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It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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

"Freedom is a word....Until you lose it." In the 80's, there was glut of movies about the conflict between America and Russia. Some notable examples include: Red Dawn (1984), Russkies (1987), Red Heat (1988), and later there was Armstrong (1998) with the classic tagline: "The Cold War is heating up..." Oft-forgotten among these more well-known titles, is "Born American". This time around, three American party dudes, Savoy Brown (Norris), Mitch (Steve Durham), and K.C. (David Coburn), rather than go to a warm, tropical climate, decide to drink beer and enact their wacky shenanigans on the snow-filled border between Finland and Russia.Sure, everything is going swell between their sessions of shooting their giant bow & arrow at playing cards and doing the limbo under the actual border, but for a fun time prank, Savoy decides it would be a real hoot to cross over some barbed wire and some armed guard towers into Russian territory.Unfortunately, after a mix up or two involving the humongous bow & arrow, now the whole town is after them. The gang is taken in for questioning and the evil warden thinks they are a terrorist group. So they are thrown into prison. The place is a rat-infested hellhole and K.C. is injured and slowly dying. Luckily, there is "The Admiral" (Rasulala), a friendly American who lives in the basement of the prison and works for the C.I.A.It all comes to a head when the gang is forced into a deadly game of human chess that involves some light punchfighting. Will Savoy and his buddies escape the prison with their life intact? Just imagine a cross between the aforementioned "Red Dawn" and Midnight Express (1978). Norris later of Death Ring (1992) fame does a non-silly (as opposed to later in his career) job as Savoy. He even yells not once, not twice, but three fan favorite yells: "NOOOOOOooo!" He also has the prerequisite training sequence before the big human chess match. There are some rocket launcher blow-ups that are welcome.The problems are: the movie takes itself way too seriously. Also it is hard to feel bad for the gang because they are in this predicament because of their own stupid decisions.All in all, "Born American" is a decent addition to the 80's-movie-fascination-with-the-cold-war-with-Russia boom.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

I am a 60-year old Russian born in Estonia (a Baltic country annexed and occupied by Russia 1940-1991). I have travelled a lot by hitch-hike around the USSR and seen what the life was like there. I know the grim Russian reality first-hand.That is why I disagree with a comment saying that Born American "is a bad, bad film and it's made worse by the fact that it portrays every level of Russian society in a very unflattering manner".In fact, the film is realistic -- therefore its portrait of the Russian society is unflattering. The Finnish producer seems to know much more about the real life in Russia than many in the West. Later the film turns into an 'action'. But the general picture of the Soviet-time Russia is true.Until the Soviet bloc collapsed this film could not be demonstrated here: it was banned. Moreover, Moscow made a protest to the Finnish government, even demanding that the film be banned from cinemas in Finland! Can there be a better proof that the film demonstrates the Soviet/Russian reality in a honest way?Indeed, for a person in the West it may be hard to believe that such reality can exist. But may I tell you that an elderly Estonian exile once told of having cried watching a film about Russian slave labour camps, while other western audience laughed. People just couldn't believe it was possible -- but she knew, and she cried.Valeri Kalabugin Tallinn, Estonia

This movie is interesting as it is directed by a Finn and is filmed in the Republic of Finland, and most of the extras are Finns. Since there isn't too many Finnish films in English marketed towards an American audience, this film is unique in itself. You can see how the Finns used to view their Russian neighbors and also what an aspiring Finnish director thinks would appeal to American audiences. The film is pretty hit and miss but the human chess scenes are quite entertaining.

Not a great movie, but then, it starred Mike Norris, not known for great movies, though in this one he did more acting than usual.David Coburn as KC was the best part of the film (if somewhat uneven) while the character Mitch was the worst. He had no real redeeming qualities. Frankly, I was rooting for him to die so I wouldn't have to watch him anymore.Most striking was how much "stuff" Renny Harlin managed to fit into the film. If only it weren't so disjointed or so full of gratuitous violence.A must for Coburn fans. Great moments and a great comparison piece to see how much he's grown as an actor.