Back to trending
Escape to Victory

Escape to Victory

Drama · War · 1981

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.

Movie details

Escape to Victory

“Now is the time for heroes.”

1981 Drama · War 1h 56m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.6 / 10

34.5K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

70 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

57 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Escape to Victory?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Hell Is for Heroes

Hell Is for Heroes

Drama · 1962

World War II drama where the action centers around a single maneuver by a squad of GIs in retaliation against the force of the German Siegfried line. Reese joins a group of weary GIs unexpectedly ordered back into the line when on their way to a rest area. While most of the men withdraw from their positions facing a German pillbox at the far side of a mine-field, half a dozen men are left to protect a wide front. By various ruses, they manage to convince the Germans that a large force is still holding the position. Then Reese leads two of the men in an unauthorized and unsuccessful attack on the pillbox, in which the other two are killed; and when the main platoon returns, he is threatened with court-martial. Rather that face the disgrace, and in an attempt to show he was right, he makes a one-man attack on the pillbox.

The Island on Bird Street

The Island on Bird Street

Drama · 1997

Alex is an 11-year old boy who, during WWII, hides in the Jewish ghetto from Nazis after all his relatives have been sent to the concentration camp. The movie portrays the ghetto through his eyes.

The Bunker

The Bunker

War · 1981

Dramatization depicting the events surrounding Adolf Hitler's last weeks in and around his underground bunker in Berlin before and during the battle for the city.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin

Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin

History · 2024

As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer joins a deadly plot to assassinate Hitler, risking his faith and fate to save millions of Jews from genocide.

The Boy in the Woods

The Boy in the Woods

Drama · 2023

The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief

Drama · 2013

While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.

The Scarlet and the Black

The Scarlet and the Black

Drama · 1983

Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.

Voyage of the Damned

Voyage of the Damned

Drama · 1976

A luxury liner carries Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany in a desperate fight for survival.

The Match

The Match

Drama · 2021

Inspired by true events from the spring of 1944 when the Nazis organized a football match between a team of camp inmates and an elite Nazi team on Adolf Hitler's birthday. A match the prisoners are determined to win, no matter what happens.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Drama · 2008

When his family moves from their home in Berlin to a strange new house in Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner or the role his own Nazi father plays in his imprisonment, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey inside the camp's walls.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Huston

Written by

Yabo Yablonsky · Djordje Milicevic · Jeff Maguire · Evan Jones

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone

Captain Robert Hatch

Michael Caine

Michael Caine

Captain John Colby

Max von Sydow

Max von Sydow

Major Karl von Steiner

Pelé

Pelé

Cpl. Luis Fernandez, Brazil

Daniel Massey

Daniel Massey

Colonel Waldron

Tim Pigott-Smith

Tim Pigott-Smith

Rose

Maurice Roëves

Maurice Roëves

Pyrie

Court is in session

Put Escape to Victory on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.