Product Details

• Actors: Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack, Colm Meaney
• Directors: Jay Roach
• Writers: David E. Kelley, Sean O'Byrne
• Producers: Dan Kolsrud, David E. Kelley, Howard Baldwin, Jack Gilardi Jr., Karen Elise Baldwin
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: October 17, 2000
• Run Time: 119 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630581001X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,911 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When it comes to the subject of community, David E. Kelley--the prolific writer-producer behind television's The Practice and Ally McBeal--falls somewhere on a continuum between directors Howard Hawks and Robert Benton. While Hawks's professional characters are bound by a knowledge of how to do what they do even if they don't know why, Benton's people, professional or not, have long ago substituted their own eccentric reasons for that elusive why. Thus we get the kind of in-house, oddball rituals sandwiched between passages of actual work on Ally, and the affectionately entangled personal and professional ties between small-town folks in Kelley's earlier TV series Picket Fences.

Kelley's script for Mystery, Alaska (co-authored by Sean O'Byrne) takes that level of eccentricity to a geographical and spiritual extreme. The film revives the hackneyed Rocky formula, setting a lopsided hockey match within a remote, self-contained hamlet where the members of a tiny population all have to wear multiple hats and still keep neighborly ties intact. The story concerns the town's chief source of identity and pride: so-called "Saturday games," in which local men divide into teams and play pond hockey for the locals. When a prodigal son (Hank Azaria) of Mystery shows up with a television network offer to bring the New York Rangers in for a televised match against the homegrown team, the town fathers agree. Coaching falls to the town sheriff, John Biebe (Russell Crowe), an admirable man and a longtime player recently bumped from the team. John, however, doesn't want the job: everyone knows the real coach in those parts is Judge Burns (Burt Reynolds), but he wants no part of it either. All of that changes after a sad tragedy forces everyone to reevaluate their positions and pull together in order to beat the Rangers.

Following the success of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Jay Roach proves to be an able director of drama, swift action, and low-key, character-driven comedy not unlike that in Benton's Nobody's Fool. He has to deal with some pure corn at the end, but Roach pulls it off and guides the actors to and through far better moments. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker

Director Jay Roach's follow-up to his latest "Austin Powers" installment begins with a fine, and promising, purity: a skater, alone in the Alaskan wilderness (it's actually Alberta, Canada), moves powerfully along a twisting frozen river. We track him from all angles: shot from high above, followed closer from behind, seen coming at the camera in slow motion. We get closeups of fancy footwork, hear the slash of metal on ice. It's a young man training to play in the Saturday game, which is the best thing that can happen to a hockey player in the tiny town of Mystery. The early scenes succeed as a tantalizing evocation of the love of sport for sport's sake. Russell Crowe is warm and impressive as the town sheriff and team captain, and Burt Reynolds, coiffed like a silver fox, is amusing as the town judge and team coach. Unfortunately, once the plot gets rolling-the New York Rangers are coming to town for a game of pond hockey against the locals-the feel-good sports-movie clichés start clicking into place, and by the end there's no mystery at all. -Ken Marks
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery, Alaska is the place to be!, September 23, 2000

By 

Caroline P. Hampton (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mystery Alaska [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This charming film didn't get the positive praise it deserved. It was absolutely wonderful. The small Alaskan town of "Mystery" has a quirky "Northern Exposure" feel to it, and a wonderful ensemble cast add a lot of fun and games.

The "Saturday" hockey game leads off this fairy-tale story of David vs. Goliath, as their hometown boys go against the NHL'S New York Rangers. Former "townie" Hank Azaria starts this whole thing by writing a spotlight on the "Saturday Game" for Sports Illustrated and well.. Mystery is never the same after that. Russell Crowe turns in a great performance as "slightly older" town Sherif John Biebe, who is the heart and soul of the much younger hockey team. There are many wonderful smaller performances by faces you'll certainly know and love. It's a wonderfully sweet, charming and funny (with classic one liners from MANY of the young players) movie that only HAPPENS to be about hockey. There is so much more to it. You don't have to know a thing about hockey to appreciate this fun and lighthearted movie. It's right up there with my all-time favs. Definatley worth a look!

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely fun movie, August 31, 2000

By 

Hollis Boyd (Bethesda, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mystery, Alaska (DVD)

I rented this DVD having never even heard of the movie.But after having watched it, Mystery, Alaska has become one of my favorite movies. This enjoyable tale about a town full of eccentric, hockey-obsessed people, moves along at a nice, steady pace. Unlike many movies these days, Mystery, Alaska doesn't rush through important plot points. When a former neighbor returns home bringing the New York Rangers to play against Mystery's legendary hockey team, the town sheriff, recently bumped from the team for a younger player who's got "jump", agrees to coach. The members of the team are fleshed out well by an ensemble cast of virtual unknowns, with the exception of Russell Crowe. The ending is exciting, and surprisingly unpredictable. For me, the actor that stole the show was Ryan Northcott, a barely credited character, who plays the pivotal role of the high school skating whiz who takes Russell Crowe's place on the team. He has a couple of the most amusing, and embarassing, scenes in the movie, and handles them with humor and grace. Overall, Mystery, Alaska was a funny, enjoyable movie that I recommend to everyone. You don't have to be a hockey fan to love Mystery, Alaska.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pride Of Mystery....., January 15, 2003

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mystery, Alaska (DVD)

This review refers to the Hollywood Pictures DVD edition of "Mystery,Alaska"....

The small close-knit town of Mystery, Alaska(pop.633), is obssesed with the game of Hockey. Everyone in the town is invovled. There's even a committee of the important men of the town whose sole job it is to decide who will be on the team in the all important Saturday games.There in their own little niche of the world, they go about their business, live their quirky little lives and all revolving around their hockey team.All that is about to change though...

An ex-Mysterian who has moved to New York and is now a sports promoter has lined up the game of a lifetime for this little town. They will play the New York Rangers in an exhibition game right there in Mystery.Will it turn into more than an exhibition game for these everyday people? The team is good but how good are they? Can they even score against the Rangers? What will it do to their pride if the Rangers annihlate them? You'll be smiling all the way through with these outlandish characters in this funny yet poignant story, as you find out.

The film has a tremendous cast. It stars Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria and Burt Reynolds.(Also look for a great cameo in the commentators booth!) It also includes Lolita Davidovich,Maury Chaykin, Mary McCormack and Colm Meany.A wonderful screenplay by David E. Kelley and Sean O'Byrne, beautiful photography by Peter Deming and expertly directed by Jay Roach all add to the enjoyment of this film.

It is presented on the DVD in the theatrical widescreen aspect of 2.35.1 and is beautifully transfered.I noticed on the technical information on the product page of this DVD, it has Dolby 2.0 for the sound, but you'll be happy to find out that it is actually in the 5.1, so those with a home theatre system will get the full effect of every slap shot! There's a short featurette on the filming, and it has closed captions for hearing impaired viewers. These are real nice, I checked them out and they are nice and clear and below the film(in the black bar portion under the widescreen).

The people of Mystery will melt your heart as the heat up the ice......have fun...Laurie

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Northern Exposure Seasons 1 - 4 DVD Bundle
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