Max Manus

I'm not sure where to start but my anticipations for this film were sky-high, and boy were my prayers answered! I have difficulty seeing how the story of Norwegian resistance fighter Max Manus could be told in any other way. The friendship in the tight-knit group of saboteurs and resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Oslo is portrayed with great warmth, comedy and boyish charm (most of these guys were basically just kids!), and the original and very special relationship between Max and his future wife Tikken is both credible and beautiful. Together with some intense action-scenes this all makes for a great WW2-film that takes you through every emotion.

Almost refreshingly it's told in a straightforward manner, none of those new fashionable gimmicks where a storyline is suddenly turned on its head just for cheap effect. The fact that this film is very close to reality - according to both Manus' widow Tikken and Gunnar Sønsteby, one of the legendary resistance fighters portrayed in the film - makes this even more fascinating.

An honest sweeping war drama deeply rooted in reality and history, that should interest any fan of WW2-stories, anywhere in the world.

And why watch fictional heroes like gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius when you can enjoy real life ones like Maximo Guillermo Manus? :)

I just watched this film. I had no idea really what the film was about, I had never heard of Max Manus.

I had high hopes after reading the reviews here, but maybe having high hopes made this movie fail a little for me.

It was good, but I feel a little confused about many things. I will not go into the details here, but I just feel the film should have been longer. Everything just happens without much explanation (I think it is made in such a way assuming that the viewers already know the facts, but alas, outside of Norway nobody knows anything about the Norwegian resistance) so many times I was left wondering.

I would have liked to have learned about Great Britain (especially Scotland) and how the relationship between them and Norwegian resistance was formed and how they travelled between the countries. I know at one point fishing boats from Scotland were rescuing people from Norway, but I have never seen this depicted in a film.

But over all, this was a good film, very beautiful cinematography and very well acted. It was nice to hear Norwegian too, I don't understand it, but it added to the authenticity of it and really made you feel a connection with the gang.

Awesome film based on a true story about a small but significant resistance group in Oslo Norway during WW2. and the most prolific member is Max Manus with his daring operations and back breaking escapes from the Nazi's. in terms of Norwegian films in general ,this film differs from the rest because of it's massive budget and interesting source material. the thing that really surprised me was the detail and skill of the cgi effects from making Oslo look like it did 60 years ago to various explosions and action sequences. foremost this film is for people familiar with the story's of Max Manus and his daring exploits. Aksel Hennie did a great job portraying Manus. i didn't like Hennie before but i do now. A must see for any Norwegian or war enthusiast.

This film is one that I have waited for a long time awaiting it's theatrical release.

When that came I were not disappointed,alltough they did leave out a LOT of really exiting stuff. f.ex: his eventful trip around the globe via neutral Sweden and pre war(Barbarossa) Russia then to Turkey where they were almost ensnared by two beautiful female German agents.Then to North Africa(Egypt) were they almost joined the British 8th army,but didn't because they would be seen as deserters by the Norwegian army then.

They also shot down a french plane that were attacking them in the Mediterranean,then via cape town ultimately to New york and then via convoy to England,I think a sequel is in order to cover this journey. That being said ,this is by far the best Norwegian or foreign for that matter film I have ever seen,the effects is beautiful and blends in perfectly,the story have been comprised a bit to fit in a movie script and I understand that perfectly as I went to film school myself. Production value is top notch in this and you can really see every dollar(or kroner) is put on that screen. Hennies portrayal is spot on,so are the other performances. I would warmly recommend this film to everyone especially those who are interested in WW2 history.

PS: I read a review on here that said Manus never fought in the Finnish campaign,while it is true that most of the Norwegian volunteers never got to the front (all from alcoholism to bad nerves,a total of 128 Norwegian troops reached the Salla front and were put into the Swedish "friviligakåren" (volunteer corps). Please do your research properly if you are going to make statements like that.

So many war films are just Hollywood idea of how chisel jawed clean cut Americans defeated the Nazi hoard across Europe.

Not so Max Manus.

For once a war film with a proper story that isn't just a story but all true. After watching this film I went straight to the library to look him up.

A remarkable chap and a credit to his nation.

A great boys own adventure, no gooey love seen, not full of gallons of fake blood and thousands of rounds being fired. Just a no nonsense as it happened film.

Go see it.