Escape to Victory

John Huston's combination of a war film and a football film. The Second World War, a German prisoner of war camp. The Germans arrange a match for propaganda: the German national team against a side made up of Allied prisoners, to be played in Paris. The prisoners turn it into an escape plan, with the tunnel to be used during the game. What makes it interesting is the casting. Real footballers play the prisoners' side: Pelé, Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Paul Van Himst and players from Ipswich Town of the period. Sylvester Stallone plays the goalkeeper, given that position because he did not know the game. Pelé's overhead kick is the most remembered shot in the film and he really did it; the scene was captured in a few attempts. Michael Caine plays the captain and Max von Sydow the German officer. The tension between the escape and the match runs to the finale, where the film has to choose one of them. An enjoyable choice for anyone who likes football and classical war adventure. For a viewer wanting realism, both the camp and the match are far too clean; the film does not take the war seriously.