“Summer of ’94” is a lively, sharply crafted 99‑minute documentary tracing how the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team transformed from a near‑irrelevant program into a legitimate World Cup contender. Executive produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker, the film captures the team’s unlikely evolution leading up to the 1994 World Cup — hosted in the U.S. despite soccer then ranking somewhere between badminton and “things nobody watches.”
Enter Coach Bora Milutinovic, a multilingual, enigmatic team‑builder who molded raw American talent at a makeshift training camp in Mission Viejo. With conditioning that felt like “Groundhog Day,” a locker room next to a Wienerschnitzel, and global scrimmages where entire crowds wished them to “fail miserably,” Bora pushed the players to find “comfort in being uncomfortable.” His perseverance paid off: early losses turned to breakthroughs, including a rare win over England in 1993.
The documentary builds toward the U.S.’s stunning June 22, 1994 upset over Colombia — one of the biggest World Cup shocks ever — even as the team’s opening match was overshadowed by the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase the night before.
The players, now all Hall of Famers, reflect on how their improbable underdog run helped ignite the sport’s explosion in America. The film is well-paced and polished, buoyed by strong cinematography, tight editing by Billy McMillin, and an energetic score by Ryan “Bullet” Shields (plus the welcome presence of Bob Seger’s Silver Bullet Band). And yes — learning that the red‑haired Alexi Lalas later cut 6 albums and toured with Hootie & the Blowfish is its own reward.
For soccer fans or anyone who loves a great sports resurrection story, “Summer of ’94” is an uplifting, crowd‑pleasing watch.
