Much as Steven Spielberg followed 1993's special effects blockbuster
Jurassic Park with a far more downbeat and personal project later the same year,
Schindler's List, in 2005 after tearing up the box office with War Of The Worlds
the director closed out the year with a powerful and thoughtful drama about the
human costs of international terrorism. The 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany
were supposed to be a peaceful gathering of outstanding athletes from around the
world, but on September 5, the games took a sinister turn when eight masked
Palestinian terrorists invaded the Olympic village, killing two Israeli athletes
and abducting nine others. The kidnappers demanded safe passage out of Germany
in addition to the release of Arab prisoners in Israeli and German prisons, but
when they arrived at the Munich airport they were met by German police and
military forces, and in the melee that followed, all nine hostages were killed.
In the wake of the killings, the Israeli government gave Mossad, the nation's
intelligence agency, a special assignment -- to track down and eliminate the
Palestinians responsible for the death of the Israeli athletes. A young and
idealistic Mossad agent (Eric Bana) is assigned to the four-man unit created to
wipe out the Olympic terrorists, but while he believes in serving his country,
as their bloody work goes on he begins to buckle under the weight of his work,
and wonders if he can morally justify his nation's acts of revenge. Munich also
stars Geoffrey Rush, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz and Ciaran Hinds. ~ Mark
Deming, All Movie Guide
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