Munich (2005)

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

This is not a conspiracy theory.

Yes, since both productions are based on the same book, narrative similarities are expected to exist.

MifuneFan and I are referring to mise-en-scene and mise-en-shot similarities -- meaning, Spielberg blocked, photographed, and edited his movie in almost the exact same way as Sword of Gideon.

And some people see the image of Christ in their morning waffles.

If you think both movies are edited the same way, then I suggest you watch Munich again, as the movie tells two stories, cross-cutting between the Olympic siege, and then to the main story of Avner story of losing his humanity. The two narratives combine at the end, which is why some people thought Avner was thinking about Munich while having sex with his wife, not understanding what Spielberg was doing. The two movies are nothing of a kind, and the only real similarities are those from the historical record and the events depicted in the book.

What, do you think a director of Spielberg's caliber had "Sword of Gideon" cued up in his trailer every morning so he could plagiarize it?

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

What, do you think a director of Spielberg's caliber had "Sword of Gideon" cued up in his trailer every morning so he could plagiarize it?

Spielberg is a human being. He is not infallible. He has copied many other movies throughout his career.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Spielberg is a human being. He is not infallible. He has copied many other movies throughout his career.

He has paid homage to many movies throughout his career -- you are saying the man actually copied Sword of Gideon "almost shot for shot". Not the same thing.

[slop101]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Never understood why the 2-disc DVD was yanked so abruptly. Figued there was some sort of political comment or other controversial comment that forced Universal to yank it off the market after only a few weeks. Well...here's hoping all of it -- "prayer for peace" and all -- comes to the blu-ray version.

It wasn't "yanked", it was just really limited, with no re-prints. It was a limited edition that was literally limited. I got myself a copy (I recall that my Best Buy only had 2)

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Rinzler

I'm in the minority that loves Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but there seems to be a consensus among those that have seen his Tintin film that it is good, I enjoyed it. Lincoln is an incredible (overlooked IMO) film, and I've heard good things about War Horse. I will admit that I'd like more films from him, this upcoming Hanks Cold War film should be great.

War Horse and Lincoln are gorgeously shot and produced movies that are pretty much inert dramatically, at least to me. I also enjoyed Indy 4 far more than more (aside from the first 10 minutes or so), and Tintin is one of the most purely enjoyable movies I've seen in the last few years (but I have a huge sentimental attachment to it since I grew up with the comics). Munich really was Spielberg's last undeniably great film, but I have very high hopes for his upcoming Cold War picture (mainly cuz I love Cold War spy films).

[Gremal]

Spielberg's Munich was a missed opportunity to tell a story of the Israeli athletes who trained their entire lives to compete in the Olympics. The real story is of the athletes' triumphant arrival in a country that had previously sought their extinction, only to be targeted by yet another group of violent haters.

Instead, Spielberg turned the story into a very creepy morality play that attempted to make the response to the terrorism worse than the terrorism itself. Speilberg chose a morally ambiguous narrative that focused on an Israeli who would ultimately reject his own country.

The film turned into just another propaganda piece demonizing Israel in its attempts to fight terrorism. The real story of the Munich Olympics and the athletes themselves was virtually ignored--sloppily crammed into the first couple minutes of the film. The movie was a failure. Spielberg should be ashamed.

[mredman]

Nice to see in the press release on the frontpage its not an exclusive to best buy afterall. So overseas countries can now get it to with no problems

hopefully it will feature all the good stuff from the 2 disc DVD release

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by mredman

Nice to see in the press release on the frontpage its not an exclusive to best buy afterall. So overseas countries can now get it to with no problems

hopefully it will feature all the good stuff from the 2 disc DVD release

I don't see a press release, just a BD.com announcement.

[Maggot]

Originally Posted by Gremal

Spielberg's Munich was a missed opportunity to tell a story of the Israeli athletes who trained their entire lives to compete in the Olympics. The real story is of the athletes' triumphant arrival in a country that had previously sought their extinction, only to be targeted by yet another group of violent haters.

Instead, Spielberg turned the story into a very creepy morality play that attempted to make the response to the terrorism worse than the terrorism itself. Speilberg chose a morally ambiguous narrative that focused on an Israeli who would ultimately reject his own country.

The film turned into just another propaganda piece demonizing Israel in its attempts to fight terrorism. The real story of the Munich Olympics and the athletes themselves was virtually ignored--sloppily crammed into the first couple minutes of the film. The movie was a failure. Spielberg should be ashamed.

That certainly wasn't my take on this overall tragic film. For me, I walked away from the movie with a sense of bittersweet. Quite frankly, the film gave me the impression that, in the end, there were no winners to this fight. Certainly not Spielberg's best, but a good film non-the-less. More like a solid "B" side to a hit 45 record from a music artist. Day one buy for me at any rate.....

[mredman]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

I don't see a press release, just a BD.com announcement.

well they announced for street date feb 17th 2015. And nowhere does it say exclusive to best buy

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by mredman

well they announced for street date feb 17th 2015. And nowhere does it say exclusive to best buy

[mredman]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

it does not say that on the news site that its exclusive releases for BB

[jscoggins]

[mredman]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

its like you want this to be exclusive. and is it just me or does scoggins come of rude to anyone that do not agree with that person. i see you have a beef with many.

[Hellraiserfan]

Really stupid question but if true does that mean only Best Buy has the right to sell those movies or is that for a certain version like Steelbooks for example? I don't think I've ever heard of a retail store being able to block other places like Target, Amazon, etc from getting copies of the same movie.

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by Hellraiserfan

Really stupid question but if true does that mean only Best Buy has the right to sell those movies or is that for a certain version like Steelbooks for example? I don't think I've ever heard of a retail store being able to block other places like Target, Amazon, etc from getting copies of the same movie.

It could be an exclusive sale window, where BB is the only one to sell the same copy that will widely release at a later date. Not sure if that's the case here, or not.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by Hellraiserfan

I don't think I've ever heard of a retail store being able to block other places like Target, Amazon, etc from getting copies of the same movie.

Yes, it's called an Exclusivity Window. It happens quite frequently.

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by Maggot

That certainly wasn't my take on this overall tragic film. For me, I walked away from the movie with a sense of bittersweet.

Bitter--yes, but what in the world was "sweet" about it?

Quite frankly, the film gave me the impression that, in the end, there were no winners to this fight.

Murdering athletes who are supposed to compete in sports events is not part of any "fight" and a directive to track down the terrorists to make sure they don't massacre innocents again is in and of itself a winning decision. Spielberg wanted you to come away with exactly the impression you had, and that's what makes it a horrible/creepy and morally bankrupt movie. Like I said, the real story that needed to be told was about the athletes.

[mredman]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Yes, it's called an Exclusivity Window. It happens quite frequently.

you see how many people are confused about this release. We all seem to be confused about this only being a best buy exclusive or a release everywhere. Yet you seem to be sure it is only best buy

[Ernest Rister]

Spielberg called the movie a prayer for peace. The ending between Rush and Bana, with Bana all but begging him to come to his home and break bread, and Rush refusing, is the painful capper to that unanswered prayer...the cycle of violence is not going to end. And way off in the background, you see the World Trade Center.

Roll credits.

If the film is a Best Buy exclusive, I'm worried it's going to be bare bones, and all those missing bonus features are going to stay missing.