During the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American sports broadcasting crew finds itself thrust into covering the hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes.
John Magaro
Geoffrey Mason
Leonie Benesch
Marianne Gebhardt
Peter Sarsgaard
Roone Arledge
Ben Chaplin
Marvin Bader
Zinedine Soualem
Jacques Lesgards
Georgina Rich
Gladys Deist
Corey Johnson
Hank Hanson
Marcus Rutherford
Carter Jeffrey
Daniel Adeosun
Gary Slaughter
Benjamin Walker
Peter Jennings
Ferdinand Dörfler
Hermann Jäger
Solomon Mousley
Roone's Assistant
Caroline Ebner
Assistant Editor Judy
Daniel Betts
Director Swim Race
Leif Eduard Eisenberg
Camera Assistant Ben
Sebastian Jehkul
Police Officer
Rony Herman
David Berger
Jeff Book
Berger's Father
Robert Porter Templeton
Director's Assistant
Stephen Fraser
Communicator
Leon Dragoi
Lighting Technician
Doris Meier
Content Assistant
Mark Ruppel
Sound Engineer
Christine Ulrich
Camera Control Technician
Günther Wernhard
Content Manager
Antje Westermann
Script Assistant
Harry Waterstone
Stage Assistant Larry
Andreas Honold
Stage Runner JJ
Stefan Mittermaier
VTR Tech Chuck
Miguel Abrantes Ostrowski
Hans Klein
Kim Hanfland
Ulrike Meyfarth
David Iselin
Mark Spitz
Nikita Borisov
Werner Lampe
Karolina Gabinger
Anneliese Graess
Robert Glade
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Immanuel Rahman
Terrorist Issa
Paul Böhme
Masked Man / German Athlete
Brendan Todd
American Interviewer
Dirk Schepanek
ZDF Interviewer
Saeid Yazdani
Mohamed Tarabulsi
Matthias Schum
Jim McKay Double
Stiev Neubert
Tuvia Sokolsky Double
Rafael Peña
Translator Double
Director, Writer
Tim Fehlbaum
Co-Writer
Alex David
Script Consultant
Tobias Madison
Writer
Moritz Binder
January 12, 2025
6
It’s invariably disappointing when a movie you’ve been looking forward to seeing doesn’t live up to expectations. But such is the case with the latest offering from writer-director Tim Fehlbaum. This re-creation of the day when Black September terrorists took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage at the 1972 Munich Summer Games, sadly, misses the mark on many fronts. As told from the perspective of the ABC sportscasting crew covering the story, the film comes up short in conveying the sense of urgency and immediacy associated with this human tragedy, which was broadcast live around the globe and is said to have attracted more viewers than Neil Armstrong’s 1969 moon landing. While the picture is to be commended for its apparent authenticity and insights at capturing the events and mood inside the broadcast headquarters, much of the narrative nevertheless descends into a talky, overly technical take on what was transpiring around the TV crew, not a particularly effective way of depicting the nature of an event that shook the world and inevitably changed the way on which crisis situations are reported. While I certainly was not looking for sensationalist treatment here, I also wasn’t expecting to be bored by its clumsy, underwhelming chronicling of circumstances that had the globe on the edge of its seat. The depiction of this scenario, including the coverage of the particulars of that day, as well as examination of the myriad moral implications involved in their televised presentation, fail to captivate viewers on the same way as the events themselves did. I personally remember this fateful day quite well as one that became indelibly etched into the memory of an impressionable 15-year-old – and one that played a critical role in my eventual decision to pursue an education and career in journalism. Because of that, perhaps I expected too much from this release. Perhaps I had unrealistic hopes that an entertainment vehicle could live up to the compelling journalistic portrayal of an event such as this. Either way, though, that doesn’t make up for the disappointment associated with the telling of this story. In a world plagued by as many catastrophes as we experience these days, one could argue that we needn’t be reminded of those that are now behind us. But, if we choose to embrace the notion of “never forget” associated with such traumatic incidents, it behooves those behind such painful commemorations to make sure that their impact unmistakenly comes through, something that is definitely not the case with this offering.