Movies - Escape to Victory

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	Movies - Escape to Victory

Escape to Victory is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a Nazi prison camp during World War II. It was directed by John Huston and stars Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone. The film received great attention, as it also starred football superstars Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, and Pelé. The script was written by Yabo Yablonsky. In some locations, such as the United States, the film is known as Victory.

Football

Football played an integral part of the film. The prisoners of war (POWs) agreed to play an exhibition match against local German troops, only to find themselves involved in a Nazi propaganda tournament. In the end, the POWs could leave the Nazi camp only to play the match; they were supposed to return to the camp after the game. During the match, despite the match officials being heavily biased towards the Nazis, a draw was achieved after great performances from Pelé and John Wark. Sylvester Stallone played in the goalkeeping position, and made some super saves, despite having an injured arm, including one last save on a penalty kick as time expired, to deny the Nazis the win.

The team originally planned to escape at half time (in an escape led by Hatch, played by Stallone) but the rest of the team wanted to carry on with the game, as they were losing at half time. They managed to escape at the end of the game, amidst the confusion caused by the crowd storming the field after Stallone saved the draw.

Basis of the Story

The film was based on the story of a group of Ukrainian nationals playing under the name of Dynamo Kiev, who defeated Nazi soldiers while the Ukraine was occupied by Nazi troops in WW2. As a result of their victory, the Ukrainians were unfortunately killed, although there is some debate as to the accuracy of this. The actual story, as recounted by Y. Kuznetsov, is considerably more complex, as the team played a series of matches against Nazi teams, before finally being sent to prison camps.

Actors and footballers

Escape to Victory was unusual in that it featured relatively few recognised actors, using instead a great many professional footballers as both the POW team and the guards' team. Many of the less famous footballers came from the Ipswich Town squad, who were at the time one of the more successful teams in Europe.

Selected cast and characters

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Escape to Victory ]

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