Product Description

As a young boy from blue collar Quebec, Maurice Richard had a dream to play in the National Hockey League. Beneath his soft spoken, working class exterior burned a tenacity and passion that transformed this young factory worker into The Rocket.In the 1950’s pre helmet days of hockey, The Rocket played with a finesse, speed and conviction which made him a legend. A man of the people, denied equal rights in a culturally divided nation and ridiculed by critics as too frail to play hockey, Maurice Richard defied all odds to become the first player to ever score 50 goals in 50 games. This is the extraordinary true story of the man whose tireless fight on and off the ice ignited and forever changed a generation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8923 in DVD
• Brand: UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP
• Released on: 2007-12-11
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 124 minutes

Features

• This Canadian sports drama centers on Quebecois hockey player Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. With a cast that includes current and former NHL players, THE ROCKET garnered nine Canadian Academy Awards. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SPORTS/GAMES Rating: NR Age: 660200316020 UPC: 660200316020 Manufacturer No: PALMDV3160

Amazon.com
Before Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, before Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, there was Maurice "Rocket" Richard, the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games and the man generally regarded as the Babe Ruth of the National Hockey League (he was a member of the Montreal Canadiens, the hockey equivalent of the New York Yankees). Directed by Charles Biname, written (in French and English) by Ken Scott, and starring Roy Dupuis as Richard, this 2005 Canadian production is more than a sports movie, as Richard's significance as a populist hero to French Canadians, the humble factory worker who fought against rampant cultural discrimination and risked his career for what he believed in, is given nearly as much weight as his remarkable feats on the ice. As such, The Rocket approaches the status of hagiography. It's more like watching The Natural than a bio of a real person, as the film is quite literally bathed in a reverent glow (the cinematography, both color and black & white, adds a gorgeous but unreal tint to every scene); even in his more dubious moments (he attacked a referee in 1955 and received a suspension, leading to a full-scale riot in and outside of the Montreal Forum), Richard is depicted as a hero-victim. That said, this is also a very entertaining biopic, with Dupuis excellent as the gritty machinist who was considered too frail and injury-prone to compete with the sport's tough guys but who, in the course of a career that lasted from 1942 to 1960, proved himself not only on the rink (where he more than held his own against various NHL goons while setting seemingly impossible scoring records), but also off it (where he stood up to the arrogant owners and league executives who regarded French Canadian players as lower life forms and refused to protect even Richard, the sport's best player, from dirty opponents and biased refs). The hockey scenes, which include various genuine NHL players, are exciting; and the personal moments, especially those involving Canadiens coach Dick Irvin (Stephen McHattie) are fine, if somewhat pat. Modest bonus features include deleted scenes and "A Tribute to Maurice Richard, the Rocket." --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews

"Maurice! Maurice! Maurice! ~ I Need Players Who Hate To Lose"
Note: French and English with English subtitles.

The '05 film `The Rocket' is a long overdue cinematic biography of the greatest hockey player and icon in NHL history. More than just a sports film, the story of Maurice Richard is a story exposing the corruption and brutality of the sport as it was in the "Golden Age" of hockey and the overt bias throughtout the league against the French speaking players in general and the Montreal Canadiens specifically. In the forties and fifties it was literally Montreal against the world and Maurice was the one player with the ability and fierce tenacity to take on all the inequities thrown his way and become a legend in his own time.

I found the film to be absolutely riveting. The production values and acting is excellent and the dialogue insightful and realistic. Roy Dupuis was perfect in the role of Maurice as was Lucille LeBreton as his adoring and supportive wife Lucille. Even if you're not a hockey fan the film has much to teach about the era and more than hints to the reasons as to why there is so much internal strife between French and English speaking Canada to this day.

My highest recommendation: -5 Stars-.

Rocket scores BIG
Bought this last summer through a Canadian outlet since it wasn't released in the States. Great movie if you don't mind the subtitles. The actor almost looks like Maurice too. Little cameos by Mike Ricci, Sean Avery and Ian Laperriere. If you're even a little bit of a hockey fan I would recommend this movie.

THE BABE RUTH OF HOCKEY!!
It may be hard to imagine today but in 1937 the NHL consisted of 6 teams and was on the verge of folding. It desperately needed a hero. Working as a machinist in a factory was a young French-Canadian named Maurice Richard with dreams of playing in the NHL. When he finally earned a tryout with the Montreal Canadiens, he had already suffered one serious injury, and despite an impressive tryout, the owners did not want to take a chance. The coach took a hard line stance in favor of the young Maurice and got him on the team. He soon proved the owners right by getting injured again. It took some incredibly hard rehabilitation as well as enduring some brutal attacks by teammates who were testing him to convince the owners to give him another chance. So began the career of, arguably, the most loved and well known Montreal Canadien ever. He has been called the 'Babe Ruth of hockey'. In some ways, he was more like Jackie Robinson. French-Canadians had about the same status as African-Americans in the U.S. Although not the first F-C to play in the NHL, his success and popularity threatened the status quo. Despite scoring 50 goals in 50 games, he didn't win the scorng title because the teams conspired against him to the point of awarding assists to players not even on the ice to build up their point totals. As an aside, F-C fans even had to sit in a segregated section of the arena which was enclosed by a chain link fence. Not only is this an entertaining and inspiring hockey movie but it's a great education for someone not familiar with the history of Quebec and the fight for equality by the French Canadians. WWW.LUSREVIEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM