# Am I the only one who thinks "Munich" is a boring movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2008, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346 "2008-02-27T06:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/21 "2008-02-27T21:40:04Z")
I found large chunks of _Munich_ tedious. In fact, the only part that really held my interest was the double-booked safehouse, and that was more chuckle-worthy than riveting. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/22 "2008-02-27T23:14:36Z")
Fair enough. I really liked **Munich** myself, but for strange reasons, like that the guy from Rome was in it, and the villain from Moonraker was in it. It also contains a scene that I absolutely cannot watch ever again - the scene where the woman assassin knows she’s dying and goes over and gives her kitty a goodbye scratch. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/23 "2008-02-27T23:37:27Z")
This is one of my problems with Spielberg: he’s trained the audience to expect mindless entertainment above all other considerations, even when the subject matter is worthy of more serious treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/24 "2008-02-28T00:09:25Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] This is one of my problems with Spielberg: he’s trained the audience to expect mindless entertainment above all other considerations, even when the subject matter is worthy of more serious treatment. [/QUOTE] I’m afraid I may be too mindless to see your point. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/25 "2008-02-28T00:22:01Z")
I personally loved the movie and didn’t find it boring. The end is definitely a letdown and the sex scene was just not right, but the rest was fantastic as far as I was concerned. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/26 "2008-02-28T00:52:01Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] My boremeter is still calibrated to The Good Shepherd. [/QUOTE] yes, I’d much rather watch Eric Bana be boring than watch The Good Shepherd again. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/27 "2008-02-28T04:37:12Z")
Yikes, I loved “The Good Shepherd”, too. I must be a really boring person! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/28 "2008-02-28T05:00:46Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I’m afraid I may be too mindless to see your point. [/QUOTE] I’ll ignore the snark and respond as if you’d seriously asked for clarification. My point is that to judge a move like \*Munich \*strictly on its entertainment value is to miss the point, IMO. And no one is more responsible for such skewed audience expectations than Steven “Nazi’s sell tickets” Spielberg; no one is as highly skilled in exploiting “sacred” subjects for no other reason than ticket sales. And while I’m hardly a fan of his, \*Munich \*pissed me off less than many of his other prestige wankfests, precisely because he seemed to take the subject matter a little more seriously than simply another opportunity for _Indiana Jones Goes to Auschwitz_ travesty like _Schindler’s List_. I suspect, though of course I may be wrong, that the OP went to watch \*Munich \*expecting the usual Spielbergian adrenaline-is-more-important-than-history rollercoaster ride, but instead found a movie that was a little more thoughtful and a little less car-chasey. Spielberg hoist, in other words, by his own petard. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/29 "2008-02-28T05:21:58Z")
Oh. I didn’t even care that Spielberg was involved. _Munich_ is just one of those over-fictionalized movies that makes me want to a see a good no-nonsense documentary about the real-life event. I’ve seen lots of 'em. I usually don’t try to springboard into some kinda general criticism of the director or the movie-going public, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/30 "2008-02-28T05:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] he seemed to take the subject matter a little more seriously than simply another opportunity for _Indiana Jones Goes to Auschwitz_ travesty like _Schindler’s List_. [/QUOTE] There must be a full two people out of the 6.8 billion on the planet who would agree with this sentiment. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/31 "2008-02-28T05:42:23Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] There must be a full two people out of the 6.8 billion on the planet who would agree with this sentiment. Wow. [/QUOTE] Hey, give him a break. _Schindler_ isn’t worthy to lick _Showgirl_’s sweaty g-string. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/32 "2008-02-28T05:48:38Z")
I can’t say the word “swashbuckling” immediately springs to mind when I recall _Schindler’s List_, but I will invest my faith in **lissener** ’s good judgement. After all, this is not a man given to presenting counterintuitive interpretations of films based on personal biases and outlandish extrapolation. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/33 "2008-02-28T05:52:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] There must be a full two people out of the 6.8 billion on the planet who would agree with this sentiment. Wow. [/QUOTE] You’d be surprised; I’m not THAT original a thinker. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/34 "2008-02-28T06:03:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] There must be a full two people out of the 6.8 billion on the planet who would agree with this sentiment. Wow. [/QUOTE] –and just because a film is critic proof, like \*SL \*or _To Kill a Mockingbird_ or _Gone with the Wind_, doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to form my own opinion of it. No film is agreed about by 100% of its audience, even _SL_. In artistic opinions, “minority” does not equal “wrong.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/35 "2008-02-28T06:17:30Z")
_Gone With the Wind_ is critic-proof? My dislike of it must make me even uniquer than I already am! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/36 "2008-02-28T06:22:54Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] _Gone With the Wind_ is critic-proof? My dislike of it must make me even uniquer than I already am! [/QUOTE] Cross over to the dark side, Bryan; we have better snacks. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/37 "2008-02-28T06:41:34Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Cross over to the dark side, Bryan; we have better snacks. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but my dislike isn’t about the betrayed narrative paradigm of a nation still healing the scars of a torturous conflict that rent its very soul and would deny dignity to the Negro for decades yet, but that the actresses just _shriek_ so damn much. It drives me from the room every time. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/38 "2008-02-28T06:58:52Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Yeah, but my dislike isn’t about the betrayed narrative paradigm of a nation still healing the scars of a torturous conflict that rent its very soul and would deny dignity to the Negro for decades yet, but that the actresses just _shriek_ so damn much. It drives me from the room every time. [/QUOTE] See, I’m trying to have a civilized, grownup conversation here, but you seem to be pretty firmly invested in your snark. I’ll keep to the high road, again asking you to join me. Here’s how I come up with posted opinions on movies in this forum: While I’m watching a movie, I have a simple, unformulated and unexpressed reaction to it: I either like it or I don’t. Then, if it comes up here, or if I end up discussing it with someone, I try to communicate, as clearly as I know how, \*why \*I liked or didn’t like it. Often, of course, there are gray areas; there are almost no movies that I like that I can’t find something to complain about, and there are just as few movies that I dislike that I can’t find some kernel of value in. Still, I begin with my “gut” reaction, and work from there. So, I’m sorry if my vocabulary isn’t to your taste, but my opinions–of this or other movies that come up in this forum–are honest ones, no matter how unclearly I explain them. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/39 "2008-02-28T08:00:54Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] See, I’m trying to have a civilized, grownup conversation here, [/quote] Well, then, you shouldna started with “trained the audience to expect mindless entertainment”. Exactly which audience members did you have in mind as recipients of ths training? Posters in this thread? If not, clarify. If so, then spare us this innocent act. In any case, I just thought _Munich_ was at times a leaden film. I don’t need to heavily deconstruct it _or_ make a statement about Spielberg or the audience to bolster that opinion. Why you disagreed eludes me, but it was sufficiently pretentious to earn mockery, especially since you are _so_ mock-able when it comes to film analysis. Anyway, _now_ you have a “gut” reaction? If you’d started with that, there’d’ve been nothing to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346/40 "2008-02-28T14:18:09Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] –and just because a film is critic proof, like… _To Kill a Mockingbird_ [/QUOTE] Perhaps my favorite book ( up there, anyway ). Can’t stand the movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-munich-is-a-boring-movie/439346.md?page=3)