Youngblood

At a local college hockey game earlier this year I was discussing all-time favorite hockey films with a colleague, and he mentioned 1986’s Youngblood (trailer). Somehow, this puck-favorite escaped me all these years as I had never heard of it. I tried to track it down via online streaming, but it was on no streaming services, not even as a rental! I eventually settled on purchasing a DVD off Amazon and can finally cross-check this one off the to-see list!

Rob Lowe is the center of attention here as rural up-and-coming hockey ace Dean Youngblood. He lives on a small Canadian farm and against his dad’s advice, chooses to pursue Junior league hockey in his quest to make the pros. However, Dean is in for a whole new level of competition as the opening scenes at tryouts successfully establish a rival when Dean outperforms tenured player Racki (George Finn) and costs Racki his spot on the team! From there, Dean has to achieve the ultimate test of winning over the respect of his teammates, especially team captain Derek Sutton (Patrick Swayze). Another teammate worth noting in a small part with just several lines in the film is the player named Heaver, played by a very early-in-his-career, Keanu Reeves!

Dean has to endure a lot of right-of-passage rituals in the juniors, such as a shaving prank that I hear is commonplace amongst rookies in real-life locker rooms, the team intentionally getting Dean wasted and having to suffer the after-effects in practice the next day and acquiring a specific taste for tea at the player’s local lodging. It was quite the feat of seeing Dean go through the hazing gauntlet, and I feel some of the scenes would have been shot differently if it were released today. Jessie (Cynthia Gibb) is the rink’s Zamboni driver, coach’s daughter, and love interest for Dean. Seeing their relationship play out while attempting to keep the coach out of sight added a fun side dynamic to the film worth investing into.

The actual hockey scenes here have an unorthodox feeling to them. The players are moving at a slow speed for the big plays as if trying to imitate slow-motion replays, but without the special effects filter that enables the slow-motion zoom/blur in sports telecasts. This results in a handful of plays where players are slowly skating awkwardly before scoring a pivotal goal. There are some nasty fight scenes/dirty plays where Racki comes into play, constantly messing with Sutton and Youngblood. There is a massive payoff in the final game, where Youngblood has a do-or-die penalty shot, which directly leads into a game-ending fight scene with Youngblood and Racki, which Youngblood has adequately prepared for via Rocky-esque fight training montages back at the family farm!

This is a barebones DVD release, with only a trailer being the only extra feature. Seeing how this is a real early movie in the career of Lowe, Swayze, and Keanu Reeves, I would have loved a quick interview retrospective piece or even a commentary track. Click or press here to check out this thorough oral history from The Hockey News as a worthy online alternative. This was a fun hockey film that told an interesting story about trying to break into junior league hockey, with the added paradigm of being from a Canadian perspective. Aside from the aforementioned awkward moments, the hockey action is still plenty passable. A fantastic hero/villain is established on the ice with Dean and Racki’s rivalry that rewards viewers with a tremendous end fight scene! Thank you Brad for recommending Youngblood! I think I will put this in the upper echelon of hockey films for me with Mystery, Alaska, Goon, and Sudden Death.


For more discussion on Youngblood and some of my other favorite hockey films, check out this clip where I cover it on the podcast “Big Screens & TV Streams.”

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3
12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown
21 Jump Street
1917
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Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie
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The Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Avengers: Endgame
The Avengers: Infinity War
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Bounty Hunters
Cabin in the Woods
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Christmas Eve
The Clapper
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special
The Condemned 2
Countdown
Creed I & II
Deck the Halls
Detroit Rock City
Die Hard
Dirty Work
Dredd
The Eliminators
The Equalizer
Faster
Fast and Furious I-VIII
Field of Dreams
Fight Club
The Fighter
For Love of the Game
Good Will Hunting
Gravity
Grunt: The Wrestling Movie
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
Hell Comes to Frogtown
Hercules: Reborn
Hitman
I Like to Hurt People
Indiana Jones 1-4
Inglourious Basterds
Ink
The Interrogation
Interstellar
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
Jobs
Joy Ride 1-3
Justice League (2017 Whedon Cut)
Last Action Hero
Major League
Mallrats
Man of Steel
Man on the Moon
Man vs Snake
Marine 3-6
Merry Friggin Christmas
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge
National Treasure
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Nintendo Quest
Not for Resale
Old Joy
Payback (Director’s Cut)
Pulp Fiction
The Punisher (1989)
The Ref
The Replacements
Reservoir Dogs
Rocky I-VIII
Running Films Part 1
Running Films Part 2
San Andreas
ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery
Serenity (2005)
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Shoot em Up
Slacker
Skyscraper
Small Town Santa
Speed
Steve Jobs
Source Code
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Sully
Take Me Home Tonight
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Trauma Center
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UHF
Veronica Mars
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Wild
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The Wrestler (2008)
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