The Winter War (1989)

I typically get excited when I see a big-budget picture which has been produced by a country whose language is not commonly spoken. Finland definitely qualifies here. These movies are made with extra care and attention to script and detail. Often they are quite long, since if you're going to do it, you may as well get a lot out of it. Talvisota is just such a film. Three hours long and superb quality from start to finish (Finnish?).Firstly, the subject is not familiar to many. It is set in 1939 when Finland was invaded by the Red Army. Interestingly, the fact that the Finns did so well gave other countries (read Germany) an idea that the Red Army could be dealt with quite easily. What I find particularly fascinating in this film is the fantastic insight it gives into Finland and Finnish rural society of the time. Very detailed, equally interesting.After watching this I recommend you watch "Tali Ihantala", a similarly excellent Finnish film about the "Continuation War", set in 1944 when the USSR again invaded. All in all, I can't speak highly enough of these two fine movies. Each deserves a nine.

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.

I think this movie is one of the most realistic war-movies ever made. My grandfather fought in Taipale and Kollaa and wrote a book about it, and i think this movie portraits the conditions and the nature of the warfare there very well. The only thing that bothered me a bit is that the freezing weather doesn't really come up... the winter when this was shooted was one of the mildest (warmest) for years, while the winter -39 was one of the coldest in history. Of course, there was not much the crew could do about it. Anyway, a great movie, which i warmly recommend for everyone. I hope someone would also make a good picture of the ultimate frozen hell, the motti-battles in region of Suomussalmi, maybe of the point of view of the menaced Russian 44th or 163rd division. That would be interesting to see...

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.