DVD review: Munich

Munich:
Universal Home Entertainment.
In 1972, at the Winter Olympics, a group of Arab terrorists kidnapped, and ultimately executed 13 Israeli athletes. After this tragedy, Israel called upon a handful of its citizens to seek out and punish some of the people behind the massacre.

In Munich, Steven Spielberg takes us on a very uncomfortable journey with the men that are called on, by Israel, to exact retribution on the Arab terrorists. The Oscar nominated film is about vengeance and the devastating effects it can have on society and the men that carry it out in the name of justice and country.

Are these acts atrocities, or simply justice being administered by a country that has had its citizens brutally executed simply because of who they are and where they are from? This film chooses not to offer an answer to that question, perhaps because the answer will depend on your point of view. The film instead chooses to focus on what happens when good men who are guided by patriotism commit murder. These men are not sociopaths and therefore struggle and suffer from actions that their job requires.

If you are going to buy this on dvd, and I suggest you do, pick up the two dvd set. The extras feature the thoughts and feelings of the cast in regards to the Munich massacre. You get a much better feeling for the film and why Steven felt compelled to make it despite the criticism he received for doing so.

Jeremy Lynch