Compels you to ask all the right questions, as opposed to force-feeding you easy answers

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2010)

I have not read the novel that this is based upon, but it is worth noting that while it has been attacked, it has never been discredited. This isn't a documentary, it is a dramatization; still, the level of detail is high and the realism is through the roof. You do need to possess a basic insight into the Israel/Palestinian conflict, and it's a good thing to know some of the important people back then who were involved in it. The version I watched was 150 minutes sans credits, and worth every moment. This is incredibly gripping, and astonishingly intense. The action is photographed and edited to be chaotic(think Saving Private Ryan), and this neither glorifies nor bastardizes the events that it shows. Every acting performance is spot-on; Bana is stunning. The dialog is well-written and natural, and the camaraderie between the members of the main group is convincing and subtly developed(as such, no character feels one-note or flat, even if they can't flesh them all out extensively). This is psychologically accurate, dealing with what happens to people when they kill other humans. It doesn't take sides and goes into the gray areas, and there are discussion(one is particularly unforgettable) in this that provide plenty of food for thought. This does not decide what is correct. Instead, each viewer will by themselves have to ponder... was it justice or revenge? Was it right to do? And is anything resolved? There is a moderate amount of bloody and gory violence and disturbing content and a little full frontal female nudity and mild sex. The DVD comes with a single featurette(making that menu seem superfluous), entitled Munich: The Mission, The Team(I will review it on its own page here on the site), and a 4 and a half minute intro by Spielberg which is well worth the time. I recommend this to anyone that cares about the situation between the Jews and the Arabs. 8/10