Silly but fun

Rating: 4/10 (4 May 2006)

Escape to Victory has to be one of the silliest premises of all war/escape related movies.
Think "The Great Escape" played for laughs.
Sylvester Stallone is a parallel for Steve McQueen's "Hiltz, the Cooler King" character in the latter.
Of course where would the film be without Michael Cane or indeed Sylvester Stallone.
Then again one must remember that when viewing this movie it plays upon the 1966 World Cup glory of England.
With the token representatives of Bobby Moore and Mike Summerbee it does seem to feel like flogging a dead horse by utilising players who some may say left their glory days behind them.
It is almost an afterthought that the likes of Pele and Ozzie Ardeles are included.
The fact that five players from the eastern block (Czechoslovakia and Poland) were allowed (one even playing in the match) can perhaps be read as a subtext for unity.
**** SPOILER ALERT **** The final score? Well football is not something easily filmed as a "staged" event. Choreographed it may well have been. Realistic? Perhaps not, but it did indeed contain elements of excitement and of course the obvious set-ups for both Pele and Ardeles.
**** SPOILER ALERT END **** The knowing smile on Max Von Sydow's face at the end where the players disappear into the masses tells more than perhaps everything else before.
A great movie? No. A good movie? No.
A fun movie? Yes. So how exactly did all these great football players end up in a German prisoner of war camp? Who knows and really who cares.
Never in the history of war/escape movies has one been made so far removed from the truth.
The sharper, more real aspects of the war, the Germans and so forth are glossed over, though reference is made to the "non existence" of the POles and their initial appearance does indeed give deference to the appalling treatment they were subjected too.
Up there with the best Irwin Allen made. Cheesy, silly, laughable but just a great fun movie. Light entertainment.