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Author Topic: Munich Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-26-2005 01:33 AM                        As you all know, once in a while Spielberg feels the urge to put all his toy monsters and aliens down and make a "serious" movie. Only a few months after his probably worst and most superfluous film ever ("The War of the Worlds"), comes "Munich". It is based on (or "inspired by" as the title puts it carefully) the real events following the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes by PLO terrorists during the Olympic Games of 1972 in Munich (hence the title, it has nothing to do with polka music and lederhosen, if that's what you thought). In the following years, Israeli commandos operating completely outside any legal or paralegal perimeters hunted down and killed most of those they saw as responsible for the planning of the terror attack. "Munich" tells the story of one of the commando leaders and his men in intense, realistic, shocking images. There is no special effects parade or hollow movie heroism on display here. It is an outstanding film, a thriller, but one with an immense depth. The complexity of the political situation, the resolve and courage of the agents on the one hand, the doubts and self-questioning and the immense psychological pressure they are under on the other, this movie presents a complex and compelling human and political drama. People will inevitably accuse Spielberg of taking sides, whatever suits their own views best but the truth is, the movie is surprisingly balanced in its presentation of the situation and the characters. You really can't tell where it all began, who the good and who the bad guys are, and where it is supposed to end. And I think that is the core message of "Munich". Great performances by Eric Bana and Geoffrey Rush and the supporting cast which ironically includes Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, reminding us that this is as 007 as it probably ever got in the real world. In scope, rather untypically for Spielberg. Highly recommended.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 12-26-2005 12:37 PM                     Did they touch upon the debacle of the agents in Lillehammer? This was supposedly a separate team of assassins from the ones portrayed in the book Vengeance and Munich the movie.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-26-2005 05:27 PM                        SPOILERS No, if you are referring to the incident when they killed a waiter which they had mistaken for one of their "targets". But there is another assasination in the film which goes wrong and also harms innocent people, in this case an Israeli couple. I do not know how historically accurate the movie ("inspired by real events") is. I have read a lot about the Munich massacre and its aftermath, but I don't remember enough details. It could be that they also condensed some elements. You only learn at the end of the film that there are other teams when the Mossad officer (Rush) tells the main character Avner (Bana). I found that a little strange. Even though they operated in utmost secrecy and with basically no ties to the Mossad, it most have come to their attention via the news or their informants that PLO people began blowing up all over Europe.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 12-29-2005 01:18 AM                     News story today on MSNBC.com. Former Mossad Officers are stating that this film is grossly innacurate and that there is much disappointment in Speilberg, considering what he accomplished with "Schindler's List".  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-29-2005 06:14 AM                        Of course there is "disappointment" in Spielberg (not Speilberg) because the film is not a one-sided glorification. But this forum is not for such discussions, but for discussion of the film. Have you seen it?  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 12-30-2005 04:26 PM                        CINEMA: Century 20 at Jordan Creek, West Des Moines, IA AUDITORIUM: 9 PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital/THX PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None RATING: Three stars (out of four) First show of the day and there's popcorn scraps and dirty foot tracks throughout this row. And I'm the only one sitting in this row. Somebody was lazy last night. Eric Bana did a fabulous job in this movie, but I couldn't keep from thinking to myself "...So the Isrealis hired the HULK to get their revenge?!?" Especially during the last sex scene. I don't expect this movie plays out just as each assassination took place, but factual or fictional, Spielberg tells a good story here. It's too long, but it's good. I'm still not forgiving him for "War of the Worlds".  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 12-30-2005 06:37 PM                        quote: "...So the Isrealis hired the HULK to get their revenge?!?" No, silly, he is just an actor portraying people (and monsters), he is not the actual Israeli agent.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-02-2006 09:21 PM                        Good film. Maybe a bit over-rated by many reviewers, but it was a good, well-told story, even if it isn't totally accurate. One of my hobbies (err...obsessions?) is picking out misused props in films. Look for the RCA TK-76 handheld television camera (not introduced until 1976), a couple of Arriflex S cameras being used for sync-sound filming (which they can't really do; the 16BL, which is what I'm standing behind in my current member photo, is the appropriate sync camera for that era), and a phone number for a payphone (212-664-7665) which is ostensibly located in Brooklyn, but isn't in a Brooklyn exchange.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-02-2006 09:35 PM                     Not to hijack the thread, but the incontinuity thing I can't stand is stupid mistakes in geography. It could be people mentioning an Interstate highway that doesn't exist or run through the state where the movie takes place. Another is car chases that have footage from two completely different places. Example: Patriot Games. There's a car chase where Irish terrorists are trying to gun down Jack Ryan's wife. Some of the footage was shot in Maryland. But then other inserts were obviously filmed in Los Angeles. You could see the CA state highway symbol on some of the signs. I guess what pisses me off about that shit is the filmmakers believing no one will notice. We do notice. Immediately.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 01-02-2006 10:55 PM                     Not to be a dig at you bobby, but I'm sure only nitpickers notice this stuff right away. Unless it's a glaringly bad film and I'm checking my watch, I know I dont notice stuff like this, unless with multiple viewings and even then maybe not.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-03-2006 02:35 AM                        That is not true, Mike. I remember how deeply shocked I was when I watched "Gladiator" which is set in about 180AD, and in the one scene in the dungeons of the Collosseum in which they pick up armor from a big table you can clearly see one which is obviously an Anglo-Saxon helmet, that means, from more than 300 years later! I was not only shocked but also hurt and felt ridiculed by the makers of that film. Did they think they could get away with that? Did they really think we, the audience are that stupid that we wouldn't notice that? Apparently they did. But they were wrong. When I left the theater, a lot of people were talking about that, and that was the beginning of the big worldwide protests against the film when people picketed the theaters in (historically correct) Roman outfits.  |  IP: Logged Rick Hunter Master Film Handler Posts: 452 From: Melbourne, Australia Registered: Feb 2003 posted 01-03-2006 02:46 AM                     quote: Bobby Henderson I guess what pisses me off about that shit is the filmmakers believing no one will notice. We do notice. Immediately. Not to mention cars that have been taking part in a prolonged chase or travelling sequence yet still have shots with water vapour coming from their exhausts.  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 01-10-2006 10:40 PM                        I never noticed the geographical errors in Patriot Games, but in Ransom, characters walk around the corner and wind up five miles away in Manhattan. That always bugs me. I also hate it when movies use one of the equipment transport trucks to block the end of the street. It's always so obvious to me. You can practically see the permit in the window Even The Godfather did that. When a set or other cities stand-in for Manhattan, they always seem to be on a North-South block that has a dead-end. That really doesn't happen in the real Manhattan (with only a few exceptions.) It really makes the streets look fake. On TV, Law & Order always displays fake addresses, I would presume because they're afraid of getting sued. And I've always hated when the movies or TV shows use phone numbers in the 555 exchange. That has always sounded really phony. As I've posted elsewhere, there were a few geographical errors in King Kong, but it really didn't hurt the film. It's just that they obviously tried so hard to get so much right, I'm surprised at what they got wrong.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-11-2006 07:15 AM                        If it makes you all happy, there were a few such errors in "Munich", too. For instance, the scene in Athens doesn't look like Athens at all. It could be, after all even though I have been there many times, I obviously don't know every street. But it simply doesn't look right. Athens is not a city with many historic buildings and a mediterranean flair, it is an ugly mass of 60s and 70s style concrete blocks. In the same scene, Avner (Bana) asks a guy who appears to be just passing by for a light - in German, and in wrong German on top of that. In Athens? (For those who don't know, Athens is in Greece). Not an actual "geographical" error, but when you hear people speak German in American movies, it's often incredibly bad. I mean characters who are from Germany, like the terrorists in "Die Hard". Or in "Guns of Navarone", the character played by Gregory Peck is an (American, but supposedly perfectly fluent in German) officer who leads the commando. After they climb the cliffs and overwhelm the guard, the telephone in the guard post rings. Peck answers the phone in hilariously bad German. OK, that response also triggers an alarm, but for someone who is supposedly perfectly fluent and has worked undercover, it is really extremely bad.  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 01-14-2006 02:52 AM                     So, I finally saw this film this evening at Harkins Superstitution Springs 25 in Mesa, AZ. The presentation was beyond pathetic! The Kodak Digital pre-show was running in flat with scope masking...absolutly horrible. Mentioned to a theatre manager to fix it and he tried blowing smoke up my ass about Kodak Digital not having the ability to adjust for proper masking! Then, the film was a late start and patrons had to track down another manager to get the film started. Unless I am wrong, I was lead to believe that this theatre has a "dedicated" projection staff. Could not prove it by me...horrible multiple, non-stop horizontal black and green scratches from the first trailer to the final credits...was platter scratches. Also, the screen was badly stained in multiple areas, possibly from someone throwing a soda-pop or something at it? To make matters worse, the theatre was not cleaned between shows, as I nearly tripped and fell on a cardboard concession tote box that was left on the floor of the seat isle I decided to settle on. As for the content of the film....YAWN! There was no sense at all of even accurate, basic undercover intelligance work. For those of you wishing to understand how Mossad operates, I suggest the following: All of the agents who took part in the Eichmann abduction are now known...Peter Malkin (who actually tackeled Eichmann) is a well known artist and educator/lecturer. Many of those agents have written books about Operation Eichmann. An interesting thing to note is that not all of these Mossadnicks were best of friends, and in many instances there were, and continue to be, a clash of alter egos among the team members. However, if one reads all these books, one can piece together what actually happened and can see how Isreali intelligance largly relied on "humanit" rather than James Bond type gadgetry.  |  IP: Logged

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