Escape to Victory: The sports war film starring Pele, Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine
Escape to Victory is a sports war film released in 1981 that starred recently deceased football legend Pele along with Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine and Max von Sydow.
More than 40 years since its release, the film is now seen as a cult classic, and one of the greatest sports movies ever made, reports Goal.
Directed by John Huston, the movie tells the fictional story of a team of Allied prisoners of war who agree to a football match against Nazi Germany as a pretext for their prison break.
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Pele played the role of Corporal Luis Fernandes, who was helping World War II prisoners of war trying to escape Nazi captors, keep their pledge – to complete a football match.
The movie is unique in its proliferation of footballers. Set in Paris, the filming actually took place in Hungary during the summer of 1980 before the start of the new season.
The style of storytelling and the credibility of the footballing scenes has helped the film to stand the test of time. Care was taken to make them as realistic as possible, with Stallone even getting help from former England goalkeeper Gordon Banks to make his action scenes seem more plausible.
Often sporting fiction can lack suspense; however, there is much more to Escape To Victory.
