Münich

[Erling E.]

I have nothing but praise for this movie.

Artistically magnificent, fantastic cinematography, wonderful music, incredible actors and one extremely interesting story. It was long (about two hours and fourty-five minutes), but it wasn't boring me a single minute. It is very political, some might find it a bit "heavy", but if you are in to that sort of thing (like me), then you will love it. The movie is about the true story of the Münich massacre in 1972, where a group of Israeli olympic contestants were killed by Palestinian terrorists. The story that follows, is basically a group of Israeli hired assasins trying to kill the Palestinians behind the massacre.

It is, of course, a politically sensitive movie. Some might find it offensive, but personally, I didn't find it at all pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian. It gave the Palestinian cause a human face (even though what happened was horrible), and it portrayed the Israeli government as pretty hard-boiled. At the same time, you have sympathy for the Israeli cause and feel pretty angry about the palestinian terrorists that killed the olympic contestants. Some might think it is pro-Israel (the director, Steven Spielberg, is, after all, jewish), but I think you just have to face the reality of the story, and limit the extent of the Israel-Palestine conflict to what happened in this specific case.

Eric Bana did a fantastic role as the star of the movie, but there was not one single actor that brought the movie down in any way. Steven Spielberg did, as always, a spectacular job. The movie is very violent and very graphic (you will probably see people die in ways you havn't seen it before), and there are full nudity, so it is absolutely a movie for adults or young adults.

I give it a 10 out of 10. A truly fantastic movie.

[junior]

The movie is about the true story of the Münich massacre in 1972, where a group of Israeli olympic contestants were killed by Palestinian terrorists.

While the terrorist incident that starts the whole thing is true, and the film is based on a book that purports to tell some of the details of the Isreali response, I've read a lot of statements since that suggest that the story told in the film (of the Isreali response) is pretty far divorced from reality. Yes, Palestinian terrorists took Israeli Olympic atheletes hostage, and yes, all of the terrorists and hostages were killed due to a botched attempt by the West German authorities to rescue them. And yes, the Israelis did embark on an assassination campaign to punish those responsible (this is primarily known due to a hit on a wrong target due to mistaken identity in one of the Scandinavian countries, and the arrests made by the local authorities afterwards). But the details of the campaign as provided by the movie (and the book it's based on) have been pretty well discredited.

Or in other words, if you go see the movie then watch it for whatever enjoyment you get out of it, and to pick up on the messages Spielberg is trying to pass along. And to possibly get a better idea of what happened during the Munich Olympics. Just be aware that everything else is fiction.

[Zarithar]

I thought it was well done. We actually went to the theater planning on seeing something else... but ended up seeing Munich instead. It's one of the better movies I have seen recently.

[Erling E.]

And yes, the Israelis did embark on an assassination campaign to punish those responsible (this is primarily known due to a hit on a wrong target due to mistaken identity in one of the Scandinavian countries, and the arrests made by the local authorities afterwards). But the details of the campaign as provided by the movie (and the book it's based on) have been pretty well discredited.

Oh yes, there is lots of fiction here. But it is based on a true incident.

Anyway, as you point out, the hit you're describing here actually took place in the Norwegian city of Lillehammer. Too bad Spielberg left it out!

[Whytewulf]

I wanna see it, but it didn't come out very well, so I need to hunt down a theatre.

[junior]

Anyway, as you point out, the hit you're describing here actually took place in the Norwegian city of Lillehammer. Too bad Spielberg left it out!

Eh...

Having a bungle that basically gets the entire team arrested (historically, a local who was assisting the Mossad was caught by the authorities with someone's phone number in his pocket) causes problems when you've got a script that has one team performing all of the hits...

[Erling E.]

Eh...

Having a bungle that basically gets the entire team arrested (historically, a local who was assisting the Mossad was caught by the authorities with someone's phone number in his pocket) causes problems when you've got a script that has one team performing all of the hits...

Of course. Anyway, there was an innocent guy that was killed in Lillehammer, because the Mossad (according to some) thought he was Salameh (the brain behind the München massacre). Some say Spielberg left it out of the movie, because having it in would, obviously, have hurt Israel's image. These are all speculations, though.