Production note The hosts say the film was originally titled Escape to Victory.
Production note The movie is described as a 40th-anniversary rewatch for the episode.
Production note A lot of the football cast were real athletes, and the hosts think that mattered enormously.
Production note Pele was made Trinidadian in the film because of wartime timeline issues.
Production note Stallone trained for soccer on weekends while filming Nighthawks and lost 40 pounds for the role.
Production note The stadium used for the match scenes was in Budapest, not Paris.
Production note The movie’s ending involved a real plan for the crowd to rush the field and let the prisoners escape in disguise.
Production note The hosts say the movie did only modest box office in 1981.
Production note Bill says the movie was on HBO for years and became a childhood staple.
Production note The episode notes that John Huston was 74 when he directed the film.
The Great Escape Used as the closest tonal and structural comparison for the POW-camp setup.
The Dirty Dozen Cited as another classic WWII prisoner ensemble movie.
Rocky Referenced both as Stallone context and as a sports-movie benchmark.
The Longest Yard Mentioned as a sacred sports movie and as part of the 70s sports-film wave.
Blue Chips Used as an example of a sports movie that cast real athletes heavily.
White Men Can't Jump Mentioned as an example of a movie that did not prioritize actual athlete casting.
The Great Escape Also invoked to explain why the film’s prison-camp plot feels durable and old-school.
Breaking Away Used as an example of a film that made viewers want to take up the sport afterward.
Nighthawks Referenced in the research section about Stallone’s training and weight loss.
The Right Stuff Bill mentions Bill Conti reusing musical material from it.
Casablanca Gus compares the French anthem sequence to the famous bar scene from Casablanca.
The Damned United Mentioned as a strong modern soccer film.
Next Goal Wins Named as an upcoming soccer movie that looks promising.
Wildcats Used jokingly when discussing fictional sports-event attendance.
The Beekeeper Used only in a sponsor read example about Jason Statham.
