MovieChat Forums > Victory (1981) Discussion > Would this work today?

Would this work today?

posted 13 years ago by lakewoodmatt67
3 replies | jump to latest

Hi! Okay, first off, let me say I'm a naive American (yes, I'm being self-deprecating, ha ha...) and I dont really know the first thing about what is either known as "football" or "soccer", depeding on your point of view. That being said, I LOVE this movie! I own it, and just watched it again last night. And it got me to thinking. If someone decided to try to remake this today, would it work? It seems that in the last decade or two, football/soccer's popularity has been on the rise here in the United States, to a certain degree, but still not as popular worldwide. Hell, the term "soccer mom" is part of the American vernacular. So, would U.S. audiences go for this? I'm sure European and other nations would go for it, as football/soccer is beloved the world over. Better yet, who would you cast. Even with my minimal knowledge of the sport, I suppose you would have to have David Beckham in this cast, no? And who would play the Hatch character? Obviously, not Stallone again, but some other sure fire American star? (Brad Pitt? Robert Downey, Jr.?)

Would there be a differenct political attitude regarding WWII, Nazis, POW's, war, peace, escape and redemption, based on the times we live in today? I dont know. But I'd definitely like to know what you all think. I know there are many non-American visitors to this site. How would you feel about a soccer/football movie in the context of a WWII backdrop being presented today?

What do you all say?

[–] devirginizer83-1 13 years ago

I think it would be great. If anything the film would be a lot more successful today since soccer is a lot more popular in the United States today than it was in 1981.

Although to be honest if they were going to film a soccer story with World War II as the backdrop I would prefer if they did the actual Dynamo vs. SS game that occurred in Nazi-occupied Ukraine and is the inspiration for this film.

It's a much darker story but equally triumphant.

[–] MrOstrich 13 years ago

Am not sure if it would work today but if a remake did happen and they needed consultancy for the cheating, diving, and violence of the German team depicted in the original then they look no further than Ronaldo and Rooney for guidance

Cambridge man you know. His uncle Bertie and I used to break wind for our college.

[–] tomkaren1994 11 years ago

Hmmmm... no, I don't think so. Let's remember the era in which this was made. The NASL was trying to get traction in the United States, and a "soccer movie" was probably thought of as something that would help. A WWII movie today? No way. Too many have been made... and even pretty good WWII movies like Valkyrie really never hit their potential in today's world.

While I really enjoyed this movie and many of it's characters, I really hope no one tries to remake it or write anything similar. I would seem too contrived.