Soldiers first, hockey players second – Gabe Polsky's entertaining Red Army chronicles the rise, fall and struggle for personal freedom within one of the most awesome sporting dynasties ever seen: The USSR national ice hockey team.

As the Cold War raged, the Soviet ice hockey team marched from cloistered obscurity behind the Iron Curtain to dominate the sport, putting powerhouse nations such as Canada and the United States to the sword. But when Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika reforms thawed out Moscow, the struggle for players to join the National Hockey League became the team's greatest battle.

Executive produced by Werner Herzog, Red Army features archival footage and gripping interviews with the stars of the team – Slava Fetisov, Vladislav Tretiak, Alex Kasatanov and Vladimir Krutov – to create a film that's more than just a sport's story: it's first and foremost "a human story that transcends decades, borders and ideologies" (Time).

"A fascinating and touching tale" The Guardian

"Entertaining, even for non hockey fans" New York Times

"A potent study of an unusually incestuous link between sports and politics" Variety