WHY: Imagine a movie directed by two-time Oscar winner John Huston, the man behind classics like “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” “Key Largo” and “The African Queen.” Imagine a cast that includes Max von Sydow and Michael Caine and – because this is a movie about soccer – Pelé. Now imagine that the person who receives top billing in this film is … Sylvester Stallone. This movie exists. It is called “Victory.”
This is not a great or even a good movie. It is a movie so gloriously dumb that people remember it for decades after a single viewing. It’s set in a World War II Nazi prison camp and the plot revolves around a soccer game between the German national team and Allied POWs. The game is to be held in Paris for some reason, giving the Allied prisoners an opportunity to try and escape. Michael Caine is a former England soccer player and Pelé is passed off as a Trinidadian, while von Sydow is the German officer who dreams up the event. Stallone is an American with no clue about how to play soccer but he’s the star so he has to be involved, obviously.
If that’s not enough to get you to use a couple Kanopy tickets on this film, you could think of it as getting ready for a reported remake. The thing basically casts itself – David Beckham in the Caine role, Michael Fassbender in von Sydow’s and, of course, Lionel Messi as a South American soccer phenom who is somehow in a Nazi POW camp. Any action star could be in the Stallone role. Is Vin Diesel available?
WHERE: This film is available on Kanopy, the Library’s streaming service.
HOW: You can browse and request DVDs online by logging in to your account at keyslibraries.org. To view our collection of streaming movies and TV, go to kanopy.com/keyslibraries and set up an account with your library card. If you don’t have a card, you can visit your local branch or register online to get one. Questions? info@keyslibraries.org
Recommended by: Nancy Klingener, community affairs manager,
See previous Reel Recs at keyslibraries.org/reel-recs.
