When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.
A series of montage and anecdotal vignettes follows as they recruit a whole new team, learn lessons from the catastrophe, lose and then win, with plenty of sentimentality sprinkled over the whole thing.
– Ted Fry,
Seattle Times,
22 Dec 2006
rotten:
What's missing is any kind of insight into the lives of the dead players or the members of the Young Thundering Herd who rise up to replace them.
– Peter Howell,
Toronto Star,
22 Dec 2006
rotten:
This was undeniably a horrific event for the victims' families friends, colleagues as well as for the entire community. But the movie seems to almost exploit this tragedy so it can make audiences weep, and ultimately, cheer.
– Claudia Puig,
USA Today,
22 Dec 2006
rotten:
We Are Marshall isn't about grief or loss, but how these things can be overcome. It's uplifting, but shallow.
– Scott Tobias,
AV Club,
22 Dec 2006
fresh:
Unlike a lot of sports movies, it doesn't end with a championship or a great upset over a powerhouse. The real victory on the Marshall campus was in fielding a team that honored and respected the legacy of the 1970 team.