Munich - Movie Review

The 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, were supposed to be a peaceful gathering of outstanding athletes from around the world, but on September 5, the games took a sinister turn when eight masked Palestinian terrorists invaded the Olympic village, killing two Israeli athletes and abducting nine others. The kidnappers demanded safe passage out of Germany in addition to the release of Arab prisoners in Israeli and German prisons, but when they arrived at the Munich airport they were met by German police and military forces, and in the melee that followed, all nine hostages were killed. In the wake of the killings, the Israeli government gave Mossad, the nation's intelligence agency, a special assignment - to track down and eliminate the Palestinians responsible for the death of the Israeli athletes. A young and idealistic Mossad agent is assigned to the four-man unit created to wipe out the Olympic terrorists, but while he believes in serving his country, as their bloody work goes on he begins to buckle under the weight of his work and wonders if he can morally justify his nation's acts of revenge.

Steven Spielberg is great at producing/directing films that bring to light historical events that aren't necessarily upbeat, but are certainly worth being told. Munich is one of those films in the same vein as Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and Amistad that is more of a history lesson than pure entertainment. The topic is somber and unpleasant, but the fact that it is based on true events and presented in an almost documentary-type fashion makes it interesting and educational at the same time. Everything about this film was high quality and very believable and I liked the fact that it focused on the aftermath of the Munich attack and not the attack itself which was much more publicized. My only two gripes are that it's a little too long (2hrs. 45 min.) and I was very surprised that there weren't a bunch of special features such as the actual news coverage of the Munich attack. Overall, if you're looking for a movie which might teach you something, take a look, but don't expect to walk away feeling good about the world.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Geoffrey Rush

I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.