A Reality Check for Those of You That Didn't Like it

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2007)

WARNING---MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS---WARNING
First of all, I have heard people, obviously Yanks, say this rips off the Longest Yard. Those of you that think so need to get educated properly. It rips off a Hungarian film about Dynamo Kiev. Those of you that say it ripped off The Great Escape, because of Sylvester Stallone, you are wrong as The Great Escape is a serious war film whereas this one is a football film set in World War 2. How else do you think they would get all those multinational football stars playing AGAINST the Germans on one team and yet still make the plot make sense?
Second of all, this film is not meant to be a serious war film, therefore there is no reason for it to be accurate or to show a soldier with his guts hanging out crying for his mother so you think twice about war. It is a football film that involves football in wartime, nothing else. This also means that there is no reason this film has to contain a scene where the Germans torch or gas a Jew. To see the latter, watch The Pianist or Schindler's List.
Last of all, this film is the first real football film therefore it deserves credit for this alone. The whole film is just a gap filler until the match comes along. This is when the film shows its true colours, a brilliantly executed, acted and shot football film.
A brilliant and fantastic film all round.