FILMS… Escape to Victory / Victory (1981)

#1980s #AllPosts

 

War on and off the pitch for Michael Caine…

 

Michael Caine in a war movie made in the 1980s with some big names in football and Sylvester Stallone.

 

Caine and more…

Stallone and more…

Escape To Victory (1981) – Trailer, OldSchoolTrailers

 

For my choice of War Movie preview, I narrowed it down to the film, Escape to Victory (1981). Because to me it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure and despite a total ignorance of football and the famous footballers in this cast, I do remember this movie as having one of the crazier plots of the war escape movies. And only because it’s another of Michael Caine’s 1980s movies which I love so much.

Caine really has a charismatic effect in his movie characters that makes you treasure his movies no matter how bad they seem. Particularly those from his The Swarm (1978) days. Newbies to Caine’s work, do watch other decades of his films I assure you he didn’t get his Sir title for these reasons… (or maybe he did).

I remember watching this as a kid, with the men of the house (surprise, surprise), one Christmas. This while my mother made the Christmas Dinner, and probably enjoyed the fact that at least 3 of the household were otherwise occupied. I remember my Uncle recognising the footballer Pelé and shouting ” OMG it’s Pele” or something similar. He was either shocked or horrified at his appearance in this movie, and to this day I don’t know which. But of course, it’s only now I vaguely recognise the other more prominent footballers in this movie (well their names anyway).

 

About the plot…

Escape to Victory tells of a battle on the football pitch during World War 2 between a team of Germans and a team of Allied Prisoners of War. It’s also an escape movie and was surprisingly directed by John Huston. The cast includes Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, Max von Sydow, Daniel Massey, Bobby Moore and Pelé. 

Caine plays the Allied team captain, John Colby who was a professional footballer before the war. He is disgruntled when he has to allow Robert Hatch (Sylvester Stallone) on the team as a trainer. However, Hatch is on board with the British to organise the team’s escape… The Brits hope this escape will occur during the football match, but Colby is worried about the players’ lives…

 

About the trailer…

The trailer really made me want to see this clash of cultures again, Cockney Caine’s Colby vs. Stallone – then remembered as The Italian Stallion – as Hatch. Much more so than the escape storyline, which even in the trailer seems secondary to the plot. This film is billed as “the most unusual battle of the war” by the man with the masterful voice.

Max von Sydow is our token Nazi in the trailer (which is kinda ironic when you remember Teddy Daniels’ accusations in Shutter Island (2010)) of the film, which is set in 1942. Escape to Victory kind of capitalised on Caine’s The Italian Job (1969) cheeky Cockney chappie persona where he has to get a football team together from a band of Prisoner of War reprobates.

But luckily he has a one time England captain in his team (correct me if I’m wrong.. as I say no clue about football) and Pelé. And possibly more big football names. And this team going head to head with the “Third Reich’s finest”.

Caine of course is the Allied Prisoner of War team Captain (although it appears it’s not his football skills you are watching), but it is him in various triumphant poses in the trailer. Cue a clash with Hatch who knows football in an all-American way.

The differences between these games promoted in the film would surely be useful for us. That’s those of us who didn’t know it was two different games and rules, back then. (If we cared, as probably the most football I’d seen until watching this would have been Gregory’s Girl (1981)).

Stallone as Hatch also of course is our white vested  – not of the string variety – action hero of the piece as he’s also going to orchestrate the escape. . The white vest paved the way for the similarly vested leads of Nicholas Cage and Bruce Willis in similarly over the top action movies.

The trailer also has some great lines such as Hatch protesting that “the mouth and the hands work together as a team”. The scene where Hatch chats up his obligatory love interest is priceless, it’s almost like his dating pitch for a website. Why she is captivated by this particular orphan with no pets is beyond me, but hey ho.

The crazy plot is reinforced at all levels be it the commentary of the trailer itself, or the terribly British Brits with English accents – can’t remember if there were any token Scots in this one. But the craziest thing of all is the final credit in this trailer, attributing it all to Lorimar productions in that then much loved logo.

Lorimar was also home to another Rocky relationship of sorts.. and for those of you who have a Swarm of ideas buzzing around your head but can’t decide on what it was. Lorimar produced the original Dallas series. And that’s all, y’all.

 

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CLICK HERE to read Thoughts All Sorts’ review of this movie.    

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