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Really Surprised!

best movie i've ever seen.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I had to write a review because the written reviews here don't seem to match the actual score of the film.The film follows some young soldiers to the front, but it's exactly what you expect. There is very little in terms of story or character development. It is the equivalent of watching a reenactment of the war rather than a story set in the war. The war itself is in the foreground, the middle ground and the background - it is the be all and end all of the film.There is very little in terms of film - thoughts, deep dialogues, score, music, iconic scenes, locations, characters, camera movement or anything that makes a film stand out from a webcam on the front.The film had a small budget and some things look fake, but I wouldn't take 0.5 of my final score for that minor detail. The artillery and guns look, but the action is not exciting. There are very few camera tricks (tracking, pans, follow) or quick cuts that make the action scene exciting, to take us from being observers to participants.It gets points for being one of the most realistic (in mood) war films. It is not dramatized or fetishized, but it is plain and has no message. It places you there. But that's about all it does. It's as enjoyable as being there in person.The Winter War is an interesting subject, but I don't think this film does it justice at all. It just shows it, but says nothing about it in any way.

This is by far the best War film I have ever seen. It truly grips you with the horrors (I have only seen the 195min version) and it is pulled off brilliantly.The story follows the Hakala brothers Paavo and Martti, Both have signed on to the army to defend against the Russians from invading. The truly unique thing about this film is that it actually humanizes the Russians whereas with other war movies it is always biased towards the side that won, most of the other movies set during WWII just say "every Natzi was evil" when not only is that an overused plot element but its just idiotic, most foreign movies are SO much better at making war movies - like Germany made Rosenstrasse a great attempt at filmmaking.This movie truly is one of the greatest of the genres (I have not seen the 125min US version nor the 265min Miniseries). This movie expresses the horrors of War in such a good way that after this I wanted to watch a light-hearted comedy to take my mind off it.Calling it the 81st best War movie is a little Harsh, since when in War movies do you see them not only take on the violence accurately but also focus on the Shellshock? How many times in a war movie does it set a character up for 2 hours only to see him being blown apart with his brother watching? How many times do you see a War film to find out that the side that they intended to root for win but neither the main character or yourself seem too happy about it? All the people that like Saving Private Ryan should watch this to REALLY see the horrors of War (only seen the first hour of SPR and that didn't make me feel the horrors of war as much as this did).EDIT: For anybody who's interested I have a recommendation, the 1985 Tuntematon Sotilas - It's not as good as this though.

For being made by Finland this is a great movie and have more emotions then big Hollywood movies. You ca really see in this movie how bad the conditions were during the war. Its amazing how the Finns really could stand up so hard against communist Russia. And its a great how to see Hakala loose his brother and still keep his focus up and don't give in. Im glad that they have done this more dirty than the newer movies, conditions in war are dirty in reality. The Finns doesn't have much ammunition or clothes and was bombed with mortars but still they kept they faith up. The Russians pumped out mass-soldier attacked and was in the beginning pushed back time after time by the Finns, but after a time the Russians begun to take the control of the situation and Finland doesn't have enough men to fight. But a heroic try to keep the Russians back as long as they could.I love this movie, one of the best I ever seen.

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.