Red Penguins

PG-13

2019

1h 20m

Documentary

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96%

46 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

The Pittsburgh Penguins form a partnership with the Russian national hockey team after the fall of the Soviet Union.

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Critics Consensus

Sports and politics collide in Red Penguins, a fascinating documentary exploring the stranger-than-fiction story of professional hockey in post-Soviet Russia.

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Michael W

This hockey documentary was very good. The entire crew did a spectacular job on documenting this story. It gives the viewers an insight into what went down during this time, how popular it became, and how dangerous it got later on. If you haven't seen this documentary yet, check it out sometime. You'll enjoy it even if you're not a hockey fan.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/07/23

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dave d

A story I knew very little about, 'Red Penguins' covers a lot of ground in a fast-paced way which in the process illustrates the complicated relationship between USSR/Russia and the United States. It's a Gabe Polsky film and that means it's going to be great. Polsky played college hockey in the US, grew up in Chicago, but is Russian. His film, 'Red Army' is worth seeking out and so is this! Did you know there were American who owned a NHL team who got mixed up in Russian hockey? The result is this fantastic feature doc. Final Score: 8.7/10

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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rory s

Very interesting story. Fascinating piece of history about sports in Russia.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

nathan z

The sports documentary Red Penguins starts off as a fun, so-crazy-you-can't-believe-it tale of larger-than-life characters mucking it up in post-Soviet Russia and having a ball without oversight. It begins slight and light, though entertaining, briskly jumping from bizarre anecdote after anecdote of the Russian hockey club that was controlled by the Pittsburgh Penguins ownership group (and co-owner Michael J. Fox). Steven Warshaw was a young, extroverted go-getter and tasked with overseeing the American-Russian operation and he was a natural salesman and born showman, using events like free beer and strippers on the ice to build a popular following with the Moscow fandom. At one point, Michael Eisner and Disney were highly interested in getting involved with all of the possibilities of the larger Disney empire. The first half of the movie is zipping from crazy stories about how wild the Penguins could get, at one point having circus bears perform on the ice. However, the movie transforms into something darker, more meaningful, and very ominous that explores how the Russia of today became what it is in the wake of chaos following the Soviet dissolution. In the early 1990s, millions were adjusting to abrupt free-market capitalism with no thoughtful transition from 80 yeas of life under communism. The police forces were ineffective when present, the food lines grew longer over scraps, and many were grappling with what to do next. The country wasn't ready and in the ensuing chaos the system of authority shifted from the state to the mob. The Russian mafia became the banks for millions, including those within the government, and their influence seeped into politics and established an echelon of entrenched oligarchs. The good times of the Penguins got much more serious when their success drew the attention of criminal elements wanting in on the profits. Multiple people attached to the team and assembled media were murdered, and the Americans realized it was time to cut ties and get out. The film by writer/director Gabe Polsky serves as an almost sequel to his 2014 Red Army documenting the decades of dominance from Soviet hockey players. His interview subjects can provide colorful details with the anecdotes, but when the film makes its tonal evolution, those same red-faced, churlish Russians take on a more distressing stance. They justify the rampant graft, corruption, and violence in a flippant "that's the cost of doing business" sort of fatalistic moralizing. It's an intriguing process to see the dark contours of interview subjects who beforehand had been portrayed an amiable oddballs. Red Penguins is a cut above the average ESPN 30 For 30 sports documentary when it reaches beyond the crazy headlines to address the costs of runaway good times and how one rowdy hockey team could serve as a symbol for an entire country's descent. Nate's Grade: B

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

KOYAANISATSI on Ice!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Gabe Polsky

Director

Howard Baldwin

Actor

Viktor Tikhonov

Actor

Steven Warshaw

Actor

Gabe Polsky

Writer

Gabe Polsky

Producer

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Man in Red Bandana

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Suzi Feay

Financial Times

Beyond a montage of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Bush Sr and Clinton, dates and details are fairly scant in this riotous Storyville documentary, in which horror and humour share top billing.

Rated: 5/5

Dec 11, 2020

Full Review

Peter Keough

Boston Globe

Rollicking, absurd, outrageous, and ominous.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 12, 2020

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Nick Schager

The Daily Beast

The incompatibility of Russian and American cultures-at least during this precarious period-is the backdrop for Red Penguins' raucous portrait of DIY capitalism...

Aug 11, 2020

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Nicole Ackman

Next Best Picture

While the story is about hockey on the surface, it's sure to be equally interesting to non-sports fans.

Rated: 6/10

Feb 1, 2021

Full Review

Alison Rowat

The Herald (Scotland)

Gabe Polsky's film took an age to get going, which made it run far longer than the story merited. As for that story, there was too much of everything, from strippers on the ice at half-time to bears serving drinks.

Dec 18, 2020

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Camilla Long

Sunday Times (UK)

In some ways I found the grainy footage of Russian violence... more comforting than the intense self-importance and latent smiling aggression of the Americans.

Dec 14, 2020

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Synopsis

The Pittsburgh Penguins form a partnership with the Russian national hockey team after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Director: Gabe Polsky
Producer: Eric Friedler, Scott Jay Kaplan, Thore Vollert
Screenwriter: Gabe Polsky
Production Co: Gabriel Polsky Productions, Studio Hamburg Enterprises (SHE), Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) [de]
Rating: PG-13 (Violence/Bloody Images|A Drug Reference|Some Strong Language|Sexual Material/Nudity)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 4, 2020
Runtime: 1h 20m

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