Three football films to watch this Autumn

With the international break on, and the nights getting darker, we’ve selected three films to give you your footballing fix on an evening.

Transcript

00:00 Victory, or Escape to Victory, is a 1981 football film set during the Second World War.

00:08 Starring household acting names such as Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and Max von Sydow,

00:14 alongside footballing legends including Pelé, Subobie Moua and Ozzy Ordiles, as well as

00:20 much of the Ipswich Town Team of the time, it tells the story of a group of Allied soldiers

00:26 in a German prisoner of war camp, who are ordered to play an exhibition football match

00:32 against a team representing Germany.

00:35 The Allied POWs then attempt to use the match, which was played in France, as a means to

00:41 escape imprisonment.

00:43 If you're looking for a combination of sporting films and war films, then this might just

00:47 be absolutely perfect viewing for you.

00:52 Escape to Victory was not the first venture by Sylvester Stallone into the world of sporting

00:57 cinema.

00:58 In 1976 he had starred in the first of the Rocky films, which of course went on to be

01:02 famous across the globe.

01:06 Next up we have Goal, The Dream Begins.

01:09 Mexican actor Cuno Becker plays the leading role of a young Mexican called Santiago Munez

01:15 living in Los Angeles, working two jobs just to make ends meet.

01:20 His only escape is football, despite his father's cynicism towards it.

01:24 Having been spotted by an ex-professional, he travels to Newcastle in England to be given

01:29 a trial at Newcastle United to see if he has what it takes to make it as a professional

01:34 football player in the Premier League.

01:37 He encounters challenges, heartbreak and romance along the way in this 2005 film set on location

01:44 in Newcastle and featuring football names such as Alan Shearer, David Beckham, Zinedine

01:49 Zidane and Raul.

01:51 It was directed by Danny Cannon.

01:56 In 2021 Newcastle United signed a young player on loan in real life called Santiago Munez,

02:02 who was also from Mexico.

02:05 Several comparisons were made between this and the film, although unfortunately for Munez

02:10 he did not live up to the fictional story of Munez.

02:13 And Newcastle United did not make his loan move permanent in 2022.

02:17 Finally, starring Will Ferrell, there is Kicking and Screaming, a feel-good comedy about a

02:23 son trying to get out of his father's shadow, both in terms of football and life itself.

02:29 When family relationships are strained, football is the only way to settle them, as father

02:34 and son go head to head as coaches of boys teams in the United States of America.

02:39 With the help of some brilliant Italian players, Will Ferrell's character, Phil Weston, gives

02:44 himself a chance of defeating his father in the deciding match.

02:48 This one is sure to make you laugh out loud along the way as it reaches the final showdown.

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