Crap, but good
Added 10/19/2009
so I went to see this with my brother when I was a little kid. My dad took us and he read a newspaper for the entire movie. Watching it now, I know he was the smarter man. I packaged it back up and sent it to my brother.....
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All star line up!
Added 7/9/2009
This is a great action packed film chocked full of stars...Sly Stallone, Michael Caine, Pele' and many other fabulous soccer players. Worth watching for the footwork alone, not just the creative storyline.
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Why this movie is important
Added 7/3/2009
Up until the final 40 minutes, the match, "Victory" (or "Escape to Victory" outside the US) is your slightly-above-average POW movie, even though Caine, Von Sydow, and even Sly deliver good performances.
But it's the football match that really shines. For one, staged as it might be, where else will you see Pele, Moore, and Ardiles playing together? More importantly, it still embodies what football is about and why it matters so much to the world. Football is the perfect metaphor of life, for it demands teamwork, sportsmanship, toughness, grace, and individual talent. It is the most egalitarian game of all, for the ball is round, the score is 0-0, and the strong have no significant advantage over the weak. Moreover, these things apply to all involved: players, fans, and even referees. For these reasons, football has been a massive power in history, capable of moving masses and bringing people together where other endeavors have separated them (much the same can be said about rugby, by the way). Nazi-occupied France during WWII is then the perfect venue for a football match, and Huston is able to capture exactly why this is The Beautiful Game.
If this one match had actually happened and if the Allies had won, it would have almost made up for the war. It would have been like: "We don't care about your politics, your army, your atrocities: we beat you on the football pitch and that's all that matters." This is how important this game is to the world, and especially to Europeans. In this sense, the final scene--with fans covering the players in coats and leading them to safety--is poignant with strong symbolism.
Bravo Huston!
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This is a great WWII POW film in the tradition of The Great Escape and Stalag 17. While lacking some of the wartime action and battle sequences of most WWII films, or great chase scenes of the Great Escape; there is enough wartime context to satisfy the history buff and plenty of thrilling action sequences on the soccer field.
I am not primarily a major Soccer fan, but this move can make you one. Pele is amazing to watch! Michael Caine and Silvester Stallone give solid performances and Max von Sidow is exceptional as the X-soccer star and German officer at the POW camp.
WWII, Patriotism, Heroism, and rooting for the underdog...how can you go wrong?
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Great all star cast, after watching it, I wanted to watch it again
Added 9/1/2008
World War II prisoners of war are challenged to a game of soccer against the Germans. The Third Reich against the prisoners. Of course, the Nazi bastards will cheat only because winning is more important than playing fairly and losing.
The picture quality of this DVD is kinda pasty. It does not appear to be mastered at all. Dark scenes and nighttime scenes are of a pixated grey appearance. The babe of the film is Renee'. Carole Laure a French Canadian actress whose mother was Indian. She was the girl who provides shelter for Sylvester Stallone after his escape from the prison camp.
If you liked this film, check out the Indian film called "Lagaan" where 18th century Indian farm workers were challenged to a game of cricket against the arrogant British who held a stranglehold of authority over the people of India.
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