Steven Spielberg navigated tricky ground with Munich. This astonishing drama, starring Eric Bana, weighed up the ethics of revenge in the aftermath of the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of eleven Israeli athletes at the 72 Olympics. Some felt it was rather too noncommittal while most were absorbed by its unflinching portrayal of events. It certainly wasn't one of Spielberg's biggest earners, yet it remains one of his most talked-about films in recent years.

Reporting For Duty

For some reason Europe hasn't been granted the two disc Collector's Edition available to our American cousins. Instead we get this single disc release with just a 13 minute featurette to accompany the film. Munich: The Mission, The Team obliquely addresses the controversy surrounding the film beginning with producer Kathleen Kennedy assuring us that, "Steven was very nervous going into the project". She goes on to say that he had to figure out his point-of-view on the issues before attacking the film, but even though Spielberg contributes to the featurette, he doesn't clarify this point of view for us. Perhaps this is fair given that, as he explains, Munich is a story of humanity more than it is about politics.

Live And Learn

Spielberg also talks about the film in terms of being a learning process with screenwriter Tony Kushner introducing him to a wider spectrum of political ideas and cultural perspectives on the Middle East problem. "I got a real, wonderful education", he says, "about things that, as a Jew and as someone very concerned with that region, thought that only I knew about". Kushner himself along with the cast, including Geoffrey Rush and Daniel Craig, offer their views on the themes of the story and, of course, Eric Bana talks about coming to grips with the character of Avner. It was a project, he says, that both "thrilled and scared" him, but Spielberg was convinced that his palpable sense of humanity (which he sensed in Hulk) would come through in the most harrowing moments.

While this discussion is certainly more thought-provoking than the average Making Of featurette, it serves only to establish and justify Spielberg's approach to this difficult subject matter. It succeeds in that mission, but it's still very disappointing not to be given any insights into the practicalities of actually making the film. For that, it seems, we will have to wait for a later edition.

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