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One Day In September (1999) Certificate 12

One Day In September

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Rated 3.5 stars
Average rating
(66%)
 
Starring: Michael Douglas
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Studio: LIONS GATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 94 mins
Genres: Documentary
Languages: English
Released: May 29, 2006

One Day In September is the incredible, shocking story about the brutal massacre of Israeli athletes by a team of extremist Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Finally, the unbelievable truth is revealed: how eight terrorists easily snuck into the Olympic Village and took 11 innocent athletes hostage, the tension-filled negotiations that followed and the shocking conclusion at a German airport that stunned the world. Featuring the frightening perspective of the only surviving terrorist and revelatory facts about what really happened on that dark night.

Highest rated reviews

13 out of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
Wake me up when September ends

hush1977 from , 3rd June, 2006

If you don't leave this documentary wide-eyed and slack-jawed by the stupidity of political madness you're as dumb as any other person that ignores this fascinating and deeply moving film. A tragic loss of life.

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6 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 3.0 stars
An educational watch

Jason27 from County Antrim, 3rd July, 2006

I quite enjoyed this story and found it very well documented.

However I was amazed by the complete incompetence of the German authorities when it came to attempting a rescue of the Israeli athletes and this you will see at various times throughout the footage.

If you like true life, informative and interesting documentaries then you will no doubt enjoy this but be prepared to be Gob smacked by the bumbling and sheer madness of the so called German rescue team!

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4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 5.0 stars
Riviting

Rob Morton from London, 25th July, 2006

An absolutely riviting recreation of that one day in September 1972 that had the world stunned. Jaw-dropping theatrical documentaries come along once in a while (Bowling for Columbine was perhaps the last), and One Day... certainly falls into that category. If you've yet to see Munich, then watch this first as it fills you in on the background and makes the Spielberg movie all the more chilling.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful:

*** May contain spoilers ***


Rated 5.0 stars
BLACK SEPTEMBER

A Customer from Knottingley, 8th January, 2009

If your a fan of the excellent movie Munich, than you should watch this as a kind of prequel. Where Munich deals with M.O.S.A.D's response to the 1972 olympic seige. This amazing documentary deals with the fact straight and true, with living witnesses including the only surviving memeber of the Black September terrorist's giving his acount of the ill fated events. Although many will know the outcome, the facts and actual film footage unfurl in a mesmerising and dramatic fashion, that although a documentary has more suspense than many a modern day blockbuster thriller. This is a superb and riviting and chilling history lesson. If you want a somber and fascinating nights viewing, then watch this and then the movie Munich. This is unflinching,unrelenting and uncompromising viewing at it's best.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 2.0 stars
One day in September

forestdweller from , 17th July, 2009

Chilling and full of suspense, with, sadly, contemporary relevance. The version I received either had a faulty sound track, or the largely inaudible interviews (overlaid with intrusive music) were a directorial gimmick, detracting considerably from the comprehensibility of the film. Hint: activate the sub titles if you want to follow the narrative, otherwise you'll be pretty baffled.

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Rated 3.0 stars
top notch

A Customer from Dunfermline, 5th January, 2009

i love this film.. im a fan of documentaries and this is one of the best. ive studied it as part of my media studies course and once knowing all the ins and outs, its really interesting. worth the watch.

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Rated 4.0 stars
Quite frankly shocking

A Customer from Southampton, 4th January, 2009

The documentary is dated now, and a little shabby perhaps compared with modern standards - it lacks an in depth commentary, and doesn't make use of Michael Douglas as much as it probably should. Instead it just relays the accounts of what happened, pretty much entirely with news footage mixed with some later interviews.

But, undoubtedly this is a very gripping watch, I found it completely shocking. The main shock is not the hostage taking itself, but rather the absolutely ineptness of the Munich police and German authorities. I'm still in total shock how many mistakes they made that quite honestly, just shouldn't have happened. And the total scam they tried to pull with the airplane hijacking later on is a fact that should be repeated much more today. The footage does not hold back, and near the end of the film you see a lot of close up imagery of the dead, which is quite harsh. No question this is a documentary that should be watched, less for entertainment value, more for historical knowledge. Gripping from start to finish.

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