During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sports broadcasting team must adapt to live coverage of the Israeli athletes being held hostage by a terrorist group.During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sports broadcasting team must adapt to live coverage of the Israeli athletes being held hostage by a terrorist group.During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sports broadcasting team must adapt to live coverage of the Israeli athletes being held hostage by a terrorist group.
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Summary
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In "September 5" the 'villains' are clearly the Palestinian terrorists and the horrors of what is currently happening in the Middle East may put many people off seeing this film but then you could also say that "September 5" isn't so much about the hostage taking as it is about the reporting of the situation by ABC and this is definitely the best film about political journalism since "All the President's Men".
Director Tim Fehlbaum films it like a documentary and his remarkable cast respond beautifully. Every performance is pitch-perfect as is Markus Forderer's cinematography, Hansjorg WeiBbrich's editing and Fehlbaum's screenplay co-written with Moritz Binder and Alex David which doesn't feel like a script at all but a piece of actual news reportage and the thrills come not so much from hostage taking as from the dangers involved in simply recording it. The result is terrific cinema that simply shouldn't be missed.
The world watched in real-time as the crisis unfolded, and Black September achieved exactly what they wanted: maximum publicity. This was one of the first instances where a terrorist attack was staged with the global media in mind, creating a model that has since been replicated.
The media's role in amplifying terrorism is complex. On one hand, coverage is necessary to inform the public, expose security failures, and hold governments accountable. On the other, the relentless focus on the perpetrators can sometimes grant them the notoriety they seek. This has led to ongoing ethical debates about how journalists should report on terrorism without unintentionally promoting it.
By revisiting September 5, the film not only honors the victims but also forces viewers to confront the enduring complexities of terrorism, security failures, and international politics that remain relevant today.
The whole cast does a great job of saying all the news jargon with a high intensity but the main 3 stand out further. John Magaro rises to the challenge of covering something he never thought he'd have to whilst feeling the most guilty about what transpires, Peter Sarsgaard is commanding and clearly just as interested in personal gain as he is in documenting the events and Ben Chaplin is the most cautious yet still waves away some errors.
Tim Fehlbaum's direction mostly keeps everything contained in the studio to increase the chaos since all the information comes from outside and adds a layer of disconnection. Markus Förderer's tight and mobile cinematography is unwavering which is then combined with Hansjörg Weißbrich's meticulous editing to move at a high speed throughout and ensures the pacing is as airtight as humanly possible.
As stated in the above title, I found this telling most interesting of all.
I saw Spielberg's Munich in the theater years ago and I remember still feeling that it was a bit overlong and bloated. Even boring, I hate to say. And metaphorical to a fault.
This version of the facts is more taut, the run time for this film is shorter, and the clock is ticking in the movie, and the lives at stake.
Also, airtime. You are in the control room of ABC's Wide World of Sports when the tragic terrorist events occur during the Olympics in Germany in 1972.
Cigarettes are smoked. Rotary dial telephones are used for communication.
And there is a major crisis unfolding in the Olympic village.
It's a good history lesson for Gen-Z.
Even appropriate for grade level history in classrooms, middle school and up, I would think but it's rated R, so no.
But history is hardly ever pretty.
John Magaro and Ben Chaplin shine most brightly with their stellar performances.
This is worth a trip to the cinema.
It wouldn't be a terrible idea to bring your high school aged child to the theater with you for this one.
They could stand to learn a little history.
They'll walk out with you afterwards and say, Did that really happen?
I liked the classic 1972 vibe, sigars, the know how, the first tv's and ict difficulties in that time. You also get a rewatch of the drama that took place in that olympic village. The 100minutes flew by and I never took my eyes of the screen.
If you like movies or real good documentaires, i strongly advice to watch this. Especially if your into world wide events. A 9 out of 10! Watch ln the big screen!!!!!!!!!...
Did you know
- TriviaAll of the live video footage of the siege and the studio presentation and interviews is the original footage as broadcast by ABC during the crisis, taken directly from their archive.
- GoofsThe crew are seen drinking from beer cans with retained ring pulls. This type of opening mechanism wasn't widely in use until the original patents expired in 1975, three years after the events depicted in the movie.
- Quotes
Marianne Gebhardt: [translating] He's saying that the Games are an opportunity to welcome the world to a new Germany, to move on from the past.
Marvin Bader: Yeah, sure.
Marianne Gebhardt: I mean, it's what we all hope for. What else can we do but move on, try to be better?
Marvin Bader: [stops the video] Are your parents still around?
Marianne Gebhardt: Yes.
Marvin Bader: Let me guess- they didn't know either, right?
Marianne Gebhardt: [pause] Well, I'm not them.
Marvin Bader: No. No, you're not. I'm sorry.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 82nd Golden Globe Awards (2025)
- SoundtracksFortunate Son
Performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Music and Lyrics by John Fogerty (as John Cameron Fogerty)
(c) Shanty Kelyn Music / Concord Copyrights
Courtesy of Concord Music GmBH, Berlin
(p) Craft Recordings, a division of Concord
Details
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- Also known as
- Septiembre 5
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Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,508,723
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $80,802
- Dec 15, 2024
- Gross worldwide
- $8,237,910
- Runtime
- 1h 35m(95 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1