Sword of Gideon
Sword of Gideon is a 1986 Canadian television film about Mossad agents hunting down terrorists associated with the 1972 Munich massacre. It was first shown on the CTV Television Network in Canada as a four-hour miniseries and later on HBO in the United States. 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 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.
| Sword of Gideon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Action Drama Thriller |
| Written by | George Jonas (novel) Chris Bryant |
| Directed by | Michael Anderson |
| 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 |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Denis Héroux John Kemeny Robert Lantos |
| Producer | George Jonas |
| Cinematography | Claude Agostini |
| Editor | Ron Wisman |
| Running time | 173 min. |
| Production company | HBO Pictures |
| Distributor | HBO Entertainment One |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Picture format | Color |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | November 29, 1986 |
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 attacks. 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. With Avner and Jean the driver being the only survivors the mission is called 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.
Cast
- Steven Bauer - Avner
- Michael York - Robert
- Robert Joy - Hans
- Laurent Malet - Jean
- Peter Dvorsky - Carl
- Rod Steiger - Mordechai Samuels
- Lino Ventura - Papa
- Colleen Dewhurst - Golda Meir
- Leslie Hope - Shoshana
- John Hirsch - Avner's Father
- Cyrielle Clair - Jeanette Von Lesseps
- Linda Griffiths - Carl's widow
- Daniel Alfie - Ali Salameh
- Hrant Alianak - Wael Zwaiter
- Sonia Benezra - Mrs. Hamshari
Home media
The film was released on VHS by HBO/Cannon Video under license from Home Box Office. However, HBO didn't own it and then in 2004 was released on DVD by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. Currently, the film belongs to Entertainment One (formerly Alliance Entertainment).