D3: THE MIGHTY DUCKS

"D3: THE MIGHTY DUCKS"
(1996) (Emelio Estevez, Joshua Jackson) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	None	Moderate	Minor	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Mild	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
None	None	Minor	Mild	Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: A team of teenage hockey players, "The Ducks," enters high school and must deal with the varsity players and the private school's administration, neither of which is happy to have them there.

PLOT:: In this second sequel to the original "Mighty Ducks," the close knit group of kid hockey players have grown up even more. They've been awarded athletic scholarships to Eaton Hall Academy, a prestigious private high school. Their original coach, Gordon Bombay (EMELIO ESTEVEZ), has left for another job, so Coach Orion (JEFFREY NORDLING) becomes their new coach. He doesn't accept their "childish" way of playing and practicing and thus seems like a hard nosed tyrant to the players. The team captain, Charlie (JOSHUA JACKSON), doesn't like this new approach to coaching and begins to develop a bad attitude. But he's got bigger fish to fry in the form of the varsity hockey players who've taken it upon themselves to make life hard for the visiting "ducks." Things get worse when the Academy administration begins to think about revoking their scholarships. Charlie drops out of the team, but after motivational talks with his mentor Hans (JESS ACKLAND) and with Bombay, things begin to look up as the ducks ready themselves for their big game against the varsity players.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they've seen either of the previous Mighty Ducks movies, they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For some hockey rough-housing and mild language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: JOSHUA JACKSON plays Charlie, the team captain. He gets a bad attitude when the coach challenges his game play, and then quits the team and skips school. After some pep talks he comes around, rejoins the team, and gets a better attitude.
EMILIO ESTEVEZ plays the team's former coach who shows up to motivate the players and to help them out when their scholarships are in danger of being revoked.
JEFFREY NORDLING plays the hard nosed coach who attempts to break the ducks of their previous habits to help them grow as players and people.; EMILIO ESTEVEZ plays the team's former coach who shows up to motivate the players and to help them out when their scholarships are in danger of being revoked.
JEFFREY NORDLING plays the hard nosed coach who attempts to break the ducks of their previous habits to help them grow as players and people.; JEFFREY NORDLING plays the hard nosed coach who attempts to break the ducks of their previous habits to help them grow as players and people.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 4 out of 10: This film is nothing but pure formula, and is very predictable down to the end (Guess who wins the final game at the last moment). The lead duck player, Charlie, isn't very likeable and thus doesn't create much sympathy for his "plight," unless you're a big fan of these movies. Estevez shows up for some motivational cameo spots and the rest of the cast is okay, but most of the kids end up as one big blur of a character. The kids in the audience at our screening got mighty restless many times during this movie as the drama scenes, and the fact that the ducks are now older kids, didn't hold their interest for long. Still, taken for what it's worth, some people (who don't mind the formula) will find this one entertaining. We give it a 4 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: There isn't a great deal to object to in this movie. There are some words and phrases (such as "bite me") that probably kept this from being a G rated film. Mild hockey related violence occurs, but there's no sex, drinking or smoking. Bad attitudes are mostly limited to the stereotypical varsity players and to Charlie's period of being a bad sport. In addition, since the ducks have grown up, the antics aren't as crazy (or juvenile) as in the previous films, and thus younger kids will get restless in many of the drama oriented scenes (they did in our screening). As always, make sure you read through the category listings to check for things that may offend you.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Gordon tells Charlie about how his life went bad in the past and that he started drinking and his life went further downhill after that (until he was arrested and his community service was to coach the ducks).

BLOOD/ GORE: Hans is sharpening a skate's blade and then grimaces in pain showing Charlie his bloody finger. Charlie knows what's up: Hans faked the injury and used ketchup for blood.
The female goalie throws up over the side of the rink after eating too much food.
Charlie and another duck throw up into a trash can at a shopping mall (also after eating too much food and riding too many rides).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: The varsity hockey players aren't nice to the ducks and do the following: One of them puts gum into a duck's hand instead of shaking it. Others repeatedly take one kid's lunch. They take the ducks' clothes and put them in the shower. The ducks respond by spraying liquid nitrogen onto the varsity players' clothes that freezes them (when the clothes fall to the ground, they shatter). The varsity players say they're treating the ducks to a fine dinner, but then walk out and leave the ducks with an $857 bill. The ducks respond by placing fire ants into the beds of the varsity players (ouch!).
A cheerleader makes another girl move from her cafeteria seat because she's in the "cheerleaders' section."
Charlie gets a bad attitude toward the coach and the game. He quits for a while and plays hooky from school with another player. After motivational talks with Hans and Gordon, Charlie changes his attitude and rejoins the team.
The dean and the alumni board move to revoke the ducks' scholarships, but the threat of a lawsuit from Gordon makes them change their minds.
The coach of the varsity players orders them to rough up the ducks while playing in the last game.

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: There's a comically tense scene where the goalie loses control while skating down the road and goes down some stairs and then into traffic with Charlie chasing after him.
There's a heads on shot of fire ants scampering down a plastic tub toward the camera that may be scary to younger kids (with some suspenseful music).

GUNS/WEAPONS: None.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: One kid substitutes the phrase "Shrinking sphincter" for "Shrinking specter."
Phrases: "Stupid," "Shut up," "Goon," "Idiot," "Turds," "Don't try to suck up to me," "Bite me," "Sucks ice," "White trash," "Geez," and "Jerk."
Goldberg, the goalie, is out of control while inline skating and ends up in traffic with Charlie chasing after him. Since this scene is played for laughs, some kids might think it would be fun to skate through traffic.
One of the ducks crawls under a cafeteria table (to avoid a cheerleader's boyfriend) and while he's under there, takes a good look at the girl's legs. Nothing's seen, but he gives the camera a nod of approval.
The varsity players chase the ducks after they've placed horse manure in a lunch bag, knowing that the varsity players would steal it and put their hands in there.
Charlie slams his hockey stick against the goal and breaks it. Consequently, he's put into the penalty box for unsportsman-like conduct.
The varsity players put the ducks' clothes in the shower. The ducks respond by spraying liquid nitrogen onto the varsity players' clothes, freezing them. (Your kids probably won't have access to liquid nitrogen, but if they do -- say at school -- they should be warned of the dangers).
The same goes for fire ants. The ducks take them from an ant farm and place them into the varsity players' beds where they are then bitten.
Charlie and another duck play hooky and skip school.
A duck strips from his uniform and padding (but leaves his pants on) and then does some prancing and muscle posing to rile up the crowd after he's been sent to the penalty box.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There's some comically tense music in a few scenes, and more dramatically tense music during the hockey games.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 6 hells, 4 damns and 1 crap used as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: None.

SMOKING: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: As Charlie's mother tells him not to act so juvenile and to grow up, he walks out on her saying, "Give me a break."
Charlie's mom tells him that Hans, his mentor, died and later the funeral is seen.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: A female student wants to change the school nickname, the "Warriors," to something more politically correct.
Growing up and accepting the changes that life brings about.
Not being afraid to lose in a game or life (that's what the coach teaches them).

VIOLENCE: One of the ducks is shooting pucks out of an alley and there's the sound of someone getting hit or nearly hit and that of a cat screeching from the same.
The varsity players body check a boy into the lockers and push another kid in the face.
The varsity players chase the ducks after they've placed horse manure in a lunch bag, knowing that the varsity players would steal it and put their hands in there.
There's the typical hockey violence with players getting knocked down or into the walls, and in the last game the varsity players really step it up against the ducks, but no player is seriously hurt.
Charlie slams his hockey stick against the goal and breaks it. Consequently, he's put into the penalty box for unsportsman-like conduct.
The ducks fight among themselves after their first game ends in a tie. Coach Orion breaks them up and then throws a puck past them and into a bulletin board.
A varsity player punches his frozen jersey (from liquid nitrogen) and it shatters.
The "cowboy" duck lassoes and hog ties one of the varsity players.
The varsity and duck players all get into a fight on the rink while playing a game.
In the final game, one of the ducks bends down as he sees a varsity player trying to knock him over. The duck flips him up and the varsity player crashes through the safety glass and lands on other teammates. He rises for a moment, and then seems to fall unconscious.

Reviewed September 28, 1996

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