Sword of Gideon

Re the summary of this movie... It is a few years since I saw it, but I do not recall any of the "anti-war" or "anti Israel" sentiment suggested in the summary. Of course one takes movies like this with a pinch of salt from a historical point of view, but the message I got from it was distinctly "Don't Mess With Israel(is)".

Details accounts of the Israeli goverment seeking out and destroying the terrorists of 1972 Olympics. This movie is in the same vein as The Assignment and Clear and Present Danger. It also explores the emotional component of the assassins and their families. It got spies, action , sex, love, happiness, sadness and it is based on true accounts. What else could you ask for?! Steven Bauer's portrayal as an Israeli is very true to form and impressive. You really do feel his emotional roller coaster and his internal conflict about his role as justice maker or simple revenge. Although the movie begins with a primer of the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympics, I recommend seeing One Day in September, directed by Kevin MacDonald and narrated by Michael Douglas, to give yourself a better understanding of the motivation behind this docu-drama. This is a very timely movie considering the upcoming Olympics and the war on terror.

This tense, fascinating film details how men are recruited into the Israeli Mossad to search for and kill those responsible for the Munich Olympics murders. Also, we see how the men are pressured to stay in the group. Great acting and real locations make it all the more compelling. The morality of what they're doing is questioned at several points, and we see some very chilling assasination scenes.

The ending is a bit of a let-down, but then since it is based on actual events . . . I am not Jewish but found this film to be suspenseful and very involving -- a humdinger.

When Psycho was redone, the same camera angles, etc. were utilized as in the original Hitchcock version. Having just seen Munich, The Sword of Gideon inspired a big deja vu. Twenty years later and the great Spielberg could not find a way to improve on Gideon. Gideon's emotion was no less and support from people like Rod Steiger and Colleen Dewhurst is hard to top. The Gideon sets were replicated in the Munich version as well. Interestingly, both movies ran about the same exact amount of time. Bauer's Avner was intense and emotional. If one of these films is to be seen, I'd call it a six of one and half a dozen of the other.

With the events of 9/11 and the middle east suicide bombings,this is still a topical movie.There seem to be 2 versions of this movie,strive for the longer one.Its a HBO film that I saw on a different cable station and then bought the film on EBAY.The film on e-bay was a unedited still in its original box for 86 minutes but with a few scenes cut out.Maybe there was a European vs US issue?At any rate the scenes cut out hightened as point of view in favor of Isreal which I share.This film is propaganda to be sure,but isn't all film? In a powerful scene that was shortened to cut out this statement,Golda Mair the Isreal Premire is explaining to the new Mossad recruit why their cause is rightous.This paraphrase was cut from the short version where she says,"The killed our children while the world played games" Its a haunting film.