Most people remember (if they do at all) that the 1972 Olympics marked the emergence of Mark Spitz as a superstar. This 1999 Academy Award winning documentary arrives on DVD in a re-release courtesy of Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” which follows the Mosad’s (the Israeli equivalent of our CIA I suppose) attempt to bring the “Black September” terrorist group to justice for taking hostage and murdering 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics. Since this is a documentary the director Kevin McDonald provides a fair balanced account of this tragedy including an interview with one of the surviving terrorist still in hiding as well as the family members and friends of the victims. Featuring a memorable score by Phillip Glass, vintage footage from the time and new interviews/footage this is a powerful look at how ideology can sway others to kill innocents in pursuit of their version of “justice”. Michael Douglas’ spare narration acts as the strands binding together this documentary without being intrusive. He provides the historical perspective of the importance of Israel participating in the Olympic Games in Germany many years after the games appeared there under the watchful eye and influence of Nazi Germany. The image quality varies a bit with the newer footage looking quite good with just a hint of grain. The vintage footage varies in quality from very scratchy, soft images to fairly sharp ivid footage.

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