The Winter War (1989) ( Talvisota ) ( Vinterkriget ) (Blu-Ray)

I'm 55 and have been watching war films all my life. My dad was in the film industry before the war so war films were what we watched. I've seen pretty well everything that Hollywood and the UK has to offer from 1939-1990 in WW2 war films, and the only one that comes close to the intensity and duration of the realism in Winter War is 'A Bridge Too Far'. This film bows to no conventions except to tell it from the Finnish perspective as realistically and meaningfully as possible. Not meaningfully in any half arsed moralitic sense, but in the sense of a small country, Finland, fighting for survival against an enormous one. Ironically both sides were less unevn in manpower (F 1/3 million SU 3/4 million) but the Soviets had all the vtanks (2000-6000+) and aircrft (4000) the Finns had neither tanks nor aircraft to speak of. The director does not flinch from showing the horror graphically, but always in context, and never overdone. It happens, you accept it and move on. He has some magnificent set pieces, incluyding mass Soviet infantry attacks. These are done possibly with real crowds, not vCGI crowd effects (I'm no expert on this though). The blurb says 'compared to this SPR is a walk in the park'. Yes. SPR is 30mins of hell at Omaha, then the rest is a cakewalk. This film is a peaceful 1/2 hr of scene setting, then virtually 90 mins of continuous hellish nightmare of warfare. Realistic explosions and explosive effects (ie the ground really does erupt!) He uses wide shots for good effect, and the actors are very realistic as conscripts suddenly called up to fight. The whole thing says 'yes we will fight for our country, our homes and our comrades, bu it will still be hell and will be shown as such, graphically but realistically, ie not overdone'. It is all in Finnish and some Russian but the subtitles are well done. Excellent and quite possibly unique. [The Russian film industry is also turning out some interesting war films. They are not bothered by 'pc'...]

The Winter War (based on the same name novel by Antti Tuuri ( The Winter War )), is a pretty grim, realistic and not very glorifying or hero worshiping type of war movie from Finland, following the experiences of a Finnish infantry unit during the Winter war (November 1939 to March 1940) facing the overwhelming odds of the Red army at their doorstep. The movie, covering both the combat and civilian aspects of the war is really a masterpiece, which is sadly let down in this - abridged - version, as some key scenes have been omitted to make it of a more palatable length. The original version is not as combat centred and is thus richer, covering a wider range of topics, and more in depth. Still, as a viewer you will get a pretty good appreciation of the war, the gritty realities of combat, the hunger, cold, and relentless onslaught of the Soviet army. The lack of understanding of combat realities of the civilian population (who glorify it more than necessary) is still present, even if not to the same extent as in the unabridged version. Getting hold of the original Finnish version (which I would give a full five stars) is of course preferable but even in this shortened variety, this is a solid movie. It works well in concert with the other Finnish war movies, such as The Unknown Soldier (1985) ( Tuntematon sotilas ) and its earlier incarnation The Unknown Soldier ( Tuntematon sotilas ) [DVD ] (and the not quite so excellent but still good Ambush [DVD ] and Tali-Ihantala 1944 ( Tali-Ihantala ) ), all of which cover the later Continuation War. It may not quite do it for you if you are looking for something like Saving Private Ryan [DVD] [1998 ], or The Hurt Locker [DVD ] but for people who have enjoyed Cross of Iron [DVD ], Winter War is likely to be a good bet.

This WWII double pack is excellent value. The Winter War, the better of the two films, covers the Finnish war against Russia. The outgunned Finns doggedly hold off the Russian forces in a gritty, no-nonsense but well rounded war film. The budget was obviously limited, but the film does far better then most major blockbusters, and creates exciting and convincing battles with real Soviet T-26 light tanks, massed infantry charges and aircraft attacks. It also conveys alot about Finland at that time, along with the life and hardships of being a soldier. Very much recommended. Ambush deals with the period later in the war when Finland was allied with Germany, but this factor is ignored. Instead the film tries for broad appeal with a romantic subplot that slows and dilutes the story of a patrol into Russian controlled territory. The film looks good, but has less interest, action and scope than The Winter War. Both films are an interesting addition to a war collection.

This movie is based on actual events in the 40s when Russian forces attacked Finland. They were eventually beaten back by the sheer determination of the Fins but not after a lot of bloodshed, death and destruction. The movie may be slightly overlong but for me this can be forgiven as it does cover a lot of detail and action. The battle sequences are very realistic and harrowing, and much of the equipment, weapons, tanks and (CGId?) planes are accurate for the period as well. It all helps to make this a very realistic and powerful piece of work. For other good movies based on the same subject try two Finnish ones called 'Ambush 1941' and 'Tali Ihantala 1944' and a Swedish one called 'Framom Framsta Linjen' (Behind Enemy Lines) about a Swedish speaking unit in that conflict.

When most people think of the 1939-1940 Winter War between the Soviets and the Finns, they think of outnumbered Finnish troops using guerilla tactics, moving into the forest, cutting off Soviet divisions, splitting them apart, and defeating them in detail. While this picture is true for the largely undeveloped eastern and northern parts of Finland, in the south, the Finns and Soviets fought a more conventional form of warfare in and near the Mannerheim line. This movie, "Winter War", tells the tale of a fictional platoon of reservists that fought in the south, from their initial call-up until the final Finnish acceptance of Soviet terms and end of the war. This movie was produced in Finland and had both a 195 minute theatrical release and was a five part, 265 minute, mini-series shown on Finnish TV. In the US, it was released as a shortened 125 minute feature. This DVD edition that I'm reviewing restores the 70 minutes that were cut. While it's a Korean import, it's subtitled in English. By and large, the subtitling is excellent, except for the occasional Finnish place-name, where you get some jumbled letters/symbols instead of the place-name. The movie itself is outstanding. From the use of the tactics from the time, use of actual tanks and aircraft (or replicas) used during the war, and realist depiction of life in the trenches, everything is authentic and believable. I've seen pictures of the trenches from the Mannerheim line and they look identical to the fighting positions as laid out in the movie. Most of the action-part of the movie takes place in two locations. This is a plus, as it affords you the opportunity to become familiar with the fighting positions, and you almost feel that you're there, too, through that familiarity. This move does not hide the brutality or gruesomeness of war. Several scenes are truly gory, although that was true of the war and the film makers are correct in their decision to show this level of detail. War is hell, and it would be wrong to "pretty it up". In the early part of the movie you get to know the various main characters, and you feel a sense of loss as they get picked off, one after the other. The movie doesn't attempt to give any large lessons about life ... it show the courage (of both sides) and the Finns stubborn pride and willingness to fight for their country, even though they were fighting a country with over 40 times their population. In the end, they were forced to sign a peace treaty that gave away all in all, 11% of their territory and 30% of the economic assets of pre-war Finland. But through their efforts, they were able to maintain their independence, unlike the Baltic States who were later forcibly incorporated into Soviet Union. I strongly recommend this movie to history buffs and students of World War II. Five stars.

パッケージの裏面を見て目が点になりました。 なんと125min....。なんと125分版だとわかりました。正直完全版が欲しかった…。そのような理由により星四つです。

Excelentes películas de guerra, buena trama, historias, actuaciones, efectos especiales, ambientación., ¡Bravo por el cine finlandés!. Una pequeña pero determinada nación que enfrentó con honor y valentía heroica al coloso soviético. Mientras las naciones bálticas cayeron en la esclavitud comunista, la Heroica Finlandia mantuvo su independencia a precio de su sangre. Viendo esta película se comprende el significado intraducible de la palabra finlandesa SISU, la que dio nombre a otra famosa película finlandesa, la determinación irresoluble de enfrentar y vencer cualquier obstáculo y desafío. Subtítulos en ingles

This was a great but sad movie. Bought for my 80yr old dad who has spoken about this war many times.

Sinceramente mi aspettavo qualcosa di meglio. La storia è incentrata sulla resistenza dell'esercito finlandese all'attacco sovietico ma il film si snoda quasi esclusivamente tra le trincee finlandesi con russi che corrono all'attacco e si ritirano quasi inspiegabilmente. Manca completamente la contestualizzazione del conflitto e i personaggi risultano essere abbastanza stereotipati. Indubbiamente è un film di guerra su una vicenda poco nota e tutto sommato le scene sono piuttosto realistiche nonostante il film abbia qualche anno. Prima di acquistarlo considerate che il film è in finlandese sottotitolato in inglese. La confezione dvd è decisamente scarna con all'interno solo il disco. Infine, piccola nota di marketing distorto del film, nella copertina si vedono carri T-34 quando in realtà nel film vengono utilizzati solo i T-26. In sintesi un film che si può guardare, soprattutto se interessati a quell'episodio bellico, ma nella vasta filmografia di guerra ce ne sono tanti altri migliori.