ComedyDrama

Slap Shot

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

To build up attendance at their games, the management of a struggling minor-league hockey team signs up the Hanson Brothers, three hard-charging players whose job is to demolish the opposition.

Release Date : 1977-02-25

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Universal Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : Slapshot

Cast

Character Name : Reggie 'Reg' Dunlop

Original Name : Paul Newman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joe McGrath

Original Name : Strother Martin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ned Braden

Original Name : Michael Ontkean

Gender : Male

Character Name : Francine Dunlop

Original Name : Jennifer Warren

Gender : Female

Character Name : Lily Braden

Original Name : Lindsay Crouse

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dave 'Killer' Carlson

Original Name : Jerry Houser

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jim Carr

Original Name : Andrew Duncan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jeff Hanson

Original Name : Jeff Carlson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Steve Hanson

Original Name : Steve Carlson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jack Hanson

Original Name : David Hanson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Denis Lemieux

Original Name : Yvon Barrette

Gender : Male

Character Name : Johnny Upton

Original Name : Allan F. Nicholls

Gender : Male

Character Name : Morris 'Mo' Wanchuk

Original Name : Brad Sullivan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jim Ahern

Original Name : Stephen Mendillo

Gender : Male

Character Name : Jean-Guy Drouin

Original Name : Yvan Ponton

Gender : Male

Character Name : Charlie Kischel

Original Name : Matthew Cowles

Gender : Male

Character Name : Anita McCambridge

Original Name : Kathryn Walker

Gender : Female

Character Name : Suzanne Hanrahan

Original Name : Melinda Dillon

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dickie Dunn

Original Name : M. Emmet Walsh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Shirley Upton

Original Name : Swoosie Kurtz

Gender : Female

Character Name : Tim McCracken

Original Name : Paul D'Amato

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lebrun

Original Name : Ronald L. Docken

Gender : Male

Character Name : Billy Charlebois

Original Name : Guido Tenesi

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bergeron

Original Name : Jean Rosario Tetreault

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hanrahan

Original Name : Christopher Murney

Gender : Male

Character Name : Final Game Referee

Original Name : Myron Odegaard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ogilthorpe

Original Name : Ned Dowd

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pam

Original Name : Gracie Head

Gender : Female

Character Name : Peterboro Referee

Original Name : Larry Block

Gender : Male

Character Name : Hyannisport Announcer

Original Name : Paul Dooley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Pharmacist (uncredited)

Original Name : Susan Kendall Newman

Gender : Female

Character Name : Andrea

Original Name : Nancy N. Dowd

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

Funny, cynical and irreverent. Paul Newman is the coach of third rate failing minor league hockey team, The Charlestown Chiefs. The town is hit hard by unemployment and this appears to be the Chiefs' last season, however, if the coach can whip up the team up into a winning frenzy, then the unknown owner might just find a buyer and save all their carers? The management bring in three odd looking brothers who, once unleashed, take the whole team on a blood thirsty winning streak right to the championship final. The crowds flock in thirsting for more blood, but then the problems start to arise. Slap Shot is a tremendously funny film, it's also incredibly violent and often vulgar in dialogue, but be sure to know that both things go hand in hand here (or should it be glove in glove?) to create one of the smartest sports pictures in the modern age. The hockey sequences are excellent (especially to a non fan like me), and the script bristles with course and biting humour. Slap Shot on its initial release was frowned upon by many critics, it was considered too profane and overly harsh with the win at all costs theme driving it forward. However, it's now rightly embraced as the smart and intelligent piece that director George Roy Hill wanted it to be seen as. A new generation of movie fans have started to seek it out and its reputation and fan base grows ever more larger by the year. Newman was a bona fide star, his hair silver grey but his good looks still firmly intact, his performance has a grace about it that oddly sits nicely amongst this cynical stab at professional hockey; even if his characters' clothes are, in truth, icky. It would be a big disservice if I didn't mention the impact of the Hanson Brothers, surely one of the finest combinations to have ever graced a sports movie? They are at once unassumingly likable, the next gleefully violent, they are the glue that binds the whole picture together. Film is filled out with sparkling support work from the likes of Strother Martin, Michael Ontkean, Jennifer Warren, Lindsay Crouse and Jerry Houser. Not long after originally writing this review, the legend that was Paul Newman sadly passed away, he left behind a movie legacy that few can touch, and trust me, this is one of them. A sports movie that never gets old and continues to pay off on repeat viewings. 8.5/10