What makes it different from others?

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This made-for-TV movie is based on the book "Vengeance" by Jonas. Both are told from the viewpoint of "Avner" (played by Steven Bauer), an agent in Israel's secret service, who is recruited to lead a covert assassination squad dedicated to eliminating the terrorists responsible for the "Black September" attack on Israeli Olympians in Munich in 1972.Israel launched different initiatives against the "Black September" terrorist organization. Avner's was deeply covert, involving a team of former Mossad agents, officially resigned from the secret agency, who operated completely independently and were paid like mercenaries. In this way the Israelis hoped to avoid disasters like the botched Lillehammer operation that killed an innocent man and resulted in the arrest of agents linked directly to Mossad.Avner and his team create their own mercenary network using Israeli money and set about their eye-for-an-eye operation. However the stress and paranoia of their task begins to eat away at their resolve and, when a team member is himself assassinated, the team takes its own revenge. Soon they feel unable to trust even their own countrymen...The telemovie is well done with good pacing and suspense. The moral and ethical issues that are the central theme are handled creditably and you come to care about the team members. There are strong supporting characters, particularly Rod Steiger as the team's Mossad contact "Mordechai Samuels" and Colleen Dewhurst as Israeli PM Golda Meir. Michael York also turns in a nice performance as the team's explosives expert.

This movie is on my top ten list. As a character study the actors are very believable; you can feel the tension and emotion. In a nutshell the story is about a hit-squad recruited by the Mossad (Israel's version of the CIA) to find and kill the PLO members responsible for engineering the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. As they travel the globe, one by one they pick them off. Avner (Steven Bauer) is perfect as Avner, a commando leader in the Israeli army, and Colleen Dewhurst even looks like Golda Meir. Each member of the team has a specialty, and their performances are realistic - or at least what you would expect. The scene where Robert checks his apartment for booby traps is riveting. Don't even blink during that! While Steven Spielberg's Munich isn't out as of this review, I can't compare, but I understand the story is basically the same, though at 2-1/2 hours Munich may delve deeper into the story. No matter, I'll still watch Sword of Gideon every time it's on cable.

The film may be well-made at points, but the original material, the book "Vengeance" by Georg Jonas, has been discredited.The POV character, a Mossad agent named Avner, is supposed to represent Jonas' source, Yuval Aviv, but Aviv never worked for Mossad. The idea that the Mossad let its agents hang high and dry is ridiculous and denied by all Israelis involved.The Steven Spielberg film "Munich" -- based on the same discredited book -- is an ideological statement likely to be very anti-Israel. Spielberg appears to have deliberately hired leftist writers known for anti-Israel views.The ultimate point of any alleged historical drama is that it is supposed to provide a useful introduction to the facts. Sometimes historical characters can be condensed, for example, but they shouldn't be created out of whole clothe, nor should the conclusion be fabricated.

Details accounts of the Israeli goverment seeking out and destroying the terrorists of 1972 Olympics. This movie is in the same vein as The Assignment and Clear and Present Danger. It also explores the emotional component of the assassins and their families. It got spies, action , sex, love, happiness, sadness and it is based on true accounts. What else could you ask for?! Steven Bauer's portrayal as an Israeli is very true to form and impressive. You really do feel his emotional roller coaster and his internal conflict about his role as justice maker or simple revenge. Although the movie begins with a primer of the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympics, I recommend seeing One Day in September, directed by Kevin MacDonald and narrated by Michael Douglas, to give yourself a better understanding of the motivation behind this docu-drama. This is a very timely movie considering the upcoming Olympics and the war on terror.