Official World Cup movies usually have a formula of beginning with something about the host nation, a wide selection of games from the tournament before climaxing with the final. For some reason Heading for Glory starts with the final between West Germany & The Netherlands, then shows a scant number of group games before returning to the final again! As someone who remembers the 1974 tournament, so many iconic moments are missing from this movie, such as Yugoslavia's 9-0 destruction of Zaire, Rivellino of Brazil's free kick against East Germany & of course Mwepu Ilunga of Zaire using an innovative & illegal defence of a free kick against Brazil. The movie contains no historical context, such as Chile are mentioned without stating they were only there because the Soviet Union refused to play them in a stadium where leftist opponents of the Chilean government had been executed. Haiti are shown with mentions of Papa Doc, even though Duvalier had died in 1971 & there is no mention of the unfortunate Ernst Jean-Joseph, who failed a drug test after their defeat to Italy. For someone who was not around for the tournament, this is probably one of the worst official films. However, if you are German & just want to enjoy Beckenbauer, Muller, Breitner, Vogts, Maier & company beat the Dutch, it's probably one of the best!
Review of Heading for Glory
