Worked Better as a TV Movie

Rating: 6/10 (24 July 2006)

Spielberg turns the story of the Munich massacre into a detail laden often incoherent big screen patchwork. Eager to convey the dilemma of moral ambiguity, not to mention how Europe looked and sounded in the 70s, his movie also contains emotional trickery that also failed to deliver in "Saving Private Ryan." Like many of Spielberg's works, the back story becomes the first sacrificial victim. The movie is also conflicted mainly because it wants to be serious and high minded and yet is based on George Jonas' entertaining but highly improbable account of the Israeli operation to bring the planners of the Munich Olympic massacre to justice. As one example, the whole houseboat scene of the assassination of the hooker assassin, with the bicycle pump gun no less, (but the cat loved the hooker killer, come on Spielberg, will you ever learn to reel it in?) seemed better in the earlier version of this movie, the made for TV effort "Sword of Gideon" starring Michael York. By the way, at no point in Spielberg's self-important commentary on the DVD does he mention that he re-made a cable movie. The ghastly last scene where the main character makes love to his wife with images of the final moments of the Munich hostages has to be one of the worst moments of Hollywood film making.