September 5 was a powerful movie about the 1972 Olympics hostage crisis that inspired Steven Spielberg’s Munich. It hasn’t gotten quite the attention it deserves for nominations and awards, but perhaps the DVD and Blu-ray release will allow more people to see it.
The film is a lean 90-minute chamber piece set in ABC Sports’ Munich studio. Nevertheless, it covers everything from the practical logistics of filming the standoff at the athletes’ hotel to the ethical dilemmas of potentially filming an execution.
The filmmakers make it look like the ’70s, too. Despite HD Blu-ray, September 5 looks like grainy archival footage, though still sharp and clear. The studio looks smokey, though no one is smoking on camera, but that control room looks like the ‘70s’ saturated film stock.
September 5 is not a big surround sound movie. Most of the sounds occur outside the studio so they are appropriately muted and muffled.
There are no bonus features included on the DVD which is a shame. Having heard a Q&A after a screening, the research alone is fascinating, but for now just having the film available is enough.