The Expendables of football

Rating: 6/10 (18 August 2010)

Michael Cain plays a British POW who was a football star before the war, and with fellow POWs is kicking the ball around the nazi camp awaiting the end of the WW2. Max von Sydow, a high rank nazi official comes up to him and proposes a football match between Nazis and POWs. This movie showcases Sylvester Stallone's attempt to break out of action genre, even though his career as an action star didn't take off yet, as it was pre-Rambo. He plays a sly American POW who's only goal is to escape the nazi camp. So he makes it a priority to join the POW team, but he can't play football to save his life, because he only knows "American football". So they make him a goalkeeper, since only his hands are of any use to the cause. Victory is populated with football stars of the past, Pele being the most famous one. The tone of this film is very very light - it's basically "Mean Machine" for kids, only kids wouldn't want to watch it, because it's pretty low on twists and a generally unengaging picture.