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Season 1 – Hostages

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – Hostages Sep 2022 Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
A docuseries that explores the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979, including never-before-seen archival footage and revelatory new interviews with the American hostages and Iranian hostage-takers, and the resounding consequences of the situation.
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Hostages — Season 1

Critics Reviews

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Daniel Fienberg The Hollywood Reporter 09/28/2022
Thorough, balanced and provocative. Go to Full Review Brian Tallerico RogerEbert.com 09/28/2022
3/4
A remarkably comprehensive study of the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979-1981 that brings this chapter of world history to life with revealing interviews from people involved on all sides of the issue. Go to Full Review Brian Lowry CNN.com 09/27/2022
The result is a highly resonant trip down bad-memory lane, highlighting how those ripples remain evident 40-plus years later. Go to Full Review Pradeep Menon Firstpost 10/11/2023
Some focus and more maturity in treatment would have helped, but Hostages is still quite binge-able. Go to Full Review John Serba Decider 10/01/2022
... No-nonsense, meat-and-potatoes documentary filmmaking. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Daniel J 10/17/2023 Starts out really good, but devolves just as you'd expect from an HBO documentary on a subject like this: not only was the hostage crisis America's fault, but we deserved it. Still, there's a lot of really cool footage and the production is very well done. See more Read all reviews
Hostages — Season 1

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Massoumeh Ebtekar

Self

John Limbert

Self

Maro Chermayeff

Director

Jeff Dupre

Director

Joshua Bennett

Director

Sam Pollard

Director

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Sep 28, 2022 The Peacock Throne Details how America and Iran went from deeply enmeshed Allies to global adversaries; as the American-backed Shah flees his country's revolution against the repression of his regime, the religious cleric Ayatollah Khomeini rises to power and an Islamic theocracy is put in place; the U.S. embassy, a symbol of American imperialism and political interference to many, falls under grave threat. Details Episode 2 Aired Sep 28, 2022 Den of Spies An exploration of the chaos that unfolded on the first days of the hostage crisis; illuminates the motivations and ideals of the young revolutionaries who breached the embassy walls; events take a turn when Khomeini sanctions the takeover and the hostage-taking becomes a watershed moment of Khomeini's repressive regime. Details Episode 3 Aired Sep 29, 2022 The Sand Storm The Carter administration's attempts at diplomacy means it failed at securing the hostages; President Carter then initiates Operation Eagle Claw, but it becomes a disaster; eight service members die, and the hostages are no closer to coming home. Details Episode 4 Aired Sep 29, 2022 The Transaction As the presidential election of 1980 is approaching, Iran and America are still locked in a stalemate after a year of fighting and negotiating; ultimately, the hostages are released on President Reagan's inauguration day. Details

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Hostages — Season 1

Hostages Hostages Hostages View more photos

Season Info

Director
Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre, Joshua Bennett, Sam Pollard, Abbas Ahmadi Motlagh
Executive Producer
Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
Network
HBO
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date
Sep 28, 2022