September 5 (2024) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Tim Fehlbaum

Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin

Release Date: February 18, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 6.5/10

Synopsis:

During the 1972 Munich Olympics, a hostage crisis pushes legendary TV executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) to thrust an untested sports producer, Geoff Mason (John Magaro), into the spotlight of breaking news coverage. With lives hanging in the balance and the world watching, this pivotal moment, based on a true story, reshaped journalism forever.

‘September 5’ follows a sports news team reporting on the 1972 Munich Olympics that is forced to step outside of their wheelhouse when a shocking hostage situation occurs in the Olympic village. Desperate to get the story on a live broadcast, legendary television executive Roone Arledge enlists a fresh sports journalist named Geoff Mason to coordinate the story on the chaotic events who must delve into the spotlight and guide the ongoing broadcast. As things become increasingly direr, the broadcast room struggles to make the right calls while taking daring chances to uncover more information.

Directed by Tim Fehlbaum (The Colony, Hell) from a screenplay written by Moritz Binder and Fehlbaum, and co-written by Alex David, Fehlbaum does a fantastic job at the helm of ‘September 5’ guiding along the true tale with tension, heart and care. The film’s cast includes Peter Sarsgaard (The Batman), John Magaro (TV’s The Agency), Ben Chaplin (Snowden), Leonie Benesch (TV’s The Swarm), Zinedine Soualem (TV’s Off the Hook), Georgina Rich (TV’s Industry), Corey Johnson (Kandahar), Marcus Rutherford (TV’s The Wheel of Time), Daniel Adeosun (The Book of Clarence), Benjamin Walker (TV’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) and Ferdinand Dörfler (TV’s The Old Fox) who each provide generally solid performances as a whole in their respective roles.

‘September 5’ is a fascinating, unnerving and marvelously crafted tale that follows the events of the 1972 hostage crisis that occurred during the Munich Olympics, all of which is seen through the perspective of the unlikely ABC sports news team that is enlisted to cover the terrifying ordeal due to their live broadcast abilities intended for reporting the games across the world. Desperate to uncover the facts and not get scooped on the massive story, an untested young man must step up and handle the behind the scenes elements of the whole ordeal while trying to make the right calls and not overstep his position.

One of the more intriguing elements of the film is in the way it delves into the entire story through the perspective of the ABC team. It explores the urgency to uncover factual information and provide the most accurate reports possible and it never ignores the struggles that they must tackle and the mistakes that occur including making early calls before properly verifying them. Allowing the viewer to feel the tension and uncertainty that permeates throughout the whole uneasy ordeal, as the news team is fully unaware that their choices have the potential to alter the world of journalism forever, something that plays out incredibly well and with a sense of legit urgency, largely thanks to the film’s stellar cast who help to make the film work as smoothly as it does at nearly every turn.

Overall, ‘September 5’ is an outstanding piece of cinema that’s as moving as it is riveting. It explores the hectic events surrounding the hostage situation that occurred amid the 1972 Olympics in Munich Germany and follows the progression of events as seen entirely through the point of view of the ABC news team trying to get a handle on the facts and accurately provide live coverage of the situation. ‘September 5’ is definitely highly recommended, it’s a moving, magnificent and surprisingly tense look at the true story told through an unexpected viewpoint that perhaps even more shockingly is even more fascinating as it showcases the news team’s struggle to do right in a situation they are entirely unprepared for. If you’re already even slightly intrigued by the film then this one should prove well worth your time and the price of a rental to give a chance.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘September 5’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks great as a whole and provides a sharp, clean and richly detailed presentation from start to finish that’s absent of any unexpected issues to be uncovered along the way. Detail is solid throughout on everything from character faces and attire to the darkness of the news room and everything else; while coloring is solid and black levels and shadowing are more than sufficient. Overall, this is a very nice high definition presentation that holds up well throughout and should please fans as well as newcomers.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack offers a clean, crisp and on a few occasions notably immersive audio presentation throughout. It takes advantage of all seven available channels on occasion in order to send newsroom chatter and helicopters flying over, along with a few other tidbits moving throughout the various speakers when appropriate, although with the limited location of the film it shouldn’t be too surprising that there aren’t a great deal of opportunities for it to show off; with all dialogue and potentially simultaneously occurring audio elements remaining clean and fully audible at all times. Overall, this is a solid 7.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘September 5’ does not include any bonus content, with the entirety of the extras apparently exclusive to the digital release.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 6.5/10

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‘September 5’ Arrives on Blu-ray & DVD February 18, 2025 & is Now Available on Digital from Paramount Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘September 5’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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