Ambush (1999)

I thought that this would finally be THE Finnish war film, but I guess I was wrong... Well, this ain't that bad, it just takes a few wrong turns. The biggest problems being a certain lack of "honesty" for example: what's that running tall in the woods when you got a zillion bullets flying! In a situation like that you stay the F. down! Now that, of course is not that heroic and exciting to watch, but that's what happened for real. And the problem with all Finnish movies is a serious lack of talent from the director. Every time I'm watching a Finnish war or an action movie I get this feeling of a guy shivering in the director's chair thinking "what am I goinna do next? what am I gonna do next? I hope they don't ask me 'cause I'm on a major director's block here!" so he bails out using something he's seen in an AMERICAN movie! So in the middle of serious situations we get these hilarious out-of-its-place-scenes like soldiers running in the woods dodging bullets. Or in "Talvisota", a punchline after a russian POW commits suicide with a grenade, or a Finnish soldier getting shot, spurting blood, still firing a short burst and then dying. Tsk, tsk, looks like we're only good at making comedy-dramas for young adults ("levottomat", "minä ja Morrison", "nousukausi"...)"Rukajärven tie" delivers, but it's only "okay". And if you consider the material... would PLEASE a major Hollywood-studio pick the Winter War and the Continuation War for a movie?? The situation is a gem (although not back then...): the odds for russians were like a 1.000 to 1 and in Winter war it was FREEEZING cold, down to minus 40 C! And talk about being in between a tree and a hard shell - we HAD to choose either Adolf's or Stalin's side.Just one thing- make it talky, with the eXtra dry Finnish humour.

Very well done film about the battle between Finland and Russia in the early stages of World War 2. Well shot, well acted and exceptionally moving. I found this film on DVD at Vidiots in Los Angeles. Never had heard of it before and found it to be a big treat. The label lists Vanguard Cinema has the distributor. I highly recommend it.

Very slow moving WWII film's only interest to an American audience is it's the only account I've seen of action around the Ruso-Finn area. Ending is'nt bad but it was awfully slow up to then. For hard core WWII film buffs only...................

After seeing this movie my list of the best movies got a new order.The work of the actors, the cinematographer, the composer and especially the director on this movie is absolutely excellent! Although the movie is long and has this slow pulse to it, the mood just carries the viewer and the journey is worth taking.A sad and beautiful movie with a story to tell.