Spielberg to make movie about 1972 Olympics

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-07-11 05:51pm

According to IMDB:

While noting that Steven Spielberg has been trying to keep a secrecy lid on his next movie for DreamWorks, today's (Friday) Wall Street Journal reports that information about the film, which, it said, is expected to be his most important since Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, has begun leaking out. According to the newspaper, the film is likely to be titled Vengeance and will star Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy) as an agent for Israel's secret service, the Mossad, hunting down the Palestinian terrorists who murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Marvin Levy, Spielberg's publicist, denied that security on the set of the movie was the primary reason why the studio was refusing to release any information about it. Security, Levy said, "is just another factor, but not the primary reason" for secrecy.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-07-11 06:17pm

Cool. This has considerable potential. I'm looking forward to it.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-07-12 01:22am

The movie should also show some of the Palestinian point of view and their plight of suffering. Killing the athletes was an despicable act but I think Israelis have not been much better than the terrorists when it comes to how they deal with Palestinians.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2004-07-12 01:48am

evilcat4000 wrote:The movie should also show some of the Palestinian point of view and their plight of suffering. Killing the athletes was an despicable act but I think Israelis have not been much better than the terrorists when it comes to how they deal with Palestinians.

Dude, that was a shameless plug. This movie is about athletes that were murdered. I doubt you'll see any westerns in the U.S. that highlight how crappy the Natives were treated, so what makes you think that's gonna be highlighted here?

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-07-12 02:21am

evilcat4000 wrote:The movie should also show some of the Palestinian point of view and their plight of suffering. Killing the athletes was an despicable act but I think Israelis have not been much better than the terrorists when it comes to how they deal with Palestinians.

Oh for fuck's sakes. I suppose to better explain the Israeli situation we better stick the Holocaust into the movie as well.

Jesus Christ, everyone knows that the Israelis aren't saints. That's not what the fucking movie is about.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-07-12 02:24am

Seems like an interesting project.

I'm not too fond of the title though.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-07-12 03:12am

Dude, that was a shameless plug. This movie is about athletes that were murdered. I doubt you'll see any westerns in the U.S. that highlight how crappy the Natives were treated, so what makes you think that's gonna be highlighted here?

You will, actually, ever since Cheyenne Autumn westerns have been more likely to be sympathetic to how poorly the Indians were treated.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2004-07-12 03:26am

Xenophobe3691 wrote: I doubt you'll see any westerns in the U.S. that highlight how crappy the Natives were treated, so what makes you think that's gonna be highlighted here?

Ever seen "Dances With Wolves"??

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-07-12 10:02am

Jesus Christ, everyone knows that the Israelis aren't saints. That's not what the fucking movie is about.

Are you kidding? The majority of Americans think the Israelis walk on water.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-07-12 10:16am

Howedar wrote:
evilcat4000 wrote:The movie should also show some of the Palestinian point of view and their plight of suffering. Killing the athletes was an despicable act but I think Israelis have not been much better than the terrorists when it comes to how they deal with Palestinians.
Oh for fuck's sakes. I suppose to better explain the Israeli situation we better stick the Holocaust into the movie as well.

Jesus Christ, everyone knows that the Israelis aren't saints. That's not what the fucking movie is about.

The movie is supposed to be about palestinian terrorist attack on Israeli athletes. To get a fair and balanced view of what happened we need to see the situation from both sides and understand what drove Palestinians to do such despicable acts.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-07-12 11:55am

Howedar wrote:Oh for fuck's sakes. I suppose to better explain the Israeli situation we better stick the Holocaust into the movie as well.

Oh come on, it's not all that difficult to understand that there are a couple of ways Spielberg could do this movie and giving the Israelis moral superiority over the Palestinians would be a mistake. Israel's historical actions have direct bearing on this movie and should be depicted accurately, even though this looks like a more personal story.

Jesus Christ, everyone knows that the Israelis aren't saints. That's not what the fucking movie is about.

No, actually they don't which is the problem really. If I thought that everyone knew the history of Israel, I wouldn't have such a big problem with the prospect of a film like this, but considering that most people I know think that Israel has some divine right to be where they are AND they think that Israel is just an innocent victim of the hordes of Middle Eastern terrorists, you can imagine why I don't feel like adding even more propeganda to the pile makes any sense.

BlkbrryTheGreat · Post by **BlkbrryTheGreat** » 2004-07-12 12:35pm

Mmmmmm..... whats that a smell? I believe its Mod shouting "violating the moratorium" and a lockdown (if this continues).

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2004-07-12 01:30pm

There's an easy way they can show both sides of this, while keeping it un-preachy. Just follow the major players -- the terrorists, the detective guy, the athletes, etc. -- through their days before during and after the bombing. We'd see the palestinian side and why he's inspired to become a terrorist, we'd see the israel side and what he feels about the whole situation with palestine.. and it would be entertaining, get all the information across, and wouldn't be preachy.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-07-12 02:09pm

These cocksuckers took the the Olympics, a meeting of international goodwill and friendship, and turned it into a fucking bloodbath. Fuck them, I hope they're portrayed as what they actually were.

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2004-07-12 03:50pm

Joe wrote:These cocksuckers took the the Olympics, a meeting of international goodwill and friendship, and turned it into a fucking bloodbath. Fuck them, I hope they're portrayed as what they actually were.

By all means portray them “as what they actually were” just show something of what drove them to become the brutal killers you so despise as well.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-07-12 04:50pm

Spielburg has been really iffy with his more recent works... this has potential, but it also could easily be farked up.

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2004-07-12 05:30pm

Wasn't that what the movie Gideon's Sword was about?

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-07-12 05:36pm

Bob the Gunslinger wrote:Wasn't that what the movie Gideon's Sword was about?

This one will probably have much higher production value and more historical authenticity.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2004-07-12 06:59pm

Plekhanov wrote: By all means portray them “as what they actually were” just show something of what drove them to become the brutal killers you so despise as well.

Yes, we'll show what they did to Eastern Jordan. How they tried to assassinate the leader of the country to which they belonged. And why they don't have Jordanian passports anymore.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-07-12 07:03pm

Joe wrote:These cocksuckers took the the Olympics, a meeting of international goodwill and friendship, and turned it into a fucking bloodbath. Fuck them, I hope they're portrayed as what they actually were.

Fine, I think everyone agrees that they were murdering bastards. I just want it shown that those murdering bastards weren't created in a vacuum the way most of America thinks by default.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-07-12 11:53pm

I think this thread alone is a good litmus test for how divisive the entire Israel/Palestine situation really is.

I hope that Spielberg does portray this as something more than we are all dreading, and well, given who his is, I trust that he will at least attempt to do this.

But you will note that this is about a Mossad agent seeking revenge for the Olympic killings, so lets all take a deep breath and see what develops.

Although I do find one thing interesting; Eric Bana must be the only comedian to become a crime hitman, Delta force Sgt, weakass scientist/crazy green monster, a Greek (Trojan) legend to a Jew secret agent. What a range.

Oh and his father is Croatian and mother German, go figure!

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-07-13 12:29am

The Kernel wrote:
Joe wrote:These cocksuckers took the the Olympics, a meeting of international goodwill and friendship, and turned it into a fucking bloodbath. Fuck them, I hope they're portrayed as what they actually were.
Fine, I think everyone agrees that they were murdering bastards. I just want it shown that those murdering bastards weren't created in a vacuum the way most of America thinks by default.

I wouldn't count on that. Spielberg is, after all, Jewish. Though to be fair, I don't know his particular views on the clusterfuck that is Israel/Palestine. However, I seriously doubt that he would've chosen to do a movie about this topic if he wasn't sympathetic to Israel.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-07-13 12:35am

Durandal wrote: I wouldn't count on that. Spielberg is, after all, Jewish. Though to be fair, I don't know his particular views on the clusterfuck that is Israel/Palestine. However, I seriously doubt that he would've chosen to do a movie about this topic if he wasn't sympathetic to Israel.

I agree, which is why I am concerned about this film and how it portrays Israel. Spielberg did a fine job with Shindler's List but in that film, he was dealing with a group that he could pretty much totally villify and still make an accurate movie. In this case, it would be a slap in the face to the Palestinians to present them as murdering bastards without showing the actions of Israel.

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2004-07-13 12:37am

The Kernel wrote:
Durandal wrote: I wouldn't count on that. Spielberg is, after all, Jewish. Though to be fair, I don't know his particular views on the clusterfuck that is Israel/Palestine. However, I seriously doubt that he would've chosen to do a movie about this topic if he wasn't sympathetic to Israel.
I agree, which is why I am concerned about this film and how it portrays Israel. Spielberg did a fine job with Shindler's List but in that film, he was dealing with a group that he could pretty much totally villify and still make an accurate movie. In this case, it would be a slap in the face to the Palestinians to present them as murdering bastards without showing the actions of Israel.

Indeed, if he does make it seem like all Palestinians are murdering bastards then that would be wrong. Also, it would be wrong if he doesn't show the actions of Israel.

However, the Palestinians that go in and blow themselves up on buses, or at cafes for example ARE murdering bastards.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-07-13 01:08am

Guys, let's think about this for a minute, here. The movie follows a Mossad agent who's bent on revenge. This is not the traditional image of a hero. I'm sure it's going to explain why he thinks his actions are justified (if he does), and why they might be necessary (ie. because the people he's after have committed horrific crimes), but I simply cannot believe that the protagonist of this movie is going to be Superman on steroids. He's not going to be a goodie-two-shoes, even if he makes an interesting and engrossing character.

To me, it would take a MASSIVELY biased portrayal to suggest that someone whose job it is to seek revenge and kill people is a person that I want to emulate. That may be just because I'm whacked, but I somehow HIGHLY doubt that this movie is going to make the Israelis out to be happy peaceniks while the Palestinians are slovering warmongers. The whole Palestinian vs. Israel issue is almost CERTAINLY beyond the scope of the film, but I have complete confidence that this is going to make people out to be flawed, if necessary "heroes" in the end.