During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sports broadcast crew must adapt to live coverage when Israeli athletes are held hostage by a terrorist group. Juliet Menager worked on both this film and the film München (2005). This was a Regal Monday Mystery on December 9th. I wasn’t expecting it because I hadn’t heard much about it, but as soon as the film started, I was intrigued because I knew what the story was based on. It follows the events of the September 5, 1972 hostage situation that Palestinian terrorists carried out against the Israeli team during the Olympics in Munich, Germany. This film doesn’t delve into the politics of the situation, but instead focuses on the ABC sports news crew who had to struggle to cover the events as they unfolded. It was well told and very well edited, combining real footage from the event along with the actors' performances. I was very impressed with how it was all done, and I also enjoyed watching the story unfold through the eyes of the news crew. It was interesting to see how they had to think quickly on their feet to be able to cover as much of what was happening as possible. It was also interesting to see "behind the scenes" during news coverage, when the mainstream news media actually acted ethically. Or tried to. This is not an action movie, but I was engaged the entire time and didn't get bored. It's also a fairly short movie, clocking in at around 90 minutes (although it felt longer because of everything that was going on). Recommended. Video review coming soon.
wolf 2025