Rating:
This is a serious movie. It’s spun as a “thriller,” but don’t go expecting James Bond or anything like that. If you get the DVD, watch Spielberg’s introductory. It does set the stage well so you know what he’s trying to do here. And that is to more or less go back to the first terrorist incident to capture American attention (or at least hold its interest for a few days) and follow how it played out. Pretty heady subject matter given the “Post 9/11 World” we live in.

The story is “based on actual events” but is still somewhat fiction. Partly because the actual records are classified. The film traces what happened following the killing of the Israeli Olypmpic team by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich games in 1972. And that was to clandestinely hunt down those responsible and kill them.

Wow. Was this bad. I don’t know what has happened to Spielberg, but it does appear he’s fallen into the trap of thinking cool special effects make the movie. They’ll make it commercially successful, to a degree, but eye candy can’t make up for an otherwise weak outing.

So lets start with what the movie did well. The plot line for how the Martians got here, and their method for attack, was an interesting twist. Though why they waited so many millenia to actually hatch their plan is never explained or addressed. Just one day they decided to go for it. The alien technology looks pretty cool in an almost retro way. The effects of the technology on the earthly landscape and inhabitants is also done well.

Now, about this “war.” What war? The original movie had some sense of forces being martialed and time passing by. All you really see of the military is some Armored Cavalry troop racing…