Munich

"The world was watching in 1972 as 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics. This is the story of what happened next."

2005 2h 44m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 3,109

DramaHistoryThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.

“The world was watching in 1972 as 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics. This is the story of what happened next.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon Prime VideoSubscription

Amazon Prime Video with AdsSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Eric Bana
Avner
Daniel Craig
Steve
Ciarán Hinds
Carl
Mathieu Kassovitz
Robert
Hanns Zischler
Hans
Ayelet Zurer
Daphna
Geoffrey Rush
Ephraim
Gila Almagor
Avner's Mother

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Tony Kushner, Eric Roth
Languages: Arabic, German, Greek, English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Russian
Countries: United States of America, Canada, Hungary, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 164 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $70M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 21 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 8 languages: Arabic, German, Greek, English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: United States of America, Canada, Hungary, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

366+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Steven Spielberg, shot by Janusz Kamiński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steven Spielberg directs. Janusz Kamiński behind the camera. John Williams scores. Michael Kahn cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Canada, Hungary, France. Dialogue in Arabic, German, Greek, English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 164 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Mid-budget at $70M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
3Released 21 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 8 languages: Arabic, German, Greek, English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Russian.
5International production across 4 countries: United States of America, Canada, Hungary, France.
6366+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Steven Spielberg, shot by Janusz Kamiński. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Michael Kahn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Eric Bana and Daniel Craig and Ciarán Hinds carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "The world was watching in 1972 as 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics. This is the story of what happened next.".
12IMDB entry: tt0408306 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 17 themes, including "hotel room", "israel", "mossad", "assassination".
14Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Janusz Kamiński
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Michael Kahn
Production design: Rick Carter
Costume design: Joanna Johnston
Makeup / hair: Rossana Parker
VFX supervisor: Pablo Helman
Sound: Ben Burtt
Stunt coordinator: Gabe Cronnelly
Runtime: 164 min · 2h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $70,000,000
Box office: $130,982,129
Return: 187% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Munich (2005)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Steven Spielberg

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Peter McGinn2021-05-09
★ 7/10
Another big budget movie from Spielberg, this one a thriller drawn from actual events. The movie was tense and entertaining, with an ensemble cast you have to appreciate. I have no desire to delve into the politics behind the movie or its accuracy. I am looking only at it for its entertainment value. There were a few things I really liked about it. The chemistry among the mission team, once it developed, was impressive. They are not bosom buddies at all, but they grew to appreciate what each other brought to the team. Although there is plenty of tension here, I also appreciated the angle of these men beginning to question the ethics of what they were doing. That sets this script aside from most other thrillers. And I really like Ciara Hinds. He brings a calmness to the role, a calm backed by strength. I have liked in other roles, so it is no more than I expect. I am not a fan of thrillers, but if there were more like this one, who knows?
CinemaSerf2024-04-29
★ 7/10
The start of this shows the American news reporting of the atrocity at the Munich Olympiad that resulted in the murder of eleven people at the hands of the Palestinian "Black September" movement. The Israeli government faces a difficult task in tracking down those responsible. Some political and diplomatic tightropes to walk, so they alight on a plan to engage five freelance individuals to do the job for them. This group is to be led by "Avner" (Eric Bana) and handled by "Ephraim" (Geoffrey Rush) on a distinctly arm's-length basis. What ensues now sees these men, with the help of "Louis" (Mathieu Amalric) who uses their considerable financial resources to secure information of the whereabouts of these culprits, set about their mission. This isn't a task about justice, it's straightforward revenge. No efforts are needed to capture these people alive, though they do attempt to limit the extent of collateral damage - especially as virtually none of their activities take place on Israeli soil. It's when one of their operations goes spectacularly wrong that they begin to suspect that they are also being used by other nefarious folks to do a bit of housekeeping too. The underpinning story is one of vengeance, of retribution and though initially I did have some sympathy with that cause, I found the marauding actions of these men with a self-appointed justification for their slaughtering to become a little unjustifiable. The actor Bana can't really impose himself - or his character - enough to humanise the proceedings and though Rush does impact now and again when he is on screen, the rest of the cast deliver a lacklustre contribution to what I perceived to be an increasingly unforgivable course of action that was only ever going to make matters worse and sow more seeds of counter-vengeance. To be fair to Steven Spielberg, I think he has presented this film in a fashion that invites comment and criticism. Not just of the random atrocity with which we begin, but of the futility of engaging in a dog-eat-dog cycle of self-perpetuating violence. Michael Lonsdale's outwardly rather benign "Papa" living a life of peace and family in rural France illustrating well that there are rarely any winners in these sorts of conflicts - and those that do rarely have any skin in the game beyond the venal. Amalric does quite well in these slightly sleazy sort of roles, but otherwise I was underwhelmed by the whole, somewhat lengthy, thing.
kendallgibson2026-08-27
★ 9/10
Wow! You should never let a substitute teacher bring this in (for obvious reasons) but I do think this movie has a place in our schools as either a carrot or the stick. People from column A will cream their pants at the complexity, and people from column B will vomit at the corpse dangling from the ceiling fan. The Incredible Hulk teams up with James Bond to rescue/avenge Olympians from terrorists... and hilarity ensues! I will admit wholeheartedly that I did not understand parts of this movie -- but do I even want to understand them, I ask? I applaud any director who can take an interesting piece of history, name the movie after a city, and then make the movie entirely not about that interesting piece of history nor that city. My favorite part is when two factions are accidentally handed keys to the same safehouse, as if it were an AirBnB mixup, and Daniel Craig is all like "we want to listen to this music now!" It's not a popcorn movie, it's not an action thriller, and it's not a historical drama -- it's Munich.