Picking Nits
The Irish goalie's broken arm; Hatch agreeing to be recaptured; letting the escaped Hatch play; Stallone's goalkeeping; Pelé from Trinidad; the down-a-man comeback; the caught penalty; Hatch's unpunished antics; the match going ahead; the broken-ribs bicycle kick; soldiers not firing
In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:37Read transcript
- Agreeing to be recaptured makes no sense for Hatch, who is free in France with no ties to the players, and his escape seems too easy.
- The Irish goalie agreeing to have his arm broken may be the number one sports-movie nitpick ever.
- British prisoners had a sworn duty to try to escape and a many-over-the-few attitude, but the goalie could have faked illness or an injury instead.
- The Nazis let the just-recaptured Hatch play goal.
- Stallone's goalkeeping, including slide tackles and coming off his line, is basically rugby.
- Pele being from Trinidad feels like a violation.
- Down a man, they score four straight plus a disallowed fifth while a concussed Stallone throws a shutout.
- Stallone catching rather than tipping a professional's penalty kick.
- Hatch's badgering to join the team and tackling would have gotten him private piled in that camp, as in the Private Piles analogy.
- The Nazis would have canceled the game and killed the team once Hatch escaped.
- A bicycle kick and celebration with seven broken ribs; end credits could have added title cards on each player's fate.
- Soldiers would start shooting everyone at the end, and the inept Nazi security trope is taken far.
- Brought in as tie-breaker for the biggest nitpick, the drop-in guest says there is zero chance the goalie lets his arm be broken instead of claiming another injury.
- It has been debated since about 1982: the arm break is never explained, and it proves pointless once the players stay and only accidentally escape.