Talvisota

How about one of the greatest war movies from any country? Might have even influenced some of the recent US warmovies to look more realistic with violence and the gritty and dirty look. Always seemed strange how clean the soldiers looked in old warmovies over here. Should be watched by almost everyone to learn some history. Not sure how few Americans know about the Finns kicking Soviet ass much less even where Finland is. Many thanks to you guys for this great movie. Heard there is a Swedish copy with extra scenes I hope to see also. Only complaint is I don't speak Finnish and sometimes had to rewind to see what they said as I got caught up with the combat action.

This is an excellent film, brutally honest and tightly reality-bound depiction of the defense of Finland against a better equipped, many times larger, but (fortunately!) poorly led Soviet army, in a bone-chilling arctic winter. Like an image of what a hell frozen over would be like.

Though I am a Finn, and understand the language, out of interest I watched the film with English subtitles. I was dismayed to discover how much was lost in the translation; the subtitles are more like short summaries of the gist of what is being said, without any of the flair and flavour.

As such, the film is a bit spartan and bleak for Hollywood-saturated eyes, but so is war.

In all, an excellent war film, depicting the horror of war more tangibly than any other that I've seen, save for "The Thin Red Line".

Not many know of our wars. I really would love to see a movie made that not only describes the conditions and events that led to these wars, but also describes how our parents and their parents experienced the events both in the front and behind. I liked "Saving Private Ryan". I loved "Band of Brothers". But still, it's "Talvisota" and "Tuntematon Sotilas" that really make me feel the weight of war, the effect it has on human mind. "Talvisota" also brings forth the families who saw their fathers, sons, even daughters go to war, with pitiful equipment, maybe even carrying personal rifle as the army could not support them with much else than the blue&white coquards (or what it is called) for their hats. And it shows the pain those families felt when their menfolk came back in wooden caskets or crippled for life. It's also a fine story of personal courage of the ordinary guy, of friendship and loyalty. And of pain and fear.

See it.

And seeing some Russian war-films could also make you see the world a bit brighter. They have filmed some fantastic stories.

The subject is the little-known war between Finland and Russia in WWII. It is hard to imagine such a small country standing up against mighty Russia, but it happened. You get a vivid sense of the despair and carnage of fighting against overwhelming odds. The random nature of combat also strikes hard. The visuals are graphic and stunning without being over dramatized. The craziness of war is brought home by a Finnish soldier who laughingly lights up a cigarette after having his uniform set aflame by a Russian tank. Quiet moments off the battlefield intersperse the intense battle scenes. If you are a war movie fan then this is a must-see movie!

Reviewed was the English sub-titled version. For anyone primarily fluent in English it is quite interesting to hear dialogue in Finnish, a language far removed from English.

Though I'm not a great fan of war-movies I must say this one made quite the impression. I can't really tell what it was but the story struck me.

Not only did this movie give you a story about the war itself, but also on the impact it had on the families afflicted by it. Excellent acting and a chillingly choice of filming made this movie one to remember. Forget about "saving private ryan" this movie shows a war in all it's roughness without the fancy actors doing their best to be the "brave soldier" (no offense to some, but lots to others). After Full Metal Jacket (to me a totally different genre but still for many a war-movie) one of the favourite movies in the "war-theme"