tmself Skip Munich and rent this version-- better, tighter script, direction and photography.In Munich, Eric Bana looks like a deer in the headlights for most of the film. Steven Bauer much more effective, not surprising as he is a better actor. Same for the rest of the cast.In Munich, angst is way overblown and takes up too much of the film. It takes away from the little suspense the film generates. Avner as portrayed by Bauer has many layers and is a complex individual. Bana's Avner seems just a portrayal of a man in over his head.Munich has two excellent performances-- the father and son French crime syndicate leaders-- performances in SOG solid across the board.

dweezilzappa This movie is on my top ten list. As a character study the actors are very believable; you can feel the tension and emotion. In a nutshell the story is about a hit-squad recruited by the Mossad (Israel's version of the CIA) to find and kill the PLO members responsible for engineering the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. As they travel the globe, one by one they pick them off. Avner (Steven Bauer) is perfect as Avner, a commando leader in the Israeli army, and Colleen Dewhurst even looks like Golda Meir. Each member of the team has a specialty, and their performances are realistic - or at least what you would expect. The scene where Robert checks his apartment for booby traps is riveting. Don't even blink during that! While Steven Spielberg's Munich isn't out as of this review, I can't compare, but I understand the story is basically the same, though at 2-1/2 hours Munich may delve deeper into the story. No matter, I'll still watch Sword of Gideon every time it's on cable.

brgr88 This drama about the Israeli secret service's attempts at avenging the terrorist murderings of their Olympic athletes in the '70s might not leave you on the edge of your seat, but definitely makes for good watching, and is worth the rental price. (Rod Steiger makes a good showing as a retired Jewish spy!)Basically, Israeli intelligence (called Mossad) carries out an assassination campaign against the alleged terrorists with varying success. Made-for-TV action sequences have a tendency to be a trifle stale, but in this movie they actually come across with a sense of realism, if not necessarily "edge-of-your-seat" exciting (unlike Hollywood which, while fun & exciting, is about as realistic as the National Enquirer).This movie will be much more enjoyable to watch if you have at least some background/interest in modern Israeli history, otherwise it's just typical made-for-TV fare...

minastirith 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)".