Rukajärven tie (1999) User Reviews

Good, but had the potential to be so much better.

[korppoolainen · 7/10 · 26 December 2010]

I will start by stating this is a review about a movie, not about the conflict itself. I am sick of reading peoples personal opinions on the conflicts themselves, this site is about discussing movies not actual conflicts so you should watch a movie with a neutral standing. And you should certainly post without prejudice, because at the end of the day, it is just a movie!

Although I watched this movie and to an extent enjoyed it, I can't really recommend this movie to anyone. Again let me illustrate the fact I am basing all my opinions on the movie itself, not the war it is based on! I don't wish to offend anyone, but the characters were mostly annoying, there was no cohesion amongst the soldiers or the commanding officers and the soldiers didn't for one second convince me that they were soldiers. Added to this there was zero discipline shown which even the poorest American war movie has a little of. I'm not sure if it was poor casting or poor script but it was unconvincing. And to me this was a let down.

This is a 90% drama 10% action war movie, which needs seriously good plot, scripting, acting and very strong characters to keep you enthralled. It almost pulls it off, but there is something missing, as such this is a good movie - not a great movie. Also if the film was made to showcase the little known war, then it failed, because I am non the wiser now as I was before the movie. Also, these guys went deep into enemy lines to do re-con yet I failed to see any re-con being done? And the only way they could get word back to HQ was to send injured people back?

I am married to a Finn so I watched this because I am interested in Finland, however to anyone who doesn't have ties to Finland, I think this is just another uneventful war movie. Which there are hundreds if not thousands of. Although as I said, this movie had the potential to be great, but something let it down, I can't put my finger on what, but after the movie I was left a little empty inside. For this reason I rate it 7 out of 10.

It is worth a watch, but I couldn't say to people "wow, you must watch this film" because it brings nothing new to the table, there is nothing here that stands out or that hasn't been done before.

Another Good Finnish War Film

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 31 July 2014]

AMBUSH – 1999 This well done Finnish war film takes place just after the start of the 1941 -44 Continuation War with the Soviet Union. Finland has attacked the U.S.S.R. in order to take back the territory lost in the earlier "Winter War" of 1940.

The film follows a small group of Finnish bicycle-mounted infantry who are sent out to do a recon on a quiet sector of the front. The men are never sure if there are any Red Army troops waiting in ambush. They go through several abandoned villages and of course do meet up with Soviets.

There is a side plot with the officer in charge running into his fiancé. She is a nurse at a forward aid station. He begs his commanding officer to send the woman to the rear areas.

This is a very good looking film with the forests and lakes being used to good effect. The haunting score adds to the film's effect on the senses. While there are no massive battles here, there is more than enough action to keep the war film buff entertained.

The film is well worth the time invested by the viewer.

A fine movie

[xaggurat · 7/10 · 23 March 2005]

ABOUT MOVIE:

I mainly agree with other writers here. Some explosions could have been better, some serious tactics planning would have helped and they could have left out the "look, we fight in slow motion with tragic soundtrack, isn't war just hell?" part. But altogether a good war movie. Beautiful photography, good acting, good actor directing, good screenplay, raises healthy questions of war etc.

I liked this one when I first saw it, although I was a bit disappointed. Few years earlier Director Olli Saarela made about hour long short movie called Lunastus, which is still in my top 50 (of the 15,000+ movies I've seen).

ABOUT HISTORY:

A Danish writer summarized couple years ago: "...and the Finns were heroic, after all (which they were, but was it worth the losses?)" Well, the Finns could not just surrender and wait for somebody else to free them.

I was born in 1969, and I'm happy and grateful that I've been able to live relatively free life, in an independent and a democratic government country. Finland went through three different wars during the World War II, and every time it was about staying independent.

The Soviets started the Winter War by attacking Finland. During those days the Allies, the British and the French offered to send troops, but this was canceled since the Swedish would not let those troops travel trough Swedish soil. After 105 days peace was met and _Finnish soil_ (meaning PART OF OUR COUNTRY!) was given to the bullies. People were driven from their homes. During the peace Soviet Union continued to make more demands. I am always amazed how our neighbors in Scandinavia seem to think Finland, a country of 3 and 1/2 million, was provoking here and attacking there to gain more land and power just because they were so greedy back then.

Hello?!

Finland was friendly with Germany, who had already helped the Republic during the Civil War of 1918. The Germans told the Finns of their plan to attack the Soviet Union. Finland and Germany signed a pact of war against the Soviet Union, who continued to make their demands trough the whole peacetime. Continuation war started in 1941, few days after Germany attacked Soviet Union. Finnish troops took back their land and some more, and then ceased advancing to hold lines which held until the major Soviet offensive of 1944. The Finns first retreated with speed, but after few weeks stopped the offensive, and destroyed few Soviet divisions again. Peace was met, but the Soviets demanded that the Finns had to turn against their comrades in arms, the Germans. The Lapland War ended when last Germans retreated to Norway just before the end of war in Europe.

Few sane points to keep in mind:

1. Without Soviet aggression there would not have been war in the first place.

2. Without the Soviet Union taking land and demanding for more the Finns would not have made pacts with Germany and advanced to Russia. Think about a part of your country where lives about 15% of your people, would you be very willing to let it just go?

3. Germany and Finland were friendly before Nazis, Germany helped Finland in Civil war of 1918. Finland relied to Nazi Germany as their only friend to help against the Soviet threat during the peace between the Winter and the Continuation War.

4. Finland did not help Germany against the Western Allies. Finland did not help Germany with the siege of Leningrad or with other German strategic goals.

5. For the Finns it was only about staying independent. That they achieved. Was it worth the victims? Well, yes, if the whole country including even the great majority of Finnish communists wants to stay independent and free and is determined to fight for it.

Gripping small-unit war movie

[Euromutt · 29 June 2003]

"Rukajärven Tie" is set in the opening stages of the "Continuation War." In 1941, the Finns sought to take advantage of the German invasion of the Soviet Union to seize back--with interest--the territory the Soviets had captured from Finland in the Winter War of 1939-40. The main protagonist is Eero Perkola, a subaltern commanding a platoon of Finnish bicycle infantry which is participating in the invasion. Once in Russia, Perkola is surprised to run into his fiancée, Kaarina, whom he thought to be safe in Helsinki, but who has joined the women's auxiliaries. Perkola requests his battalion commander to transfer the auxiliaries away from the front. The battalion commander agrees, but asks Perkola to take on a special mission in return; Perkola's platoon is to reconnoitre forward of a gap in the Finnish lines to ensure the Soviets are not preparing to counter-attack in that sector.

This puts "Rukajärven Tie" into the "Lost Patrol" (as in the 1934 John ford film) category of war movies: a small unit making its way through hostile territory, harassed by groups of hostile fighters. Of course, this film is about Finns. It helps to have some knowledge of the historical situation to comprehend this film, but it's not vital. The soldiers do not see the war as some "crusade against godless communism," they're looking for payback, and while ideological differences within the unit are touched upon, the Russians (note: the Russians, not the Soviets) are clearly the common enemy, and the bitterness (in varying degrees) of the Finnish soldiers is clearly evident. War movies of this kind depend on suspense rather than spectacle, and this film has suspense in spades.

The soundtrack contributes to the highly evocative atmosphere in the movie, from the excellent musical score to the buzzing of mosquitoes whenever the action takes place near any body of water. Otherwise, this film is an anorak wargamer's delight, featuring weapons very rarely seen in war movies (such as an SVT-40 Tokarev rifle in the hands of a Russian sergeant, and several Lahti-Saloranta M26 light machineguns), bicycle-mounted infantry (ubiquitous in many early 20th-century armies, but rarely seen in movies), and displaying the highly informal nature of the Finnish armed forces (the only salute in the film is a mark of respect, not of regulations). Incongruously, the platoon behaves amateurishly on occasion, e.g. bunching up while exposed to possible enemy machinegun fire, etc. but this is a minor distraction.

This film has almost everything most people could ask for; sex, violence and though the plot is a little thin in places, there's lots of character development to make up for it. I loved it.

A problematic war movie...

[rkj · 6/10 · 17 August 2001]

This movie has gathered huge crowds in Finland, but as an outsider with only a superficial grasp of Finnish history you loose a lot of the points.

Focusing on a small Finnish bicycle unit as they penetrate into Russian held territory in 1941 the film has a lot of poetic moments and a high degree of tension in some scenes. Just seeing combat from a Finnish perspective is interesting for anyone brought up on mainstream American war tales, but there are problems...

As said in another comment, there is a lack of realism in the unit tactics displayed and some fighting scenes are ridiculous (especially the last unnecessary heroic showdown). Given that the soldiers portrayed are veterans of the Winter War they do *not* act sensible.

Well, that might be a minor point had it attempted a more thorough investigation of the motives of the soldiers and the inherent conflicts that must arise given the situation. Instead it centers on a banal lovestory as seen many times before in Northern European films. Mandatory nakedness, melancholia and a touch og golden light is the name of the game. Argh!

For those of you that don't know, Finland was an ally of Germany at this point, though they probably had no other choice, and the fighting in this film is not heroically defensive, but offensive. Nationalist sentiment was high at this point and just a tiny bit racist, ala the German kind. Had it more explicitly discussed these topics and the views of the soldiers in the unit, it might be more interesting for a foreign audience and in the end more balanced.

Instead it avoids discussing if there was a real need for the Continuation War and the huge drains it made on Finland. There are attempts at portraying conflicts among soldiers of different background, but no more.

As it goes it's mainly a crowd pleaser for the Finnish audience, showing that war is hell, love triumphs and the Finns were heroic, after all (which they were, but was it worth the losses?).

I prefer older ones.

[smiba · 6/10 · 16 April 2005]

So you have just seen Talvisota (Winter war) or Tuntematon Sotilas (Unknown soldier) and you think this quite new Finnish war movie must be at least as good? Then it will be a disappointment.

You haven't seen any other Finnish war movie yet? Then you may like this. Filming is beautiful and there is lot of action but still its only a love story in war. And thats not the only Hollywood cliché there, like you can read from other comments. I think Olli the director was not ready to make realistic war movie, framom framsta linjen (etulinjan edessä) was better movie and thats maybe because of experience of the director. Its not showing the Finnish fathers going to the battlefield because they need to keep their independence. Its not showing how they fight with poor equipments and realize the horror of the war. Its just a movie about bicycle squad going behind the enemy lines and then running through it and shooting like mad mans without any sense. (Oh yeah and there was this love story too.) These soldiers were winter war veterans? ... maybe they got shell shocked badly.

I prefer Talvisota, thats the best war movie ever made.

A superb and gripping war movie.

[guggen · 10/10 · 23 March 2001]

A good portrayal of the Finno-Russian conflict. What is really thrilling is that it also, in my opinion, gives a good view of the Finish character referred to as "SISU". The movie also isn't plagued by the typical American film clichés. Don't miss this one, and I hope that subtitling outside Scandinavia is good enough to do the Finnish soldiers justice. Their temperament really comes alive with their lines.

A Big Stale Limppu

[hentoff · 6/10 · 7 August 2012]

This is my first Finnish film and I will acknowledge at the outset that my review may be influenced by subjective cultural factors. However, there are certain universal elements to good filmmaking, and that is where I will try to direct my criticism. I haven't read any of the other reviews before writing this.

Ambush follows a Finnish reconnaissance unit at the beginning of the Continuation War in 1941. For me, the pace of the film was painfully slow, with very little suspense, even during the battle scenes, which I found to be unrealistic. It takes more than explosions to film a compelling battle scene and the director just didn't do his homework in filming the combat scenes in this film. You are informed at the beginning of the film that most of the platoon members were veterans of the Winter War, yet they never behaved like experienced soldiers would under real combat conditions.

The cinematography was mediocre throughout the film. The director and cinematographer failed to take advantage of the beauty of the natural scenery available to them, which would have been one of the stars of the film if someone like Lars Von Trier had been directing. The recon platoon is searching for Russian soldiers in a vast isolated wilderness and you never get the sense of how small they are and how big the wilderness along the border is. This was my biggest disappointment with the film since I had eagerly anticipated seeing the natural beauty of Finland's wilderness.

This is the first time I've seen bicycles used by a recon unit in combat, which was interesting, although I don't know why they wouldn't have been using horses instead of bicycles when it seemed as if they were covering quite a bit of terrain. I can see why the practice didn't catch on with most armies, as reflected in the scene where one of the soldier's bicycles is disabled and he is unable to continue with his unit. In another scene the recon unit is being shelled from the opposite river bank and they have to drag their heavy bicycles with them as they retreat. Finally, they must abandon their bicycles as they are being blown to pieces by what appears to be mortar fire. How a recon unit winds up drawing such intense shelling in a forest is a mystery to me.

Overall, the film reminded me of a big stale limppu that you have to soak in water before you can choke it down. The FInns are rightfully proud of their country's fierce resistance to both the Soviets and the Germans in WWII, but this film didn't do the subject matter justice.

Rukajärven tie

[angelhair21 · 10/10 · 13 October 2006]

Before anyone can judge this movie, PLEASE take the time to consider others comments.

Well I personally love the movie dearly. It is in my blood, literally. A few years back my mother and I were invited to see this film at the Finnish Embassy in Ottawa. My mother being a Finlander thought this would be an interesting movie. We both very much enjoyed it and were dually haunted by this film. When my mother went back to Finland the other year to visit relatives with her mother, they discovered the true significance of this movie. It turns out that this movie is actually about my mothers grandfather. So my great grandfather and really as I loved this movie, it is a real understatement to what happened to him during the war. His real name was Perkkola Savinainen and the movie hardly shows his real escapades, or even his friendship to the Fin President, Mannerhaim. Even after the war, of what happened to my family, having to escape into Sweden to escape from being shipped to Siberia. This movie is honestly I believe a very very excellent movie and I will never forget it. Liisa Savinainen Mountain

I wrote the above comment in 2006 and as I have recently read through some of the comments, which I had not done before, I noticed that many people questioned the story and it's liability. PLEASE read other comments before you judge this movie, for it is a true story, again based on my great grandfather. I would really appreciate anyone not dismissing the plausibility of the story. The real events of that war are beyond the tellings of a movie. If anyone would truly like to know how he died, was from given the wrong blood years later after the war. He had been shot through the head, then skied it was about 50 miles, then received the transfusion of the wrong type.

I do understand that this movie is one of events that people don't really believe and yes I do find it is an understatement. I have several pictures from his tasks during the war.

It must be remembered that in Finnish history, the suffered many wars between both Russia and Sweden, the Germans and others. The Finns didn't support the Nazis but if your country is forced to defend themselves, and there was scarce any money for weapons.. The Germans did abuse the Finns, as many were sent to Italy. The numbers the Finns faced against the Russians sometimes were 20-1 and not in the Finns favour. War truly is a hard thing, and this movie tried to show something that had happened that many didn't know of.

Perhaps other readers may understand that it was not necessarily the wish of my family to have everything played over for us again. My grandfather and great uncle were in his platoon that were featured in the movie, though the names and relations were changed, I was able to watch them fight and suffer just like I was actually there.

Dramatic, profound, realistic - with some imperfections

[BeneCumb · 7/10 · 26 October 2013]

Continuation War was the direct reason for the Soviet aggression into Finland - known as Winter War - when Finland was deprived of big areas where the Finns and the Karelians had been living for centuries. As it coincided with the World War II and Finland was helped by Germany, it helped the Soviets to maintain the areas (which are currently in a very miserable condition, brushy, etc), although their losses were much bigger than those of Finns.

All this, together with the post-war "finlandisation", has annoyed most of the Finns, and only the collapse of the Soviet Union has enable to approach the war issues with realism and dignity they deserved. Rukajärven tie is an example of a strong war film (directed by Olli Saarela) based on a solid book (by Antti Tuuri) where war horrors alternate with people's search for love, acceptance, and desire to live a "normal" life. Although the Finns are known as somewhat sluggish, the pace of the film is yet sometimes too slow, scenes stressing the mood or visions could have been shorter; besides, there are some predictable twists (related to an in-house explosion or ending scenes, for example) and the ending is too trivial. As for the cast, it is far above average, but Peter Franzén as Lieutenant Eero Perkola outperforms all the others (he is one of the most versatile contemporary Finnish actors).

Nevertheless, if you like war films and/or are aware of Finland's choices before and during World War II, you may appraise the film highly.

A Disappointment.

[Member · 1/10 · 30 November 1999]

I had high hopes for this movie and indeed, this film shows that it is possible to make films that can be more popular then American films, at least in Finland. I think that this is a pretty good film although I do not agree with many things about it. To mix a love story with a war story is in my opinion a big mistake, a blatant attempt to bring in the female movie goers. And to show that even if the lieutenant is out of control he really does not have to pay for it, except by loosing a couple of his men. I'm glad that they showed that even prisoners were shot but somehow the final message of the film is very mixed up. What are they trying to say? An officer can lose control on the battle field and that is good? Religion made the difference between the Russkies and the Finns? Russkies were mere bystanders in the war? A good film but somehow it is just a collection of things that were quite rare in the war but are displayed here as if these things happened all the time. Could have been a lot better.

Very moving film

[filmlover-2 · 10/10 · 6 January 2003]

Very well done film about the battle between Finland and Russia in the early stages of World War 2. Well shot, well acted and exceptionally moving. I found this film on DVD at Vidiots in Los Angeles. Never had heard of it before and found it to be a big treat. The label lists Vanguard Cinema has the distributor. I highly recommend it.

Horrible

[robinjo · 1/10 · 4 March 2000]

After reading a lot of good comments, I finally decided to rent Rukajärven tie. I have to admit that I'm happy I didn't waste money watching this at the movie theater. The beginning was bad and I just kept waiting and waiting for it to get better and it never did.

The movie is very slow. You end up watching the same motionless faces for ages trying to find anything. The love story is weird. If there ever was love, it sure didn't show in how the couple behaved. Were they ever happy to see each other?

Then comes all the tactical mistakes. You never ever cross an open area. Even if it's huge, you always go around it. You don't stick that close together. When someone is in front, you're prepared to fire and not just sit there looking at the "Russian roulette" this group did. But the most horrible was the attack in the end. It was pure Hollywood braindead action.

great film

[nstansfield · 31 July 2001]

I saw this film at a Finnish cinema, with only swedish subtitles. As I can only speak a small amount of Finnish and no Swedish, I expected it to be an uncomfortable film to watch, but I found it uniquely interesting to watch a war film in which everyone spoke their own language, instead of an American with an accent. I would recommend this film to anyone.

An artistic war movie

[Klovni · 9/10 · 11 February 1999]

Rukajärven Tie is a different finnish war movie. Other finnish war movies like Edvin Laine´s "Tuntematon Sotilas" and Pekka Parikka´s "Talvisota" have concentrated in showing the two wars that Finland fought with Soviet Union during the second world war as a desperate fight of a nation that is struggling to stay independent. Rukajärven Tie isn´t about Finland or finnish people like the earlier finnish war movies. This kind of story could be placed to almost any war that has been fought during the last hundred years. It´s a story about what war can do to us humans. In photographical sense this film is magnificent. The most impressive scene in this film is the one that has the same setting as the Leonardo´s famous painting of the Lord´s Supper. This film has lots of symbolics in it and is a rewarding but not an easy film to watch.

One of the better movies, actually one of the best

[seppo-imdb · 10/10 · 5 January 2002]

After seeing this movie my list of the best movies got a new order.

The work of the actors, the cinematographer, the composer and especially the director on this movie is absolutely excellent! Although the movie is long and has this slow pulse to it, the mood just carries the viewer and the journey is worth taking.

A sad and beautiful movie with a story to tell.

Not bad and many scenes are really hilarious

[quetiapine · 5/10 · 7 May 2007]

I liked this movie. However I do not understand people who rank it as a masterpiece. This is an ordinary war movie. Not bad but nothing else. Hovewer it has really funny moments which will make you laugh, for instance Finnish soldier pierced by a dozen of bullets was not only still alive but was able to run and fight. Or a booby trap made of a black powder with such a primitive fuse that was obsolete I think in 16 century. Or a bunch of Finns who assaulted and kicked asses of an entire Russian battalion in a Rambo style. Sorry to say that but it was not very pleasant for me to look how my fellow countrymen were represented in this masterpiece. The stone age barbarians must have had better and cleaner cabins then "Russa". It was laughable for me but almost all my friends who watched this film felt a little bit offended. As a conclusion: I am glad that I watched it but saved my money and didn't buy DVD. Peace.

Brilliance!

[Kodzilla · 9/10 · 3 February 1999]

It`s been a while since a good Finnish war film has made it to the big screen, but after a long wait it has happened. The sheer brilliance of the love story/agony of war- description is only paralleled by the marvelous performances by the two leads, Franzen and Björklund. Whether you prefer romantic story-telling or gruesome war, this is DEFINITELY your movie!

That movie looked promising but couldn't live up to it.

[stefanreig · 4/10 · 29 January 2007]

"Ambush" had me interested for about the first half of the movie, but after that I realized that not much more is coming. The film is dragging on occasion and doesn't really get to the point. The end is also a little too over the top with a handful of Finnish soldiers taken on hundreds of Russians. The director seems to have put a great deal into the details, which I liked. However, the storyline is very thin. You mostly watch a platoon of Finnish soldiers walking around for the better part of the movie, which makes you tired pretty quick. Nevertheless, to have never seen a Finnish movie before, it was much better than I expected it to be. Like I said, the movie itself was done well, but the story could have been much more interesting. Not a whole lot happens in that movie. Maybe if they had cut about 30-40 minutes from that movie then it would have been more fast pace and easier to watch. In the end I have to say that this movie is O.K. to watch once, but definitely not worth buying the DVD.

This isn't the Finnish war movie to see

[DarknessOntheEdgeofTown · 23 January 2004]

It's a shame they made a "Hollywood" movie out of it. Even though it does tell something about the situation Finland was in during that time, the movie looks like one made in Hollywood.

The battle scenes were unrealistic with the characters heroically running in the forest even though the air is full of bullets and kill many of the Russians while at it (pretty much like a Rambo or Commando but not that far out). Also, the love story plays too big a role in the movie.

I don't mean it's a bad movie but if you want to really get an idea of the Winter War or the Continuation War, try to see The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas, 1955) or The Winter War (Talvisota) or read the books.

Of the American depictions of war (in films), only Band of Brothers comes close to what The Unknown Soldier and The Winter War deliver.

Though somewhat popularistic, it still does have some soul to it.

[TTS · 8/10 · 30 January 2003]

You don't always have to find the largest, most massive, confrontation to make something impressive. The ones that portray a war without a real individual's perspective tend to get so removed from real life that they tend to glorify war.

In real life war isn't a fast paced action flick. A movie made in Finland relies much more in its sense of "it could be real" then the average Hollywood product. Waiting is an essential, yet agonizing, part of war. When the action comes it can be over in 5 seconds. Waiting for that 5 sec is the definition of living on the edge. I enjoyed the tranquility of the earlier parts. In war, 10:1 odds in casualties are achieved by using the advantage when you have it. That means attacking from behind and taking out as many as you can before it's your turn. Yes it is cruel and brutal. Who said war is anything else?

The movie is also visually beautiful and the soundtrack tends to amplify the beauty of the scenery, but does not go overboard obvious as is the case with some classical soundtracks. The film has an enjoyable atmosphere to it. However, I'm forced to admit that the actual events make it a bit hollow and somewhat popularistic. If you can get past the shell, which I would give maybe a 5, you can get to the core of it all. With the ambience and feel of it all, I'd give the movie's guts an 8. I'd rather grade it by that.

If you are looking for an action flick for a friday night, this is not really it. Try maybe sunday.

very interesting movie that shows aspects in the war we didn't know.

[mel-301 · 8/10 · 21 October 2010]

The movie "Ambush" is a very interesting movie although I can't still understand now in the plot what was the relationship between Finland and Germany in the second world war.By the fact I have some Finnish friends who couldn't explain it to me at all in a rational way, but it seems they were alliated to the Nazis?? I am sorry but I am not very implicated in these items about second world war, but the movie doesn't explain what was happening exactly, as the russians appear as murderer invaders in a out of time dimension war and also the guns used by the Finnish looked from the I world war. The Nazis and their collaboration with the finish are not ever mentioned.

Instead of this the movie is very good filmed, with a lot of masculine and feminine cakes, and specially the music is super, some years ago I bought a CD from the finish label Ondine,called "Aurora Borealis", and I was very impressed about the music of this movie, , as it was never shown in Spanish cinemas I thought I never were able to see this movie, until I bought the DVD in a second hand shop last week in Madrid...incredible! I repeat that the movie is super. Sorry for my bad English!

Slow moving Finn WWII film

[florida87 · 5/10 · 11 May 2002]

Very slow moving WWII film's only interest to an American audience is it's the only account I've seen of action around the Ruso-Finn area. Ending is'nt bad but it was awfully slow up to then. For hard core WWII film buffs only...................

One of the best war movies I have ever seen!

[I-3 · 10/10 · 4 March 1999]

This is by far the most truthful war movie I have ever seen. You don't have to be an old war hero from the 1941 Russia-Finland war to enjoy this, you will cry and love the movie. After seeing it I really like the old war hero of my country more, I now know that they really fought for our land. This movie is SO realistic, it wins, by far, the American movies describing wars. It dosn't have the regular American hero in it, it's told as it really was; nobody enjoyed the war but you fought for your country. This is a must see for every person who is interested in history, even if you don't live in Finland and have a relative who's been in this war, it's fantastic.

I liked this movie and I am not even a Finn

[joeypogi · 20 May 2000]

I liked this movie more than I liked Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line. For some reason it was able to capture better what the other movies were trying to capture. What I liked even more was that it was able to "cheat". Meaning it was able to make it look like there was a war going on with a few well taken shots and angles and sound effects, an inspiration for all aspiring filmmakers with no Hollywood money. =)