"Hitler's Olympics" is a decent documentary about the 1936 Olympics, though it easily could have been better. Sometimes it just missed the big picture or details that would have made the film better. A few cases in point: Although the film ONLY talks about the 1936 summer Olympics, BOTH the summer and winter sessions were held in Germany in 1936. Why absolutely no mention of the winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (the Bavarian Alps)?? This omission is just sloppy and nonsensical. Second, often the film talks about Nazis and eugenics and the film acted as if this was solely a German issue. While not included in the narrative, early eugenicists were from the United States and Britain.....why no mention of this? Third, while distasteful to admit today, Adolph Hitler was much admired and loved OUTSIDE Germany in 1936. He was Time Magazine's man of the year in 1938 and was seen by many non-Germans as a great statesman and leader. Of course he was an evil maniac....but the film painted Germany as being completely out of step with the rest of the world...but, sadly, in many ways it wasn't. Overall, the film has some nice interviews and film footage but it's not the most scholarly nor complete account of the 1936 Olympic games.

My only frustration with the documentary is the perpetuation of the myth that Luz Long helped Jesse Owens in the long jump. There is no contemporary evidence of it occurring. Owens did not tell the story until,sometime in the 60s. The author of Hitler's Games researched this extensively, but the myth will not die.

It was completely new for me. The whole idea was brand new to me. May be that's why I liked it so much.