Review: '21 Hours At Munich' a Standout Despite Strange Casting

The Steven Spielberg masterpiece "Munich," made in 2005, is about the covert Israeli group sent to assassinate the 11 Palestinians involved in the slaughter of the Olympian athletes at Munich in 1972. It's one of Spielberg's finest films, and would make a great companion piece with William A Graham's TV movie, "21 Hours at Munich," given the latter film's excellent Kino Lorber Blu-ray release.

The docu-film, broadcast in 1976 (opposite a "Gone with the Wind" rebroadcast, which won the ratings night) was shown theatrically in some countries and shot both flat for TV and wide for theatrical release. Both versions appear on the Blu-ray.

Blending actual footage with fictional, "21 Days" tells the infamous story of how in September of 1972, a group of Arab terrorists known as "Black September" easily walked into the Olympic village in Munich and seized the Israeli team, murdering one member and taking the rest hostage. The film chronicles their impossible demands, and how Israel rightly refused to capitulate, as well as how the German government botched almost everything, beginning with the lack of security for the teams, and including negotiations. The horrific finale is handled in a manner that is not gratuitous, but it also doesn't pack the punch that it should.

The film is based on the book, "The Blood of Israel" by Serge Groussard.

One of the fascinating aspects of the movie is how the German bureaucrats wanted to pass the buck and make it an Israeli issue. Of course, the film could have gone into more detail here.

The casting is just plain bizarre. William Holden, one of the greats, plays the head of the Munich police – which makes very little sense. He doesn't bother attempting an accent so it's quite off-putting. (This was Holden's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated performance in Sidney Lumet's "Network.") Franco Nero, an obvious Italian, plays the leader of Black September. Another head scratcher since he's an Arab with an Italian accent. And I'm not sure what ethnicity Shirley Knight's character is supposed to be, but she also sticks out like a sore thumb. All three are quite good, but simply miscast.

The Blu-ray is impressive on all levels. Both versions look and sound great.

Film historian Gary Gerani's audio commentary provides good historical background.

Blu-ray Extras Include: