Escape to Victory

Name: Escape to Victory
Genre: Drama, War
Released: 1981-06-17
Duration: 1 h 56 min
Rating: 6.7
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Pelé, Daniel Massey

Now is the time for heroes.

Escape to Victory (1981)

Timing: 1:56 (116 min)

6.7/10
39 497

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6.9/10
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6.7/10
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Everything about the movie

Video 2

Photo 48

Actors and characters

Video for the film Escape to Victory — Victory (1981) - Trailer HD 1080p

2:25

Photo 48

Release date

1981-06-17

Country

Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Hungary

Production

Paramount, Lorimar Productions, Lorimar Motion Pictures, New Gold Entertainment, Victory Company

Genre

Drama, War

Budget

$10 000 000

Box office

$10 853 418

Website

Director

John Huston

Actors

Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Pelé, Daniel Massey, Tim Pigott-Smith, Maurice Roëves, Julian Curry, Clive Merrison, Bobby Moore
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Freddie Fields, Gordon McLendon

Camera operator

Gerry Fisher

Composer

Bill Conti

Artist

J. Dennis Washington

Audition

Rose Tobias Shaw

Editing

Roberto Silvi
Whole Team (27)

Short description

A group of POWs in a German prison camp during World War II play the German National Soccer Team in this powerful film depicting the role of prisoners during wartime.

What's left behind the scenes

Footballer Mike Summerbee became friends with Michael Caine during filming. After retiring from sports, Summerbee started producing T-shirts, and Caine became his favorite customer.
Clint Eastwood, Lloyd Bridges, and Alain Delon were originally intended to star in the film.
Before filming, Sylvester Stallone lost 40 pounds because he believed a prisoner of war shouldn't look “like an Olympic weightlifter.”
Kevin O'Callaghan, who played the goalkeeper who broke his arm, had actually never stood in goal. He was a midfielder who played for Ipswich, Portsmouth, and the Irish national team.
Filming took place from August to November 1980 in Budapest and Paris.
Of all those who played members of the Allied team, only Stallone and Michael Caine are professional actors. The rest are professional footballers.
It is said that Sylvester Stallone wanted his character to score the winning goal, as he is the main star of the film. The screenwriters barely managed to convince him that the goalkeeper was unlikely to score a goal against the opposing team. Eventually, Stallone agreed to a version where his character takes a very difficult shot during a penalty kick.
In the suburbs of Budapest, on the grounds of the former Allag stables, a prison set was built on an area of 1.2 hectares. Construction took three months.
On the first day of filming, Stallone acted recklessly, diving headlong into the thick of the struggle for the ball. As a result, he fell, dislocated his shoulder, broke a rib, and was forced to leave the set for several days. After this, a stunt double was assigned to him to take over during the most dangerous moments. Despite the double's help, Stallone suffered several more injuries. While attempting to take the ball from Pelé, he broke another rib and a finger. After filming, he remarked that playing football was harder than boxing in 'Rocky'.
All the extras in the film were local residents. Some speaking roles were also played by Hungarian actors. For example, in the scene where the guards discover the escape, one of them speaks not German, but Hungarian. One of the Resistance members speaks English with a strong Hungarian accent.
In 2011, Vinnie Jones announced that he was planning a remake of the film starring himself and David Beckham. However, the project remains in the conceptual stage.
Before filming, Sylvester Stallone lost 40 pounds because he believed a prisoner of war should not look like an 'Olympic heavyweight'.
It is said that Sylvester Stallone wanted his character to score the winning goal since he was the film's main star. The screenwriters struggled to convince him that a goalkeeper would be unlikely to score a goal against the opposing team. Eventually, Stallone agreed to a version where his character makes an incredibly difficult save during a penalty kick.
Sylvester Stallone wanted to appear in all the match scenes without a stunt double. He had begun training on a football field even during the filming of his previous movie, 'Nighthawks' (1981). His coach was British goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who played on a World Cup-winning team.
Pelé was not only an actor but also a stunt choreographer on the football pitch. Specifically, he demonstrated his signature move—the bicycle kick.
In 2011, Vinnie Jones announced that he was planning a remake of the film starring himself and David Beckham. But the project remains just an idea for now.
Sylvester Stallone wanted to perform all the match scenes himself without stunt doubles. He began training on the football pitch while still filming his previous movie, 'Nighthawks' (1981). His coach was the British goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who had played for a World Cup-winning team.
Eighteen international football stars appeared in the film.
On the first day of filming, Stallone acted recklessly and threw himself into the thick of the fight for the ball. As a result, he fell, dislocated his shoulder, broke a rib, and was forced to leave the set for several days. After that, a stunt double was assigned to him to replace him in the most dangerous moments. Despite the double's help, Stallone sustained several more injuries. While attempting to take the ball from Pelé, he broke another rib and a finger. After filming, he said that playing football was harder than boxing in 'Rocky'.
Pelé was not only an actor, but also a stunt choreographer on the football field. He notably demonstrated his signature move – a bicycle kick while falling.
The film is based on real events related to the famous “Match of Death” which took place in Kyiv in 1942. At that time, the Ukrainian team “Start” won a football match against a team from the German Luftwaffe. Subsequently, all the players of “Start” were arrested, and many of them died in a concentration camp.
Kevin O'Callaghan, who played the goalkeeper with a broken arm, had never actually stood in goal. He was a midfielder, playing for Ipswich, Portsmouth, and the Irish national team.
The English football club Ipswich Town participated in the filming of the movie.
The MTK stadium in Budapest was used to depict the Parisian Colombes stadium where the match takes place. The producers chose MTK because it closely resembled Colombes, specifically because it lacked artificial lighting (artificial lighting on stadiums didn't appear until after World War II). Today, this stadium belongs to the Hungarian football club MTK.
Of all those who played members of the Allies' team, only Stallone and Michael Caine are professional actors. The others are professional footballers.