The Unknown Soldier

I watched the 3 hour movie version first and I didn't understand half of what was going on due to there being a TON of characters and Finnish names that I have trouble remembering.

I also didn't know much about the Fin war against Russia so did some research on it.

But, I read the novel by Vaino Linna. Helped me to understand what was going on in here. I loved the book, was a blast to read. I had to write down all the character names to remember, but it helped a lot.

This version follows the book very closely too, down to exact quotes. The book however doesn't show what each character did on leave, so this added a bit there.

I have not seen the 1955 or 1980's version of The Unknown Soldier as I have had great difficulty in finding them... but I was told they are not as faithful to the book.

This series is a gem, realistic, exciting, sadnes, hope - and more... Magic schenery and great actors, i hawe been few times in Finnish woods and i swear i could smell them.-thats how good the cinematiography is. And of course ; Hollywood war movies cant really get too this "realistic level" - its culture i think - i guess war isnt a sports-event, and here you cant tell what everyone is going too say ore mimic; ore not say - a finnish thing so on the spot in my opinion.

1941, the finnish army is on the offensive.

A year after fighting a legendary war against the invading russians, the finns take to the offensive as Nazi Germany and the axis powers invade USSR in the largest invasion in the history of the world.

We follow the finnish army pushing into Russia and then follow the same troops as they retreat back towards Finland three years later.

The action is very good, the character developement is very good, the acting is very good.

At times it's moving, grizzly and even slightly absurd.

This is basically Band of Brothers on the russian/finnish front.

Very good.

Watch it!

I don't normally bother writing reviews, as scores speak for themselves, however, this is an exception.

This is a gritty and down to earth realistic look at warfare. No plot armor, no heroes, just people surviving the hells of war as best they can. It gives a unglamorous look into what normal people go through on the front line.

Without going into details, I can without a shadow of doubt say this is up there with BoB and other such series. The cast is phenomenal in every aspect. They feel like real people living in real circumstances.

It's just long enough to give the impact it needs to. Being based of real accounts and giving the material the honor it deserves really shows through the runtime.

From the first scene to the last, it's sneaked it's way into my top 10 of all time series up there with BoB, The Pacific etc. Feels like a Finnish Stalingrad of Iron Cross. If you have 5 hours to live, this isn't a terrible choice of viewing material and really delivers a memorable performance you wont soon forget.

I've never seen the movie, I almost watched it at the cinema. Years later, here I am, watching the mini series so five parts with 50 minutes each. The production itself is huge and phenomenal, the amount of detail if it's small or large they made an authentic World War 2 mini series/movie. One thing stood out the most, the realistic sets which was mostly forests and the way they used the light was the right choice as it wouldn't have been the same with fake light. Every single part of the production screams authentic and they want you to immerse yourself into the war and it feels like you're there with them.

The mini series is similar to Band of Brothers in how great it is, I know nothing can beat that masterpiece but this comes close to being on the same level. This is another section of the war, a very interesting one. We get to follow a couple of soldiers, most are young and we get to experience what they experience, how the events change them. It have been done before, the director and the cast make it a success. But the thing this movie and its story and characters do best is how realistic it is to what war probably was like. They never shine away from the realism, it's there from start to finish and it's a trip that I would like to go back to. Eero Aho as Rokka, the more experienced and older soldier quickly became my favorite. All the characters are perfect and brilliantly acted, but Eero's acting in this mini series is truly superb.

Aku Louhimies directed and cowrote the movie/mini series and he made a visual masterpiece. The musical score fits and it's fantastic. I really recommend this mini series, I didn't think it was going to be this good but it was a masterpiece.