As allied POWs prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.
Conservative street cop DaSilva reluctantly agrees to terminate an international terrorist who has demanded media attention. But DaSilva's "at-home" tactics are very much put to the challenge.
Directors:
Bruce Malmuth,
Gary Nelson
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Rutger Hauer,
Billy Dee Williams
Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and ... See full summary »
Director:
Norman Jewison
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Rod Steiger,
Peter Boyle
Three Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York, try to help each other with one's wrestling career using one brother's promotional skills and another brother's con-artist tactics to thwart a sleazy manager.
Director:
Sylvester Stallone
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Lee Canalito,
Armand Assante
Former Green Beret John Rambo is pursued into the mountains surrounding a small town by a tyrannical sheriff and his deputies, forcing him to survive using his combat skills.
Director:
Ted Kotcheff
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Brian Dennehy,
Richard Crenna
In New York in the late 60s, a politically motivated group of students plans bombings of company offices who do business with dictators in Middle American countries. But when they contact a... See full summary »
Director:
Robert Allen Schnitzer
Stars:
Sylvester Stallone,
Tony Page,
Rebecca Grimes
In World War II, a group of Nazi officers come up with a propaganda event in which an all star Nazi team will play a team composed of Allied Prisoners of War in a Soccer (Football) game. The Prisoners agree, planning on using the game as a means of escape from the camp. Written by
John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
Many of the actors seen in this movie had to learn how to play soccer whilst many of the soccer players seen in this movie had to learn how to act. See more »
Goofs
When the German player (Baumann) takes the penalty kick, his hair is dry in a scene a few seconds prior to the kick, then it's wet with sweat when he places the ball and then it's dry again after he scores. See more »
Quotes
[just before the football match]
Hatch:
Where do I stand for a corner kick?
Capt. John Colby - The Players: England:
At the far post, facing the ball.
Hatch:
Thanks. For a while there I thought you were keeping it a secret.
See more »
The script of this unusual war/escape movie was nothing special, and neither was the acting. Not surprising about the latter since half the performers weren't actually experienced actors. However I loved every minute of it, and thought it was great fun and terrific entertainment. Of course there are those who won't quite see it that way and will dismiss it out of hand. And they'd be perfectly sane to do so. Everything about "Victory" (aka "Escape to Victory" in the UK) says it's one to leave well alone.
Even if you disregard the lack of aesthetic qualities, and tut-tut over the reality of it all, it's worth watching if only to see again a few of the great past-masters of what the Brits like to call "the beautiful game" (i.e. soccer). And Sylvester Stallone as a goalkeeper is something to behold.
As far as escape stories go this is about as original as they get, but even here it's possible to see plundering from other story lines, i.e "The Great Escape", "The Password is Courage", "Albert RN", to name but three, and as at least one reviewer has pointed out, the music is extremely reminiscent of the first one.
One of my favourites snippets is that of the Nazi sports commentator, portrayed by Anton Diffring, that stalwart of war movies, broadcasting his gramophone record of enthusiastic crowd applause, when in "reality" the whole stadium was as quiet as the grave.
I think this is one of those rare occasions, if taken in the right vein, when a bad movie can be a crowd pleaser. Forget the war pundits, the realists and the purists. Just enjoy the movie for what it is. Tremendous fun!
29 of 33 people found this review helpful.
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The script of this unusual war/escape movie was nothing special, and neither was the acting. Not surprising about the latter since half the performers weren't actually experienced actors. However I loved every minute of it, and thought it was great fun and terrific entertainment. Of course there are those who won't quite see it that way and will dismiss it out of hand. And they'd be perfectly sane to do so. Everything about "Victory" (aka "Escape to Victory" in the UK) says it's one to leave well alone.
Even if you disregard the lack of aesthetic qualities, and tut-tut over the reality of it all, it's worth watching if only to see again a few of the great past-masters of what the Brits like to call "the beautiful game" (i.e. soccer). And Sylvester Stallone as a goalkeeper is something to behold.
As far as escape stories go this is about as original as they get, but even here it's possible to see plundering from other story lines, i.e "The Great Escape", "The Password is Courage", "Albert RN", to name but three, and as at least one reviewer has pointed out, the music is extremely reminiscent of the first one.
One of my favourites snippets is that of the Nazi sports commentator, portrayed by Anton Diffring, that stalwart of war movies, broadcasting his gramophone record of enthusiastic crowd applause, when in "reality" the whole stadium was as quiet as the grave.
I think this is one of those rare occasions, if taken in the right vein, when a bad movie can be a crowd pleaser. Forget the war pundits, the realists and the purists. Just enjoy the movie for what it is. Tremendous fun!