Watch Max Manus: Man of War For Free

I'll tell you why so serious

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Blistering performances.

It's always fun to watch the Nazi's get a headache over their plans being sabotaged, so watching Max Manus: Man Of War should be great; and it is. It's storyline is excellent, easy to watch and a good film to sit back and watch Nazi Germany get their butts kicked. Though parts of the film feel forced with emotion, everything else works out fantastically.Max Manus: Man Of War takes a slightly alternative approach to the World War Two genre, adding Norway into the picture, rebels and the best saboteur in the world. Though you may feel that certain characters are just put in for that sake of it, this film is with out a doubt the best World War Two film of the decade.

Wonderful movie, I'd say.I would have liked to have seen more of Max's experiences while he was fighting with the Finns against Russians. My grandfather and his brothers came back from that war broken, which even I, after decades had passed, could see.Almost all Nordic countries were going 'under the boot' at that time, albeit from different sources. Denmark and Norway suffered from Germany's invasion and Finland suffered from Russia's. Although, they never bested us. :) The numbers were 10 Russians against 1 Finn at the worst times but still we prevailed. Oh, by the way, Stalin was even worse than Hitler. Most of the western world just doesn't know about it.

Norwegian film producers and directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning's second feature film which was written by Norwegian screenwriter Thomas Nordseth-Tiller, is inspired by real events in the life of a 20th and 21st century Norwegian author, resistance fighter and lieutenant of Norwegian Independent Company 1. It premiered in Norway, was screened in the Gala Presentations section at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival in 2009, was shot on locations in Norway and Scotland and is a Norway-Denmark-Germany co-production which was produced by Norwegian producers John M. Jacobsen and Sveinung Golimo. It tells the story about a Norwegian citizen of Norwegian-Danish origins in his late 20s named Maximo Guillermo Manus who after voluntarily having fought the Russians on Finnish side in The Winter War (1939-1940), joins a Norwegian clandestine resistance movement in Oslo, Norway with a group of like-minded men named Gregers Gram, Gunnar Sønsteby, Kolbein Lauring and Sigurd Jacobsen which starts by writing newspapers. Distinctly and engagingly directed by Norwegian filmmakers Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning, this finely paced and somewhat fictional tale which is narrated by the main character, from multiple viewpoints and mostly from his point of view, draws a consistently involving and reflective portrayal of one national hero and true servant of the country of Norway who was born in Bergen, Norway in 1914, who was baptized Roman Catholic, who dropped out of school as a fourteen-year-old and went to live with his uncle in Cuba, who made a living by selling flowers in Chile and who on the 9th of April, 1940 in the capital city of Norway had to witness the German invasion of Norway with his friends. While notable for its atmospheric and variegated milieu depictions, reverent and commendable cinematography by Norwegian cinematographer Geir Hartly Andreassen, production design by Icelandic production designer and costume designer Karl Júliusson, costume design by Danish costume designer Manon Rasmussen and use of sound, this character-driven and narrative-driven story about friendship, patriotism as opposed to nationalism, appreciation and privilege of peace and of the men who honored the history of this nation, depicts an affectively heartrending study of character and contains a great and timely score by composer Trond Bjerknæs. This densely biographical, historic and majestic war epic and quiet love-story from the late 2000s which is set in Finland, Norway, Scotland, England and Sweden in the late 1930s and early 1940s, which reconstructs historical events like few Norwegian films ever has and where a soldier whom is in the midst of planning and executing sabotage missions against the Germans meets a married Norwegian woman named Ida Nikoline Lie Lindbrække Bessesen, is impelled and reinforced by its fragmented narrative structure, substantial character development, rhythmic continuity, multiple perspectives, poignant use of flashback and depiction the aftermath of war, unprecedented scenes between Max and Tikken which creates a contrasting light to the horrors caused by the Second World War, the unforgettable acting performances by Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie and Norwegian actress Agnes Kittelsen and the good acting performances by Norwegian actors Nikolai Cleve Broch, Christian Rubeck and German actor Ken Duken. An important and insightful narrative feature.

Over 30 years ago a much younger, and pre-Robocop, Paul Verhoeven made the understated and under-appreciated Soldier of Orange. In Max Manus, we see the 'Soldaat van Oranje' resurrected but with Oslo subbing for Amsterdam this time around. And it's a good flick, too. Not great like 'Soldaat', but it will do. Indeed, as an introduction to Norwegian cinema to many, it's a more than decent 'nice to meet you'.Comparison between the two pictures are, and should be, inevitable. After all, they're both about their country's WWII resistance movement, both made by and with native sons, and both try to fill a hole in the swiss-cheese minds of non-native audiences (who will mostly know what the USA, and maybe their own country, did during that time). The opening scenes of each introduce us not just to the main characters, but to their college-boy mischief, their bonhomie, and their profound loyalty - both to their country and to each other. We witness the naive optimism of some, and the courage of all. Meticulous period (and locale) details fill each shot of Max, just like its predecessor. Why, we even get to see another return of the king in the coda (actually, in Orange, it was the queen, Wilhelmina). Here, again, the returning monarch is subdued in his triumph, looking, well, regal, surrounded by his adoring, and recently freed subjects. And flags, lots of flags. You get the idea.The acting is where Max is not 'max'. Although most of the supporting cast is quite excellent, outstanding really, the same cannot be said for our hero Max. Aksel Hennie as MM seems to be able to project only two personas in playing his role: brave and defiant and brave and sensitive. Alas, it's what should have come in between that counts. His love interest, a miscast Agnes Kittelsen (as 'Tikken'), tries hard but winds up convincing only Max, not the audience. And, speaking of love interest, unlike Soldier of Orange where the attraction between the characters was alive and the audience effortlessly empathic, Max Manus, both the movie and the character, never make it clear why he fell for Tikken. Still, at least we understand what their romance had to do with the plot - allegiance to fact, and all that. Indeed, that's infinitely more insight than we get about the totally irrelevant and red-herring-like affair between the movie's arch-villain, the echt evil Nazi - Siegfried Fehmer (played without resort to too much stereotype by Ken Duken). I suspect much plot development in this regard was left on the floor of the cutting room.Before all you Norwegians start throwing rancid herrings at me, please understand my criticism is about the movie, not about your heroes or your history. Before this film, I would have been surprised to hear that most non-Norwegians could utter anything beyond "Quisling" when asked about Norway and WWII. Unfortunately, as nice as it would have been to add "Max Manus" to people's fund of Norse WWII myths and legends, that's going to have to wait a while longer. Let's hope that it's not another 65 years.