspects can all be forgiven by the frequent bursts of fresh comedy and frenetic action. The ultimate ice hockey movie it most definitely is, it's also possibly Paul Newman's best role. He eases through the movie with a sense of fun and eager machismo, utterly convincing as the hockey maverick who leads and manipulates his flock of mugs. A pure blast of balls-to-the-wall action comedy, Slap Shot is a hockey hoot.