Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Munich

During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack. Avner (Eric Bana), an Israeli-born office worker for Mossad, is summoned to become the leader of a five-member assassination squad to seek revenge for the Munich Massacre by tracking down and killing the planners responsible for the Black September terror attack. As Avner isn't a high ranking member of Mossad, he is made to sign a renunciation of any official relation to Mossad and made the leader of the group, which consists of Steve (the South African getaway driver, [and future James Bond]), Hans (the German Jew document forger), Robert (a Belgian bomb expert) and Carl (the "worrier" who cleans up after the others). They operate out of the official structure of Mossad, receiving large amounts of dollars in a Swiss bank. Hilarity ensues.

This movie is very good, heck, it was nominated for Best Picture. Eric Bana is good as the sometimes bungling leader of the assassination squad. I do think Speilberg glossed over some of the implications of what Israel did. The world gave Israel some leeway because of the Munich Massacre, but Israel took advantage of that.

Trivia: One of many non-James Bond films to star an actor who (as of yet, will) portray 007 (Daniel Craig) and an actor who has played a Bond nemesis (Michael Lonsdale). Others include Robin and Marian starring Sean Connery and Robert Shaw (who faced off in From Russia With Love), and The Longest Day, with Connery and Gert Fröbe (who co-starred in Goldfinger).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of those movies that I have no real desire to see, but if I ever did I'm sure I would like it.

I think Cinderella Man should have taken the place of this movie or Brokeback Mountain. I can't believe it didn't get nominated.

That's my vote of best picture not to get nominated. I've also heard Walk The Line could have been nominated, but I havn't seen it yet.

Anonymous said...

did I write the word nominated enough times?

beckn32 said...

You'll have to get back with me by the end of this year when they've all been out on video to get my opinion. I didn't realize that we are so far behind in when we get movies over here. We have a brand new beautiful theater with two screens and conession stand just like in the states. We only get the huge blockbusters the same time the states do. Like King Kong, Harry Potter and Star Wars. The rest, we have to wait for them and sometimes we have to wait for the video.

I finally watched Walk the Line last night and I liked it. Reese Witherspoon was awesome. I think she sang better than June Carter ever did.