NationStates Jolt Archive

Has anyone here seen the movie "Munich"? I just got back from seeing it and I cant even describe how amazing a movie it was, and I use the word "movie" very lightly. This borders reality. The movie was so real, at times I forgot that it was pumped out of Hollywood. Anyway I would just like to hear other peoples thoughts on the movie, how they think its relevant for today, and if it changed their views on anything.

For me it put alot of things into perspective. Mainly Israel and the Arabs.
I will continue to talk about it but first I would like to see what other people thought about it.

Has anyone here seen the movie "Munich"? I just got back from seeing it and I cant even describe how amazing a movie it was, and I use the word "movie" very lightly. This borders reality. The movie was so real, at times I forgot that it was pumped out of Hollywood. Anyway I would just like to hear other peoples thoughts on the movie, how they think its relevant for today, and if it changed their views on anything.

For me it put alot of things into perspective. Mainly Israel and the Arabs.
I will continue to talk about it but first I would like to see what other people thought about it.
I've read reviews.

At first I was like "Awesome! An Israel assasination team hunts down terrorists and kills them!"

then I realized that the movie did not have this in mind.

Just remember though, it's only a movie.

I've read reviews.

At first I was like "Awesome! An Israel assasination team hunts down terrorists and kills them!"

then I realized that the movie did not have this in mind.

Just remember though, it's only a movie.
You could always watch Sword of Gideon (http://imdb.com/title/tt0092038/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxrdz0xfHE9c3dvcmQgb2YgZ2lkZW9ufGZ0PTF8bXg9MjB8bG09NTAwfGNvPTF8aHRt bD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=21).

I've read reviews.

At first I was like "Awesome! An Israel assasination team hunts down terrorists and kills them!"

then I realized that the movie did not have this in mind.

Just remember though, it's only a movie.

Its only a movie, true but it does carry realistic themes that are very relevant today. You should see it.

Also, it is about an Israeli assasination team that hunts down terrorists and kills them.

Its only a movie, true but it does carry realistic themes that are very relevant today. You should see it.

Also, it is about an Israeli assasination team that hunts down terrorists and kills them.
I haven't seen the movie, but I'd say it's based on a quite real story (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Summer_Olympics).

Also, it is about an Israeli assasination team that hunts down terrorists and kills them.
But as far as I heard, that's not really the message of it. It's meant to be about the effects that revenge has on yourself, and apparently it sorta fails at that.

And I heard that they left out a number of incidents where the Mossad actually did kill innocent people on this hunt. I guess they didn't want to turn into into a documentary...

But I haven't seen it yet. Definitely will though.

From what i've heard it's being seen in the US as being pro-palestinian because it doesn't portray the Israelis as all perfect beings who never do wrong and are totally just in doing whatever they do.

On the other side of the Atlantic, it's seen as pro-Israeli because it ignores certain incidents where the Israelis fucked up and killed innocents just because they looked like arabs.

It's not in the cinema's here yet, but I read some reviews a few weeks back and was impressed enough by them to open a thread about the movie back then already. I'm definitely going to see it as soon as it opens here.

But as far as I heard, that's not really the message of it. It's meant to be about the effects that revenge has on yourself, and apparently it sorta fails at that.

And I heard that they left out a number of incidents where the Mossad actually did kill innocent people on this hunt. I guess they didn't want to turn into into a documentary...

But I haven't seen it yet. Definitely will though.

Of course thats not the message, its not some Rambo action movie...but thats still whats its about.

And the message that I got from it was that he tried to show the terrorists as more human, but at the same time as more evil. He also tried to show how the Israelis had to go and kill them but were finding it harder and harder to kill these random people. It didnt fail at all, you should definitely see it.

Well thats not totally true, people that werent arab terrorists did ending up dying.

From what i've heard it's being seen in the US as being pro-palestinian because it doesn't portray the Israelis as all perfect beings who never do wrong and are totally just in doing whatever they do.

On the other side of the Atlantic, it's seen as pro-Israeli because it ignores certain incidents where the Israelis fucked up and killed innocents just because they looked like arabs.

Its not Pro-Israeli or Pro-Arab. It just shows how hard it is for humans to kill humans.

Although, I guess I would have to say I hate arab more now after seeing how they talk about Jews in that movie and what they do to them. But those arnt new feelings for me and I honestly beleive that its neither pro arab or pro Israeli, just showing people as humans.

Munich was great at the beginning, but then as it wears on into the very end it just sort of falls flat.
Oh, yes, I get it. Violence isn't cool and life would be so much nicer if we all just got along. Isn't that sweet, children? (And their were children in the theater I went to see it in. It is an R-rated movie about assassins, who the Hell takes a 10 yeard old to see that?) But since its an R-rated movie, a child's eye view of events (Ok, I get it, terrorists have mothers that cry when their children die. Do you really think that no one has considered that before) doesn't fly.
Instead of any sort of judgement (we just get a watered down version of events that presents everyone as all-round nice guys . . . who kill people for a living) the whole thing ends very anti-climactically.

Munich was great at the beginning, but then as it wears on into the very end it just sort of falls flat.
Oh, yes, I get it. Violence isn't cool and life would be so much nicer if we all just got along. Isn't that sweet, children? (And their were children in the theater I went to see it in. It is an R-rated movie about assassins, who the Hell takes a 10 yeard old to see that?) But since its an R-rated movie, a child's eye view of events (Ok, I get it, terrorists have mothers that cry when their children die. Do you really think that no one has considered that before) doesn't fly.
Instead of any sort of judgement (we just get a watered down version of events that presents everyone as all-round nice guys . . . who kill people for a living) the whole thing ends very anti-climactically.

Yes well, it IS Hollywood. But still, you got to appreaciate whats there and what it was, not whats absent and what it could have been.

It was a very good film.

It is true that it did not stress mossad killings of innocent people, but was nevertheless not palpably pro-israeli.

The ambiguity of the film in criticizing the israeli policy (and also the security organs of other governments) is good because it makes the movie both more engaging and less political.

The point seems not to be "israel is bad" but rather the sort of revenge-killing that has characterized the israeli-palestinian conflict and now the US "war on terror" is wrong.

If none of this interests you, it is a good action/violence movie.

Extremely realistic, gritty, loud depictions of people being shot and blown up.

Its not Pro-Israeli or Pro-Arab. It just shows how hard it is for humans to kill humans.

Exactly! People keep complaining that the movie is trying to "humanize the terrorists" or something silly like that. That isn't it at all. The movie simply shows how dehumanizing these situations are for people on all sides of it.

I haven't seen the movie, but I'd say it's based on a quite real story (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Summer_Olympics).
Very very loosely upon the history of the matter. Only three things are similar, the olympians, the fact that terrorists were hunted down by the mossad, and that they were all taken out. Other than that it's pretty much a complete departure from reality. Only a single civilian was killed by the mossad and the two agents involved in that matter were tried and sent to jail for the mistake. The terrorists weren't the humanists portrayed in the movie, and the mossad agents weren't at all confused about what they were doing.

Very very loosely upon the history of the matter. Only three things are similar, the olympians, the fact that terrorists were hunted down by the mossad, and that they were all taken out. Other than that it's pretty much a complete departure from reality. Only a single civilian was killed by the mossad and the two agents involved in that matter were tried and sent to jail for the mistake. The terrorists weren't the humanists portrayed in the movie, and the mossad agents weren't at all confused about what they were doing.

Wait, only one civilian was killed?

Wait, only one civilian was killed?
Yeah, I thought it was more, but this one is the only confirmed one I could find with a quick google search.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4138021.stm

Very very loosely upon the history of the matter. Only three things are similar, the olympians, the fact that terrorists were hunted down by the mossad, and that they were all taken out. Other than that it's pretty much a complete departure from reality. Only a single civilian was killed by the mossad and the two agents involved in that matter were tried and sent to jail for the mistake. The terrorists weren't the humanists portrayed in the movie, and the mossad agents weren't at all confused about what they were doing.


Which terrorists in that move were portrayed as "humanists" ?

Very very loosely upon the history of the matter. Only three things are similar, the olympians, the fact that terrorists were hunted down by the mossad, and that they were all taken out. Other than that it's pretty much a complete departure from reality. Only a single civilian was killed by the mossad and the two agents involved in that matter were tried and sent to jail for the mistake. The terrorists weren't the humanists portrayed in the movie, and the mossad agents weren't at all confused about what they were doing.

Two small points:
a) There were more than two agents involved in killing Ahmed Bouchiki, and five agents got convicted and served time before being deported to Israel. See the entry on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillehammer_affair) for more.

b) If Bouchiki was the only "civilian", he may not have been the only person unrelated to the Munich Massacre whom the Israelis killed. Also according to Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Massacre#Aftermath)
In a new book reviewed by Time magazine, author Aaron J. Klein (who based his book in large part on rare interviews with key Mossad officers involved in the reprisal missions) contends that the Mossad got only one man directly connected to the massacre. The man, Atef Bseiso, was shot in Paris as late as 1992. Klein goes on to say that the intelligence on Zwaiter, the first Palestinian to die, was "uncorroborated and improperly cross-referenced. Looking back, his assassination was a mistake." He elaborates, stating that the real planners and executors of Munich had gone into hiding along with bodyguards in Eastern-Bloc and Arab countries, where the Israelis couldn't reach them. Meanwhile, it was lesser Palestinian activists that happened to be wandering around Western Europe unprotected that were killed. "Israeli security officials claimed these dead men were responsible for Munich; PLO pronouncements made them out to be important figures; and so the image of the Mossad as capable of delivering death at will grew and grew." The operation functioned not just to punish the perpetrators of Munich but also to disrupt and deter future terrorist acts, writes Klein. "For the second goal, one dead PLO operative was as good as another." Klein quotes a senior intelligence source: "Our blood was boiling. When there was information implicating someone, we didn't inspect it with a magnifying glass" (Time, 2005).

Yeah, I thought it was more, but this one is the only confirmed one I could find with a quick google search.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4138021.stm

Well, to me this seems like the Israeli team didnt get enough information before their hit.

But....aside from that, I have always heard that the Israeli team killed a couple civilians more than once in the case of mistaken identity. This was a tragic accident but it is by no means a couple civilians in more than one case.