Sword of Gideon
Sword of Gideon | |
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Directed by | Michael Anderson |
Written by | George Jonas (novel) Chris Bryant |
Produced by | Denis Héroux (executive producer) John Kemeny(executive producer) Robert Lantos (executive producer) |
Starring | Steven Bauer Michael York Robert Joy Laurent Malet Peter Dvorsky Rod Steiger Lino Ventura Colleen Dewhurst Leslie Hope John Hirsch Cyrielle Clair Linda Griffiths Daniel Alfie Hrant Alianak Sonia Benezra |
Cinematography | Claude Agostini |
Edited by | Ron Wisman |
Music by | Georges Delerue |
Release date | November 29, 1986 |
Running time | 173 min. |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Sword of Gideon is a 1986 film about Mossad agents hunting down terrorists associated with the 1972 Munich Massacre in Operation Wrath of God. It was first shown on the CTV network in Canada as a four hour miniseries and later on the HBO television network. Directed by Michael Anderson and written by Chris Bryant, the film stars Steven Bauer and Michael York. The film is based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, an account of the incident which has been criticized by some intelligence personnel as fictional, though because of its covert nature is difficult to prove or disprove. In some countries the book was titled Vengeance: Sword of Gideon, from which the movie title is drawn. The story was retold in the 2005 film Munich by Steven Spielberg.
Plot
Avner, an adept Israeli military officer is selected as the leader of a Mossad team of expert agents for a covert mission to avenge the Munich massacre and other recent terrorist acts. They are initially successful in their assassinations but as they progress it becomes harder and harder to find their targets and they themselves are targeted with varying success by their enemies. Avner, having lost the majority of his team, begins having doubts about the mission and finally calls it off. He wishes to retire from Mossad and rejoin the regular ranks of the IDF, but his case officer is reluctant to let his most valuable asset go.
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