VICTORY / ESCAPE TO VICTORY (1981) - Movie Review

Director: John Huston
Starring: Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Max Von Sydow, Daniel Massey, Pele, Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles
Genre: Drama, Sport, War
Writer: Yabo Yablonsky, Djordje Milicevic, Jeff Maguire
Runtime: 116 min
Rated: PG
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

War drama set during World War II focusing on a group of Nazi officers who 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 Football match. The prisoners agree, planning on using the game as a means of escape from the camp.

Review:

Two-time Academy Award winner John Huston has had one hell of a career, directing and/or writing such wide-ranging classics as "The Maltese Falcon", "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", "The Asphalt Jungle", "The African Queen", "The Night of the Iguana", "The Misfits" and "The Man Who Would Be King". The P.O.W football drama "Victory" (also known as "Escape to Victory") may not be in the same league as those films I've just mentioned, but while very far from a masterpiece, it's certainly a rousing piece of entertainment that has carved its place in filmmaking history.

While the movie is entirely fictional, it is inspired by a loosely documented historical event known as "The Death Match". In many ways the true story is far more interesting and dramatic, but I suppose it would have made for a darker and more depressing movie. "Victory" borrows, heavily I might add, from other WWII classics, especially "The Great Escape". Even Bill Conti's score is a rip-off of Elmer Bernstein's iconic theme. Some might even point out similarities to the Vietnam war movie "The Boys in Company C", or the prison guards vs. convicts match from the original "The Longest Yard".

Unfortunately, almost everything that comes before the actual soccer match is dull and uninspired. We meet the lead characters, played by Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine, and a conflict of wills is teased between these two polar opposite men, but never fully developed. Both actors do a great job, but there's almost nothing to these characters. They're just Caine and Stallone. Max von Sydow is intriguing as the German officer who comes up with the idea for the match out of a pure love for the game, and you get the sense that he hates the war and its effects on people, but it's mostly guesswork on my part, because the script does nothing to give this man any humanity of depth. Most of the supporting cast is made up of real-life football players, although most of them are just in the background, except for the iconic Pele, who gets the most upfront screen time and even helped choreograph the football match. Despite being a great marketing device, it did not help the movie become a major box-office hit.

The big soccer game between the Allies and the Nazis is beautifully shot and fairly exciting. It definitely helps having real footballers on the field, as it feels like a real match. I've seen quite a few football movies, and I have to say this one is the best in terms of on-the-pitch design and execution. It's dramatic and rousing, and the only complaint I have is that the movie ends too abruptly, probably because there was so little story to begin with that they just didn't know how to end it. It's the most confusing editing choice for a final scene I've ever witnessed since Ridley Scott's "Thelma & Louise".

I wish there was more to this movie. There's almost no plot or character development to speak of, just a bunch of scattered scenes that lead to the climactic football match. Whenever it seemed like the filmmakers were about to do something ambitious, it just went nowhere. It's such a shame. Still, it's not a complete waste, as long as you lower your expectations, and well worth a watch for the exhilarating Germans vs. Allies game.

SCORE: 6.5/10