Flucht oder Sieg

This is the antithesis to the "chick-flick" and up there with the great "male bonding" cameraderie movies such as "great Escape" and "The Man Who Would Be King", and let's not exclude "The Longest Yard". Best scene by far in the movie is Pele's jaw-dropping upside-down kick, followed by Max Von Sydow's sportsmanlike and awestruck applause, followed by glares of hatred from his German brethren. I can guarantee you that that scene is worth the price of the admission(video rental) alone. As far as the non-soccer star cast goes, Michael Caine more than compensates for Sylvester Stallone, and the rest do a credible job, with highest marks to Von Sydow as a 'good guy' on the other side.

Any football fans out there? If you haven't seen Escape To Victory either at Christmas, when it is usually on at a ridiculous time of the morning, or hired/bought it on DVD then you are really missing out.

There is a fair amount of disbelief suspending that needs to take place before you settle down. But, if you can numb your brain to the idea of Micheal Caine playing professional football or indeed, Sylvester Stallone doing the same in goal, you're in for a treat.

As a football fan, it was a real thrill to see the great Bobby Moore kicking a ball in anger and, against the Germans too (remember what I said about suspending disbelief).

OK, it isn't the greatest film ever made. But it isn't supposed to be. It's a bit of bubblegum that is just supposed to kill a couple of hours. A feat the movie accomplishes handsomely.

I defy any football fan not to cheer when the goals go in or to curse when the Germans do well. Similarly, try and stifle your guffaws when you see Mr Caine trying to look like he knows what he's supposed to be doing. Is it just me or does he become more cockney when he tries to convey excitement in any of his roles?? Probably one of England's more one dimensional acting talents.

If you don't enjoy it, you're missing the point of it. Nobody will ever forget horror of war, it's ingrained. That isn't what this film is about although it does have a stab at giving the viewer a clue about the life of a POW in WWII.

No, the film is about entertainment. And, on that level, it's one of the good ones.

This movie is part of my childhood. My older brother was obsessed - to say the least - with this movie, and we used to watch it every week or so. I must have seen it about a hundred times. Pelé, Ardiles, Bob Moore... No football fan can miss this movie. Is it any good? I don't think it's very good, but this is one of those movies that really made part of my life and i can never forget it. Until today - i haven't seen the movie in several years - i can recall many of the dialogs, and a lot of the situations of the game. Brazil was eliminated in 1982's world cup after an epic game against Italy - one of the most profound traumas in Brazilian football history, an event that made Brazil to change it's game style - the art football - to a more pragmatic and tactical style. Somehow this movie reminds me of that golden period of Brazilian football.

I loved this film as a kid because I am such a huge fan of the sport and more so because it used real life footballers. I often wonder and hope with the popularity of the sport today and the level of talent why hasn't anyone tried rebooting or remaking this film. Could you imagine a film with Messi, Rinaldo, Neymar, Rooney, Suárez, etc? I would definitely recommend it be a period piece film again during WW2 and you could use some of Germany's current day greats like Klose, Mueller, Lahm, Ozil, etc. This film will always be a timeless classic for me personally.

Many people have passed negative comments about this film.If you study it closely, though, you will notice many positive and original scenes.

The football is not exaggerated like many other sporting Movies.

I first saw it when it was released in 1981/82 and thought it was very good. As a War film it is only average, but as a Football spectacle it is very interesting. The fact that the makers used real life footballers, including the great man himself "Pele" is original. We are actually seeing first class football players do their stuff in a controlled Movie enviroment... Heck some of them even try to act!

I think Michael Caine and Sly would have enjoyed making this Movie.

The message from the Movie is that Football is a game which is understood by everyone and will always be played under any circumstances. It is the Universal game and always will be!