Watching “September 5” — which gets a wide theatrical release this week after its debut in select markets late last year — you can’t help but think about another 2024 film, “Saturday Night.”

In the latter — director and co-writer Jason Reitman’s dramatization of the moments leading up to the first broadcast, in 1975, of what would become known as “Saturday Night Live” — a very brief but eventful time period is explored, helping the film to crackle with a certain energy.

A similar current pulsates throughout “September 5,” although the stakes are much higher here, the Tim Fehlbaum-helmed film dramatizing a horrific event occurring on that day in 1972 during the Summer Olympics in Germany: Members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September killing two people from the Israeli Olympic team and taking others hostage.

Whereas filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s 2015 Academy Award-nominated “Munich” dealt with the aftermath of the Munich massacre, “September 5” examines what happened that day through the lens of the ABC Sports broadcasting team covering the Olympics. On this one important day, they would become newsmen — after fighting for the opportunity — and chronicle something far more important to viewers than a relay race or the gold medal winner in fencing.

Early on in “September 5,” men such as executive Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), young producer Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro) and his no-nonsense mentor, Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), are, perhaps, most concerned with trying to secure an interview with elite American swimmer Mark Spitz, to ask him in front of a camera what it’s like for a Jewish man to win gold in the country once led by Nazi Adolf Hitler.

Penned by Fehlbaum (“Tides”) and Moritz Binder, with Alex David credited as a co-writer, “September 5” also introduces us early on to another key player in the ordeal to come, ABC’s German interpreter, Marianne (Leonie Benesch), who wants to see her country come off well to the world only a few decades removed from its role in World War II.

From the moment the ABC folks hear nearby gunshots in the morning — their control room is separated from Olympic Village only by a hill — they lean greatly on Marianne, depending on her to translate bits of pieces they can pick up from various sources and eventually sending her into the field.

Once they have an idea of what has transpired, Roone tells the powers that be back at the network in the United States that it should be his crew that covers this, not the news division, most of which is back home. Even the late legendary newsman Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker), who is in the Olympic Village at the time of the attack, believes news should take over, but he works with the sports folks to bring the story to the world.

As the trying day unfolds, they face myriad challenges, such as trying to maintain control of a resource they share with other networks covering the games, and wrestle with dilemmas such as how concerned they should be about capturing a death on live television.

Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, “Sept. 5” explores the coverage of the Munich massacre from the perspective of the ABC Sports employees who covered it. (Courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

It seems to take too long for them to consider the possibility that the terrorists could be watching and learning from their broadcast. Then again, this was long before the days of live streaming and the like. Overall, the figure-it-out-as-they-go narrative is convincing and compelling.

Inspired in part by the 1999 documentary “One Day in September,” the film effectively weaves plenty of archival material from the coverage in that day, lending a feeling of authenticity to the proceedings. For example, Jim McKay, the late host of ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” — covering the Olympics but slated to be off on Jan. 5 — can be heard and seen in the film, although he is represented in certain scenes via double Matthias Schum.

The filmmakers benefited from the recollections of folks including Sean McManus — McKay’s son, who was there that day and would go on to be a highly successful television executive — Arledge and Mason, who became a co-producer on the film.

Perhaps not surprisingly then, he ultimately is the central character of “September 5,” with Magaro (“The Big Short,” “Past Lives”) giving a performance that sees Geoffrey commanding and confident at times, frantic and frazzled at others.

With less time in the frame, Sarsgaard (“Memory,” “Presumed Innocent”) and Chaplin (“Murder by Numbers,” “The Nevers”) also are impactful, the latter so much that you’re left wishing Marvin — the only Jewish member of this group of coworkers — were a more consistent presence in the narrative.

John Magaro, left, as Geoff Mason, Ben Chaplin, as Marvin Bader and (Peter Sarsgaar, as Roone Arledge, star in “Sept. 5.” (Courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

And let us not forget about German actress Benesch (“The Teachers’ Lounge,” “Babylon Berlin”), whose performance as Marianne — determined to do what’s asked of her to the best of her abilities in a very trying situation — helps to ground the film. (One nice moment in “September 5” has a man asking her to go get him coffee, with another man then telling him he’s just sent away the only person in the room who could understand the radio report to which they’re listening.)

Essentially, “September 5” is a movie about journalism — yes, we love those — in which the paramount concern for Roone, Marvin, Geoffrey and others becomes getting the story right. As such, it works extremely well.

Given its limited scope and brisk runtime of about an hour and a half, it won’t be all things to all people interested in that tragic day, but it’s a nice tribute to those folks thrust out of their comfort zones and into covering it.

‘September 5’

Where: Theaters.

When: Jan. 17.

Rated: R for language.

Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Stars (of four): 3.5.