Munich (2005)
Runtime: 2 hrs 44 mins
Theatrical Release: Dec 23, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $47,379,090
Synopsis: A thought-provoking surprise from famed director Steven Spielberg, MUNICH explores the aftereffects of the brutal terrorist attacks on the Israeli athletic team at that German city's 1972 Olympic games. Loosely adapted from the book VENGEANCE by Hungarian George Jonas, the script was... A thought-provoking surprise from famed director Steven Spielberg, MUNICH explores the aftereffects of the brutal terrorist attacks on the Israeli athletic team at that German city's 1972 Olympic games. Loosely adapted from the book VENGEANCE by Hungarian George Jonas, the script was largely written by the provocative, award-winning playwright Tony Kushner (ANGELS IN AMERICA), who lends an incisive intelligence to the dialogue. The film begins with the violent sequence of the terrorists carrying out their attacks on the Israelis; a bloody and gruesome sequence that is deftly and beautifully handled by Spielberg and his brilliant cinematographer, Januzs Kaminski. Back in Israel, we meet the handsome and charming Avner, deeply in love with his beautiful, pregnant wife. Domestic bliss is short-lived however; immediately following these "Black September" attacks, Avner (THE HULK's Eric Bana), the son of an Israeli hero, is summoned by his country's famed secret service agency, the Mossad, to carry out violent retaliations against those Palestinian terrorists allegedly behind the Munich massacre. Commanded from afar by prickly government agent Ephraim (the inimitable Geoffrey Rush), Avner and his team of handpicked men--pugnacious South African Steve (Daniel Craig), goofy ex-toy maker Robert (French actor Matthieu Kassovitz), morally conflicted Carl (Ciaran Hinds), and terse professional Hans (Hanns Zischler)--must deal with some shady, nefarious international figures as they track down their Palestinian prey. Their mission takes them everywhere, from the villas of Rome to a seedy hotel in Cyprus, and with each successful kill, Avner's iron will begins to dissolve, and guilt and doubt begin to take hold of his conscience. Strong performances (particularly by the magnetic Eric Bana), gripping action, moral complexity, and a political urgency make the film not only consistently entertaining, but enormously important. Kushner and Spielberg work together to make it clear that the past informs the present, and the lingering final shot should leave viewers with much to think about. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler
Screenwriter: Tony Kushner, Eric Roth
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, Barry Mendel, Colin Wilson
Composer: John Williams
DVD Info
Release:
May 9, 2006
DVD Features:
- Snap Case
- Full Frame - 1.33
- Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French
- Dolby Digital 2.0 - English (DVS)
- Subtitles - French, Spanish - Optional
- Subtitles - English - SDH
Additional Release Material:
- Introduction - Steven Spielberg - Director
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Munich is one of those rare films that transcends art and taps directly into the consciousness of a hate-battered world.
Munich also succeeds where some of Spielberg's other films have not in its lack of his usual sentimentality.
Ever so subtly, Spielberg masterfully conveys the toll which the inordinate tension of their job and the mechanics of their methods take on his subjects' souls.
While we may or may not agree with Spielberg's take, to his credit he has asked us to address our current concerns by taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture.
Spielberg described Munich as his 'prayer for peace,' yet his movie strangely lacks the eloquence and yearning of a prayer.
Let us start from the dual positions that sex can (potentially) bring us closer to God and that cinema, in and of itself, is a holy medium given to the transcendent.
Visualmente impecable, temáticamente poderosa y emocionalmente honesta, es una muestra de que el cine puede y debe tener un compromiso social que nos obligue a utilizar las neuronas.
...it's difficult to imagine just what Spielberg was hoping to accomplish with this disastrously inept piece of work.
Spielberg trades in hollow, spuriously cinematic gestures and in explicitly topical politics that I suspect will render this movie embarrassingly dated before decade’s end.
Trembles, bubbles and booms with rage--every explosion shattering the idea that global warfare has ever had an end in sight.
Munich es un gran filme, pero lo más admirable no son sus atributos cinematográficos sino la valentía de su director.
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