Customer Reviews

Sword of Gideon

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Some of the best films are made for television, and this one is no exception.
This film has always been a heart stopper for me and never more than now. Following the events of 09/11/01 and the recently aired documentaries of the tragedy of the 1972 Olympic games, The Sword Of Gideon documents Israel's subsequent counteractions against the perpetrators of Munich. Based on the book "Vengeance" by George Jonas, this classic is brilliantly delivered and features a top notch cast (Stephen Bauer, Michael York, Rod Steiger, Colleen Dewhurst, et.al)
Bauer plays an Israeli soldier hired to head up a secret force of specialists to hunt down the remaining terrorists. However, the assignment soon goes awry and deteriorates into an "eye for an eye" personal quest.
This film is very hard to find but well worth the search. Don't miss it!

This film is a fictionalized account of the story of (one of) the Mossad teams which was sent globetrotting in pursuit of the Black September terrorists who massacred 11 Israeli athletes in the Olympic Village of the 1972 Munich Olympic games.
By fictionalized, I mean that the team members and the exact methods and locations for the assassinations probably do NOT match reality. The factual elements in the film are the Munich massacre, Golda Meir's directive to hunt the terrorists down, the names of the main Black September members involved, etc.
The film deals with the struggle to maintain sanity and humanity while fighting against those who lack decent amounts of each. The film is quite effective in showing the unbearable tension these men deal with in their jobs and how even the slightest mistake can be deadly.
The opening of the film has, in my opinion, some slightly poor production values. It is apparent that NOT a large section of the film's budget went into this section. Afterwards, though, it looks and flows very well.
The actors all do a good job in their roles. The direction is taut, the action strong, and the music is fabulous.
Just hope that the DVD transfer is a good one.

Some of the best films are made for television, and this one is no exception.
This film has always been a heart stopper for me and never more than now. Following the events of 09/11/01 and the recently aired documentaries of the tragedy of the 1972 Olympic games, The Sword Of Gideon documents Israel's subsequent counteractions against the perpetrators of Munich. Based on the book "Vengeance" by George Jonas, this classic is brilliantly delivered and features a top notch cast (Stephen Bauer, Michael York, Rod Steiger, Colleen Dewhurst, et.al)
Bauer plays an Israeli soldier hired to head up a secret force of specialists to hunt down the remaining terrorists. However, the assignment soon goes awry and deteriorates into an "eye for an eye" personal quest.
The DVD contains multiple scenes not seen in the VHS version such as extra training sequences with Bauer's character, additional scenes with his wife and his team, as well as extra scenes with Rod Steiger. None of these are crucial to the story, but they do provide some additional detail as well as further depth into the characters and their frustration.

My understanding is that Spielberg based the more recent film "Munich" on the same book that this HBO film from 20 years earlier was based on, which would account for the eerily similar, almost identical, sequence of events and character development. What I found dumbfounding is that not only are the story, the characters, and the incidents the same, but the sequence, some of the scenes, even some of the dialogue, are nearly identical: the early recruitment scene with Golda Meir eating fruit and pouring tea, Avner having bad dreams, the cut-away to exterior shots when explosions happen inside buildings, etc. Munich was a tighter and slightly shorter film and it has Spielberg's panache. "Munich" also has a post-9/11 sensibility that this earlier film of course could not have had. This film is somewhat less conflicted than "Munich" is about good vs evil, revenge vs justice. There is psychological conflict in this film, but we have no doubt about who the good guys and the bad guys are.

This is a bit easier to watch because the gore and violence are circa 1986 HBO, not 21st century for the big screen. The acting, dialogue,and details are serviceable,not with the same subtlety or interest as in the later film.
Despite the wig and prosthetic facial changes, I didn't buy Colleen Dewhurst as Golda Meir for one second, and she didn't even try to change her voice or accent.

The film quality seemed a bit washed out to me. The DVD has no features; the choices are either Play film, or Scene selection.

Sword of Gideon is the 1986 film which focuses on Avner (Steven Bauer) and his recruitment into the Massad for the purpose of hunting down and killing the Black September terrorists who killed the Israeli Olympic team of 1972. His overseer is well played by Rod Steiger and his team of agents includes Michael York, Robert Joy, and Laurent Malet. They track the terrorists through Europe defusing bombs, hunting down terrorists (including a femme fatale in Karen Racicot), and Avner has second thoughts about the whole mission.

The acting and script is believable if not completely true, gripping and intense. Another good similar film based on John Le Carre's novel is The Little Drummer Girl.

After going to the Theater to see "Munich", in my opinion 'Sword of Gideon" is more realistic, I find it superior to "Munich".
The cast is superb, each country had it own team to film.
There is no remake that equals the original.
I recomend to add this film to your library.

Very well pieced together and acted. Esp. the father of the lead character. You could just sense his earlier involvement with Mossad. Much better than the later Munich which was overdone, overacted, and not believable.

Sword of Gideon is a story of revenge by a team of Israeli spies on the perpetrators of the 1972 massacre during the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. Speilberg's movie Munich is a poor remake of the Sword of Gideon. I disagree with other reviewers who call this a poor man's Munich. This show tells the story much better and does not need the gore and blood to do it. Plus Spielberg's treatment of the main characters is quite poor -- in his version they're confused knuckleheads who're trying to figure out what it is they're doing. It's hard to conceive that MOSSAD would ever dispatch such a team for a mission this critical. Sword of Gideon does a much better job portraying the characters and telling the story. After all the better storyteller does not need to use pictures to tell his story -- which is what Spielberg does. He can't tell a good story so he fills up his show with gore.

The show is based on a book that while fictional, is based on real-life events. One of the things the book and this film try to show is the moral dilemma faced by the Israeli agents -- something most Israelis and Jew decry. In either case, it and intense movie, one of the great spy shows out there and definitely worth watching.

The strenght of an old woman a strong leader "Golda" establisted the new ground rules , hit them at the center , suspense . tense , constant action , Steven Bauer , Michael York and the team fit well together in this action of vengeance no matter the cost , yet with a true code of honour and respect for those innocent by standers, unlike the terrorist
with savage unconcern for human life ingeneral. The eventual strugle between duty , commitment for country and self emotions stirrs one own heart you get caught up in the action of these honourable anti-terrorist commandos and their dedication to the rules .Rod Steiger, plays a great part of the control and director of communication and the finanical support , an unemotional get the job done , yet he express's a deep tenderness that slips out to show his humanside,his love for Israel is first and goes without question.
Worth seeing , worth having in you libary !!!!!!!!!!!
Luddy

far better than Munich, this movie give you more deatil about the main charecter Avner. exelent if you liked Munich then this you would like even more!