Although President Jimmy Carter had announced publicly that he wanted to resolve the hostage situation through diplomatic channels, he eventually agreed to a covert military rescue. Acclaimed documentary maker Barbara Kopple painstakingly brings this extremely daring and life-threatening operation to life. She gained access to an impressive arsenal of unseen archive material, but also knows how to tell a proper story through animations and interviews. The two-time Oscar winner talks to hostages, hostage-takers, soldiers who took part in the rescue, representatives of the media and then-president Jimmy Carter and his vice-president Walter Mondale. A very vivid and compelling reconstruction of a dramatic moment in recent world history.