21 Hours at Munich (1976)

I've vaguely picked up a thing or two about the infamous so-called "Munich Massacre" in school and from quizzes, but the best way to learn about our world's darkest history pages remains watching a lot of movies (and preferably not the Oscar-winning blockbuster types directed by Steven Spielberg). "21 Hours at Munich" is a straightforward and raw, but hugely compelling, re-telling of the tragedy that occurred during the Summer Olympics of 1972 held in Munich. Several members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September invaded the Olympic village, which clearly suffered from a lack of proper security and basic surveillance, and took hostage of nine Israeli athletes and coaches. Two people were violently killed during the takeover. The terrorists' demands were clear and nonnegotiable, namely the release of no less than 234 fellow Palestinian rebels in various Israeli prisons, but Israel denied all forms of collaboration and thus the only thing German authorities could do was try and gain extra time. Less than a day later, hence the title, the act of terrorism resulted in a genuine blood bath at Fürstenfeldbruck Airport, where the nine hostages as well as most of the terrorists got killed by gunfire. As indicated above already, I wasn't all too familiar with the detailed facts surrounding the Munich Massacre, hence I can't fully judge the accuracy of this film. But, since it's a made-for-TV production that puts the emphasis on dialogs and factual settings instead of sensationalism, I daresay the movie is probably the most accurate depiction of what really happened. The drama effect of the film is quickly established since it's clear from the beginning that the hostage situation can't but result in a tragedy. The Israeli government rejects all negotiations and pushes the responsibility back to the German authorities. Then, the terrorists demand to flee to Cairo but the Egyptian government rejects all negotiations and pushes the responsibility back to the German authorities. For Germany, the situation is extra delicate because of their negative historical reputation. After all, the entire world is watching skeptically whether or not they will prevent the Jewish athletes from dying on German soil. Fascinating, real-life dramatic subject matter makes this one a truly recommended 70's movie. "21 Hours at Munich" is suspenseful and harsh, but always remains respectful towards the victims and never at one point exploits the violent and/or political aspects of the events. The acting performances are terrific, albeit the casting couldn't have been easy. Franco Nero, as the terrorist leader, doesn't look Arabian at all, but nevertheless delivers a powerfully bleak and emotionless performance. William Holden is great as the German chief of police, but Shirley Knight is somewhat redundant as the only female character in the entire movie. She plays the spokesperson of the Olympic committee and – fruitlessly - attempts to create a bond with the terrorists' leader. Also, keep an eye open for David Hess (the psycho from "Last House on the Left") as one of the Israeli hostages.

This film has the look of a theater film instead of a made for television film. Overall it is very satisfying. William Holden does a very good job portraying the West German Police Captain in charge. The supporting members around him are very good as well.The Black September kidnapping attempt of part of the Isreali Olympic team at the 1972 Munich Olympic games is not just a tragedy, but cast a bit of a shadow on the Olympics first visit to Germany since the 1936 Nazi affair. Unfortunately, terrorism seems to have gotten even worse than this incident, but this film tells the story very well about 1972 terrorism.I watched this on an HD broadcast and am very impressed with the quality of the film picture in HD for this 1976 production. The film feels quite authentic, and looks quite so being done only 4 years after the actual events. The Director of this film has over 130 TV & Movie credits in his career and his work here is as good as any on his resume.

watched this just a couple of days ago,, and wow, this is a really great made for TV movie,, it doesn't blow everything out of proportion like those Hollylwood movies do, this one tells it straightforward, just as they actually happened, the filming took place on the actual grounds of the 76 Olympics at Munich. William Holden did a wonderful job in this film, as it was near the end of his career. Frances Nero, who i really never heard of before was pretty darn good as the terrorist leader, the movie starts out shortly before the kidnapping of the Israeli athletes, and goes all the way to the final act, i like this one better than Munich cause Munich just concentrated on the aftermath,, investigation,, it didn't do what this film did for me,, and that is to show the planning,, what happened during the kidnapping, and all of that stuff, this film did wonderful explaining to me what really happened that fateful year at the 20th Olympiad.

Accurate but cold vision of the frightful events that took place in Munich in 1972 when the Israeli delegation of athletes is kidnapped by a bunch of Arab terrorists.The movie tries to be a faithful documentary of this political disaster but although his serious and impartial view - a good point - the outcome is just a cold and not gripping retelling.I give this a 5 (five).