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  • 1981
  • PG
  • Paramount Pictures
  • 1 h 56 m
  • 1981
  • PG
  • Paramount Pictures
  • 1 h 56 m

Summary As allied POWs prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.

Directed By: John Huston

Written By: Yabo Yablonsky, Djordje Milicevic, Jeff Maguire, Evan Jones

  • 1981
  • PG
  • Paramount Pictures
  • 1 h 56 m
  • 1981
  • PG
  • Paramount Pictures
  • 1 h 56 m

Victory

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 10 Critic Reviews
57
User Score Universal Acclaim Based on 17 User Ratings
8.2
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary As allied POWs prepare for a soccer game against the German National Team to be played in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French Resistance and British officers are making plans for the team's escape.

Directed By: John Huston

Written By: Yabo Yablonsky, Djordje Milicevic, Jeff Maguire, Evan Jones

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Michael Caine

The Players: England - Capt. John Colby

Sylvester Stallone

The Players: U.S.A. - Capt. Robert Hatch

Pelé

The Players: Brazil - Cpl. Luis Fernandez

Bobby Moore

The Players: England - Terry Brady

Osvaldo Ardiles

The Players: Argentina - Carlos Rey

Paul Van Himst

The Players: Belgium - Michel Fileu

Kazimierz Deyna

The Players: Poland - Paul Wolchek

Hallvar Thoresen

The Players: Norway - Gunnar Hilsson

Mike Summerbee

The Players: England - Sid Harmor

Co Prins

The Players: Holland - Pieter Van Beck

Russell Osman

The Players: England - Doug Clure

John Wark

The Players: Scotland - Arthur Hayes

Søren Lindsted

The Players: Denmark - Erik Ball

Kevin O'Callaghan

The Players: Ireland - Tony Lewis

Max von Sydow

The Germans - Major Karl Von Steiner

Gary Waldhorn

The Germans - Mueller, Coach

George Mikell

The Germans - Kommandant

Laurie Sivell

The Germans - Goalie

Arthur Brauss

The Germans - Lutz

Robin Turner

The Germans - Player

View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 10 Critic Reviews
57
40% Positive
4 Reviews
50% Mixed
5 Reviews
10% Negative
1 Review

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 10 Critic Reviews
57
40% Positive
4 Reviews
50% Mixed
5 Reviews
10% Negative
1 Review

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
75
Victory, the new film by 74-year-old John Huston, is a civilized, professional, old-fashioned entertainment about men in groups. The picture is being hyped as a story of human spirit, prevailing against impossible odds, but it's a lot more low-key and a great deal more enjoyable than that. It's the story of the wake left by a great director sailing smoothly at half-mast. [31 July 1981]
By Jay Scott FULL REVIEW
70
When the dust settles, you may well suspect you've been taken for a sentimental ride, which is not what one normally expects from director John Huston. What he does bring to Evan Jones and Yabo Yablonsky's proficient script is his confident, unhurried pacing and his ease in mixing the professional actors and professional soccer players into a seamless ensemble. [10 Aug 1981, p.69]
By David Ansen FULL REVIEW
70
The beauty of the sport, especially the ultimate grace of a player of Pele's extraordinary caliber, is captured in a series of slow-motion shots that communicates something of the appreciation and excitement that can be experienced only by a true aficionado. The form of the film is conventional, but the manner in which it has been executed is not.
By Vincent Canby FULL REVIEW
60
Huston, showing admirable range in his old age, creates enough on-field magic and nostalgia for the beatiful game as an idyll of now-extinct sportsmanship, you can almost forgive the boss's choice of goalkeeper. Almost.
FULL REVIEW
50
Part The Great Escape, part standard sports movie, Huston's Victory limps along until hitting full stride with a brilliantly staged soccer sequence that provides the film's climax.
FULL REVIEW
40
Unsatisfactory both for fans of star-studded prison escape dramas and for football fans hoping to see cunningly devised tactics from Pele and his squad of internationals.
FULL REVIEW
37
In a light-hearted way, it portrays the Allies as children, their leaders as collaborators, a Nazi POW camp as boys' summer camp and the conflict as color war. And what's more, the Allied team gets so excited that they would rather win the game than escape from their captors. The whole concept is so outrageous that it hardly leaves time for one to consider the details. [31 July 1981, p.17]
FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 17 User Ratings
8.2
88% Positive
15 Ratings
12% Mixed
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 17 User Ratings
8.2
88% Positive
15 Ratings
12% Mixed
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Lorimar Film Entertainment, Victory Company, New Gold Entertainment
Release Date Jul 31, 1981
Duration 1 h 56 m
Rating PG
Genres
Tagline Their goal was freedom...
View All Details

Awards

Huabiao Film Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Moscow International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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