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Chronicling how ABC covered terrorist attacks at the 1972 Munich Olympics, it shows the kind of care that was taken when news was happening quickly.

Instead of relying on hearsay or the opinion of “experts� lined up in a studio, the coverage was built on the kind of journalism viewers demanded.

It’s a remarkable account of the way the business was – and should – run.

Taking place largely in a studio control room, the action spills out like a Frederick Forsyth thriller.

Officials get word that hostages have been taken at the Olympic village and soon, there’s a rush to figure out who, what, when, where, why and how.

Director Tim Fehlbaum deftly recreates the tension and pulls us into the mission. Can ABC get satellite time in order to report the news? Is a sports broadcaster able to handle the assignment? Will the studio cameras reach to the site of the action?

The problems are so elementary you’d think the solutions are no-brainers. But in 1972, they were a big deal.

To add to the tension, Fehlbaum uses actual footage from the event and Jim McKay’s interviews.

In the control room, Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) and Geoff Mason (John Magaro) try to juggle the balls they’ve been tossed. By using a German translator (nicely played by Leonie Benesch), they’re able to understand what local officials are saying. Soon, they’re in the thick of it, making decisions that will change the way world events are covered.

While it runs slightly more than 90 minutes, “September 5� doesn’t waste a second. It’s bubbling with “what next?� and it shows just how far network television has sunk since those days.

The mere idea they won’t let anyone report about the hostages until they have a second source shows how different that world has become. Now, a president could sneeze and three people are willing to weigh in on what that might mean to world markets.

Then, ABC owned the story and wasn’t going to get it wrong.

Fehlbaum makes sure the set is cramped and the atmosphere is more than a little blue. “September 5,� in fact, could fit nicely next to “All the President’s Men� and “Network.� It has the same sizzle and a view of the media that doesn’t depend on followers or hits.

When operators push a huge studio camera outside the broadcast building – and hope it’ll reach the situation what seems like miles away – we get involved in the push. We also realize the unspoken work that goes into producing something this monumental.

Fehlbaum doesn’t downplay the drama nor does he undercut what McKay was able to do.

In many ways, the veteran broadcaster was the event’s unsung hero, reacting calmly in a tense situation and asking the right questions even though he wasn’t certain who was going to be receiving them.

At a time when news is disseminated instantaneously, it’s difficult for us to believe athletes didn’t know what was going on in their midst. Yet that’s the way the world was – isolated and, frequently, oblivious.

While “September 5� hasn’t figured into early awards talk, it’s a film that shouldn’t be missed. It shows how far the media has progressed and regressed.

It supports the dedication of journalists, too, and makes us believe no matter how much has changed, some approaches still remain valid.

“September 5� is a look at the way journalism should be done.