Ice Guardians
- 2016
- 1h 48m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
On-ice enforcers struggle to rise through the professional ranks of the world's most prestigious hockey league, only to be confronted with a new found fight for the existence of the role its... Read allOn-ice enforcers struggle to rise through the professional ranks of the world's most prestigious hockey league, only to be confronted with a new found fight for the existence of the role itself.On-ice enforcers struggle to rise through the professional ranks of the world's most prestigious hockey league, only to be confronted with a new found fight for the existence of the role itself.
- Awards
- 6 nominations total
Meagan Cowher-Westgarth
- Self
- (as Meagan Westgarth)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
I thought the preview was better than the actual film. The documentary lacks any narration and ends up being an endless stream of clips from interviews with tough guys (oh and Jay Baruchel has a lot to say though I have no idea what makes him an authority on the subject). The story drags on far too long (this could/should be a one hour film!) and the constant footage of fights gets a bit tiresome, if not gruesome, over time. I played hockey my whole life and still struggle with the role of fighting in the game. I was looking for some stimulative thought in this contentious issue but didn't get any from this film. It is very biased, effectively glorifying the enforcers of the game (albeit in a rather covert way). I didnt watch a film on fighters without expecting to see some good fights, but at the end of the day this film lacked any balance or thought provoking ideas about the issue. Just more of a celebration of violence and a subtle resentment of how the game has changed over time.
Really a solid look into fighting in hockey, the role of the enforcer and concussion related injuries in hockey in particular but in sport in general also. Some of these guys just deserved the acknowledgment for what they brought to the game for the last 30 or 40 years. Great interviews with some great former hockey players and insight into how they saw the game, the direction it is headed and what are the things that need addressing going forward.
This seemed to be propelled along with the adrenaline of the fights featured in the documentary. It gave a really great overview of the enforcer role and the place of hockey fights in the sport; right from their origins to their present day decline.
I'm someone who only recently developed a love for the sport during my time living in Canada. One of the first things I found appealing and unique to hockey were the fights. How the entire game would stop as the fighters took center stage was something I found incredibly fascinating and entertaining!
'Ice Guardians' definitely gave me the hockey-fight-fix I'd been craving lately. As a documentary, I preferred "The Last Gladiators" though, which also features the role of hockey enforcer, perhaps from a more classic era. This one seemed to have a big focus on "modern day" enforcers/fighters, with not every 'segment' being as appealing as the other. The different segments seemed a little disjointed at times, interrupting the flow the film. It was also a bit overlong.
Parts of the documentary I found the most interesting were the unspoken "etiquette" of the fights ("Hey, if I don't fight you, I might get dropped for the next game." "Sure, okay, I'll help you out.") and the players' emotions when seriously hurting opponents. The concussion element was also intriguing, with 95% of hockey concussions coming from play and not fights themselves. It's that statistic that will stay with me and hopefully prove that hockey fights are here to stay!
I'm someone who only recently developed a love for the sport during my time living in Canada. One of the first things I found appealing and unique to hockey were the fights. How the entire game would stop as the fighters took center stage was something I found incredibly fascinating and entertaining!
'Ice Guardians' definitely gave me the hockey-fight-fix I'd been craving lately. As a documentary, I preferred "The Last Gladiators" though, which also features the role of hockey enforcer, perhaps from a more classic era. This one seemed to have a big focus on "modern day" enforcers/fighters, with not every 'segment' being as appealing as the other. The different segments seemed a little disjointed at times, interrupting the flow the film. It was also a bit overlong.
Parts of the documentary I found the most interesting were the unspoken "etiquette" of the fights ("Hey, if I don't fight you, I might get dropped for the next game." "Sure, okay, I'll help you out.") and the players' emotions when seriously hurting opponents. The concussion element was also intriguing, with 95% of hockey concussions coming from play and not fights themselves. It's that statistic that will stay with me and hopefully prove that hockey fights are here to stay!
A documentary telling the fascinating story of the ice hockey enforcers who protected their teammates and handed out well deserved justice to anyone who dared inflict harm on their team.
This really interesting documentary is fantastically put together by exploring all sides of the arguments to whether enforcers are needed and wanted. A great group of ex pro's and enforcers tell their story along with famous fans.
It's must watch for any sports fans and I fell on the side that Ice Hockey was much better with these wonderfully protective enforcers in it.
Tries to be fair and balanced for the most part, although those that don't like fighting or enforcers are portrayed as out of touch and elitist, this is more about showing all facets of the characters that play and talking about their role. Solid movie if you're a hockey can, not sure if it would make one out of a non-fan though.
Did you know
- TriviaFrom conception to delivery this film took eight years to compete.
- Quotes
Howard Bloom: There's a big difference between hockey and most other games because you're moving at a far higher speed.
- ConnectionsFeatures Slap Shot (1977)
- SoundtracksThe Enforcer
Written by Brandon Bliss, Jeremy Widerman, Jon Harvey (as Jonathan Harvey), Steve Kiely (as Steven Kiely)
Performed by Monster Truck
- How long is Ice Guardians?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
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