By focusing less on his characters and more on a supposed dark side of Russian hockey, Polsky's film is less documentary than it is didacticism.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 1, 2017

There's a lesson here for fans of any contemporary sport and an absolutely thrilling tale, impeccably assembled besides. Sporting glory awaits, even for those viewers who couldn't tell a jockstrap from a jellybean.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 25, 2016

Polsky's documentary is nominally about ice hockey, but culture and politics provide the driving force as the Russians go head to head with the Americans in a battle of ideology, economics and art.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 11, 2015

The interviews are as entertaining as the slick interplay on the ice.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 8, 2015

Who knew that a documentary on the Soviet Union's Red Army ice hockey team would be so gripping and provide a perfect microcosm of the stages of the Cold War, Perestroika and Putin's reign?

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 8, 2015

A fascinating and touching tale.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 8, 2015

A moving and endlessly interesting portrait of the Soviet team and its many travails.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 20, 2015

Fascinating, funny, heroic, moving and may even make hockey fans out of nonbelievers.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 19, 2015

It's a mark of Polsky's ambition and canniness that he braids hockey not just with geopolitics but also with personal history and human drama.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 12, 2015

Polsky keeps things lively, both visually and with his editing. But the sometimes-lighthearted approach never undermines the serious business at hand.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 5, 2015

On the surface it's the story of one particular hockey player, but it reflects so much more.

| Original Score: B | Feb 27, 2015

It's a story of global consequences and historic proportions, and of astounding athleticism and synchronicity - and filmmaker Polsky ices it.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 27, 2015

Wittily edited and beautifully scored, "Red Army" is not just a terrific film but an important one - even if you don't give two hoots about ice hockey.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 26, 2015

Sports, and hockey in particular, were a propaganda tool for the communist system, which is richly illustrated here in archival footage and poster art.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 19, 2015

This engaging documentary provocatively suggests that the team succeeded in large part because of communist indoctrination.

| Feb 5, 2015

An easy-to-digest history lesson that still reverberates on today's geopolitical landscape. As they say in hockey, Polsky pulls off a hat trick.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 5, 2015

Polsky winds up being as canny a storyteller as his subject - whom he gratifyingly and hilariously prevents from having the last word.

| Feb 5, 2015

Audiences knowing nothing about hockey will still be able to appreciate this movie as a somewhat jaunty take on the cold war and its aftermath - and resurgence.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 30, 2015

Red Army is Gabe Polsky's compelling but skewed documentary on the Soviets' less-than-sporting mentality when it came to the international skating and puck-shooting game.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 30, 2015

No need to be a sports fan to become enthralled with "Red Army." The documentary held me in its grip from start to finish.

| Jan 23, 2015