Escape to Victory Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max Von Sydow, Pele Director: John Huston
We call it 'the beautiful game'. It's the most popular sport in the world, gathering millions around the globe every four years for a month of pure excitement.
But for all its popularity, in the world of film, soccer is severely lacking. Granted, the sport is hard to sell, with Hollywood rarely embracing any form of athleticism its own country doesn't excel at.
Which, at the very least, means Victory is the sport's finest cinematic two hours. And who can argue with a cast including Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine (right), Max Von Sydow and Pele.
The cult classic is a laughable lovefest of a film. Like its obvious inspiration, The Great Escape, it's the ideal Sunday afternoon spent with a heady mix of masculine elements - soccer, war, Stallone.
The plot is almost perfunctory, being a mishmash of war film subgenres. Caine, Stallone, Pele and their cohorts are soccer-loving POWs, challenged by kindly Nazi von Sydow to a propaganda match in Paris. But as it is the sworn duty of every Allied officer to escape, a plot to break free during halftime is hatched, and the men are given a life-or-death option: flee from the stadium with their lives or return to the match for their dignity.