Common Sense Media Review
By Jennifer Green
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Entertaining, fascinating sports doc has violence, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Red Penguins
What's the Story?
American businesspeople invest in the Russian military's failing hockey team and transform the newly rebranded RED PENGUINS into a money-making sensation. It's the 1990s, and the timing seems auspicious because Russia has just transitioned to democracy and opened up to capitalist investments. But the Americans find that they're up against a series of insurmountable challenges and dangers. At first, the marketing maverick sent to oversee the team's revival, Steven Warshaw, enjoys dazzling success, drawing huge stadium crowds with eccentric halftime shows featuring strippers, bikini contests, zoo animals, and luxury giveaways. But the corruption, criminality, and chaos of the setting, and the disloyalty of local partners, eventually undermine the team's viability as a business venture. The documentary mixes archive footage with interviews, in English and Russian, with more than a dozen key people involved in the story.
Is It Any Good?
This is a fascinating and entertaining tale that's more about Russian history than Russian hockey. If you're looking for the latter, try Red Army, the 2015 documentary by the same Russian American director, Gabe Polsky. Red Penguins' narrative arc neatly parallels both Boris Yeltsin's presidency and the emotional experience of the Americans involved in the Russian hockey team -- from the excitement of reinventing a beloved national franchise at the dawn of Russia's '90s-era democracy, to the thrill of puzzling out a new culture with wildly successful marketing campaigns, to the eventual realization that rampant corruption and criminal activity would cut the entire venture short.
The story isn't told exclusively from the Americans' perspective, and the Russians interviewed -- including journalists, a reputed mafioso, former KGB agents and military officers, and people involved with the hockey team -- offer mixed recollections of the same experiences. Polsky does an impressive job exploring his sources' personalities, and perhaps even probing their authenticity, leaving the camera on them as they react to their own stories, often with evident emotion concerning the relationships, people, hopes, and dreams left behind.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Russia's transition to democracy as it's depicted in Red Penguins. What do you know about this historical period? How could you learn more?
The interviewees tell different stories about the past. Who did you trust more, and why? Do you think a documentary maker has a responsibility to tell all sides to a story? How can he or she try to substantiate what sources say on camera?
Steven Warshaw was wildly successful at marketing the Red Penguins initially. What did you think of his unconventional methods?
At the end of the documentary, one source says "Americans destroyed the Soviet Union." What do you make of this critique? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : August 4, 2020
- Cast : Howard Baldwin , Viktor Tikhonov , Steven Warshaw
- Director : Gabe Polsky
- Studio : Gabriel Polsky Productions
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : History
- Run time : 80 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence/bloody images, sexual material/nudity, some strong language and a drug reference
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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