Victory (1981)

Victory is a movie with a capital ‘M’.  It is hard to hate it but it’s even harder to take one minute of it seriously, I mean, let’s face it this is The Great Escape playing the minor leagues.  Let’s see:

• It’s World War II and we’re in a Nazi prison camp. 
• Our heroes are a multi-cultural band of misfits from seemingly all over the world. 
• They have no intention of staying in this camp. 
• They have formed a team that is adept at soccer.
• This troup must somehow form a family.
• The troup is made up of easily recognizable stars – Sylverster Stallone, Michael Cain, Pele
• The Nazis want to show them up.
• The Multi-Culture Prisoners use the game to engineer an escape.

That’s it.  That’s pretty much all you need to know.  It’s made pretty clear at the beginning and then the movie runs through the paces until the job is finished.  In between you have to leap over logical loopholes such as why did the Nazis issue the prisoners practice uniforms and extra soccer balls if they intend to beat them in a championship game?  Or, why did they provide Stallone’s character with haircare products?

I don’t know, maybe I’m being too cynical.  Maybe I’ve seen too many World War II movies.  Maybe I’ve seen The Great Escape too many times.  This is a low-flying POW camp movie with no real lofty ambitions other then to entertain you.  Does it?  Well, yeah, sorta.  I wouldn’t walk three blocks to see it again but it’s alright I suppose.