The final lines of the movie, saying that the time won by Chamberlain enabled the allies to prepare for the war and defeat Germany, spoiled a bit an impression of the film. The fascism was stopped at the cost of millions and millions of Russians killed (incommensurable losses: they were practically cannon fodder) in the first place. Nowadays it's convenient to forget it.

Overall, the movie is produced very well. The leading actors were great.

I gave Munich: Edge of War a 6 mostly because it is a fictional drama as opposed to a true historical record of the events in and around the Munich Peace Conference in 1938. The broad outline of the events are well covered and are accurate, the sets, costumes and street scenes are wonderfully intricate and authentic. But the story of the key participants, Hugh Legat (George MacKay) as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons) and Paul van Hartmann (Jannis Niewhöner) as a part of the German diplomatic delegation, who draw on their college years together at Oxford to collude in trying to reign in Hitler's rampant ambition, is an improbable fictional fantasy.

As a gripping fictional drama, it was good theatre but there were a series of quite implausible plot lines. In 1930's Whitehall (the heart of Britain's bureaucracy), there is no way a mid/late 20's recent graduate who read (majored in) German at Oxford would be a PM's Private Secretary. A role like that would go to a significantly older experienced civil servant. Ditto for the character of van Hartmann. The likelihood of Chamberlain agreeing to meet a young, low level German diplomat over a document that did not come through official intelligence channels was slim to none.

Running the risk of down votes, I want to express frustration at the modern trend of ploughing over historical accuracy to create roles for people of colour. In 1930's Britain, there was a minute (as in fractions of 1%) percentage of the population that was black or south Asian and yet Chamberlain's butler and valet in No. 10 Downing St is a black man. Similarly, fictional MI6 operative Colonel Menzies' daughter Joan, planted in the typing pool to protect Legat's mission, is an equally improbable character. First off, despite her crucial undercover role, no lowly typist in WW2 era Britain would ever challenge a senior ranked Downing St official in the manner she does and the likelihood of the a senior MI6 officer being married to a migrant from India producing a daughter of south Asian descent, zero. Such affectations make the producers of the movie look like virtue signalers extraordinaire especially given the superb attention to detail and authenticity everywhere else in the movie.

Many reviews complain about historical inaccuracy, but audience is not dumb enough to change thier view of a historical figure just because of this one film. It is obvious that 'Munich - The Edge of War' is mere 'what if scenario' or 'what might have been behind the scenes'. Other than Chamberlain, the movie deals with realistic and honest portrayal of an educated German youth in 1930s: how easily Paul or young Germans at that time can be moved by a fanatic under hopelessness and desolation. Hitler was their hope, and 'sometimes it's better off without it'. Thrown at the times they live in, Hugh, Paul and Lena had to go through drastic changes in their lives. How the movie started is so personal and intimate, and it's heartbreaking to observe their personal lives and relationship are destroyed in the most depressing phase of time.

Content-wise, this film is wonderful. How the director wraps that content - form - is skilled as well. I love the aesthetics, color, and the style of the movie. It maintains grey and cool colors and tones, giving cold and mysterious vibe. Some movies with grey palette with the purpose of conveying depressing atmosphere tends to be foggy and blurry, but 'Munich' decides to keep the brightness and clarity high so it does not lose dynamics and vitality while delivering gloomy and heavy atmosphere. The only time the color pops is red Nazi flag, making audience more frightening than usual. The editing is complementary to the story. It cuts fast, and the angle is narrow and tight; therefore, it lives up to be a thriller movie. AND performance of all actors are phenomenal. Contrast of character's personality, hugh being more calm and aloof and Paul being more passionate and impetuous, is delightly presented by MacKay and Niewöhner with sophistication and talent.