Max Manus

In Norway, Max Manus was a hero. And, I am sure that because of this that "Max Manus: Man of War" was such as successful film. Norwegians flocked to it like lemmings. However, if you aren't from Norway, I doubt if the movie will bowl you over like it did these folks. Now I am NOT saying it's a bad film--Manus was an incredible guy and the film is exciting. However, the film isn't perfect and I only mildly recommend it. Why? Well, although there are lots of wonderful scenes, the film has two huge problems. One, and this is a personal one, it uses the cursed unsteady cam--featuring lots of shots that look they were shot by a cinematographer with the DTs. The film shook so much on many of the closeups I felt like I was becoming motion sick! Second, the film is VERY sketchy. Too often, the film jumps from one scene to the next--many, many months apart. And, because of this, some of the characters are woefully underdeveloped. There apparently was supposed to be some sort of budding romance between Manus and his contact with the British consulate--but you'd never really know it--it just happened very abruptly. The same was Definitely the case with the blonde lady--who was she, why was she featured in the film and why should we care?! By the way, although this is an exciting film, be forewarned that it's VERY bloody. If you don't want to see tons of blood and gruesomeness, try another film.

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.

Although being a Norwagian WWII film, Max Manus has that international appeal because it's about something the whole world experienced.

Following Max and his saboteur friends is a real pleasure and a very realistic depiction of the occupation of Norway. It's the first time i have seen a Norwagian film of this "epic" quality and i hope we get more in the future.

If you have seen a lot of WWII movies don't think this will be just another one. This one gives you a take on the more hidden parts of the war and follows a small resistance group trying to save their small country from one of the biggest empires the world has seen.

So in conclusion i would recommend anyone interested in good foreign films or just good historical films in general.

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 found this war film very enjoyable. The story and acting was good as was the design. It has good moments of suspense and was like an old fashion picture of bravery and winning over the bad guys. The characters are interesting with the central protagonist Max Manus being someone we do care about.

It is good to look at with some very good photography at the outside locations. I particularly enjoyed the night scenes during the sabotage sequences in the harbour.

I would say a good film to watch for teenagers and adults.

It is a foreign language film with subtitles.