WakenPayne I have been growing to really REALLY love foreign-language War films. I like Stalingrad, Black Book, The Unknown Soldier (pick one!) and The Winter War to name a few. I mainly picked this one up because I have been getting into Finnish movies and the cast to this, based on what I've seen look like the kind where even if I didn't like it they'd be able to carry it.The plot is that Lt. Eero Perkola leads his squad through the Russian forest during the Continuation War and meets up with his fiancée, Kaarina - who has become a nurse with the hopes of at least trying to find out if he's okay. They meet for a night before both have to leave, when Kaarina leaves for another city's fiery aftermath they are ambushed by Russians. Eero finds out this news as he is given new orders to fight off Russians, so he has to continue leading his men while mourning the loss of his fiancée.Now the action, while very limited (I'm serious, there are 4 action scenes in this entire movie) is very very good. The last one in particular looks amazing. That one was perfectly paced, motion slowed when it needed to be and seeing the stunt-men run past the explosions are all done beautifully.The actors themselves do indeed do fantastic jobs. Peter Franzen does indeed do a great job here and while their roles are minor I found it great that we saw Irina Bjorklund and Tommi Eronen act as well. The main supporting players that I have never even heard of also do indeed put in stellar performances.If there is anything to complain about it would have to be the Catholic imagery, no this is not me attacking religion. I just feel that there was little purpose for it. There is a lot of it, especially within the first half of the movie and I didn't really find that much of a need for it. If I were to compare to another Olli Saarela film - The Priest Of Evil had Catholic imagery which was needed because the main antagonist thought he was God's right hand.There is only one other complaint and - yes, it's a nitpick. In this movie a character walks along a bridge and gets shot by Russian forces and he tries getting up and fighting only to get shot down even more until he falls into the water... He survives this whole movie. I'm not kidding in the very next scene he somehow was able to walk back to where they set up camp.Aside from that there isn't really that much to complain about. The cinematography is nigh-on perfect for the tone of this movie. It all looks really good but also gives off this cold feeling (even though for those who haven't seen this movie - it's not set in winter). It's not the best I've seen for a War movie (that would have to go to Max Manus: Man Of War) but it's pretty damn close. Then there's the music, It deserved the Jussi win. That's all I can say about it, it fits perfectly and the pieces all sound wonderful.So If you have seen the Finnish war movie classics like The Winter War and The Unknown Soldier then this movie doesn't exactly live up to those movies, in entertainment or emotional investment. However this is still a well made movie that despite a few small complaints is very much worth checking out.

Nick Hentoff This is my first Finnish film and I will acknowledge at the outset that my review may be influenced by subjective cultural factors. However, there are certain universal elements to good filmmaking, and that is where I will try to direct my criticism. I haven't read any of the other reviews before writing this.Ambush follows a Finnish reconnaissance unit at the beginning of the Continuation War in 1941. For me, the pace of the film was painfully slow, with very little suspense, even during the battle scenes, which I found to be unrealistic. It takes more than explosions to film a compelling battle scene and the director just didn't do his homework in filming the combat scenes in this film. You are informed at the beginning of the film that most of the platoon members were veterans of the Winter War, yet they never behaved like experienced soldiers would under real combat conditions. The cinematography was mediocre throughout the film. The director and cinematographer failed to take advantage of the beauty of the natural scenery available to them, which would have been one of the stars of the film if someone like Lars Von Trier had been directing. The recon platoon is searching for Russian soldiers in a vast isolated wilderness and you never get the sense of how small they are and how big the wilderness along the border is. This was my biggest disappointment with the film since I had eagerly anticipated seeing the natural beauty of Finland's wilderness. This is the first time I've seen bicycles used by a recon unit in combat, which was interesting, although I don't know why they wouldn't have been using horses instead of bicycles when it seemed as if they were covering quite a bit of terrain. I can see why the practice didn't catch on with most armies, as reflected in the scene where one of the soldier's bicycles is disabled and he is unable to continue with his unit. In another scene the recon unit is being shelled from the opposite river bank and they have to drag their heavy bicycles with them as they retreat. Finally, they must abandon their bicycles as they are being blown to pieces by what appears to be mortar fire. How a recon unit winds up drawing such intense shelling in a forest is a mystery to me.Overall, the film reminded me of a big stale limppu that you have to soak in water before you can choke it down. The FInns are rightfully proud of their country's fierce resistance to both the Soviets and the Germans in WWII, but this film didn't do the subject matter justice.

quetiapine I liked this movie. However I do not understand people who rank it as a masterpiece. This is an ordinary war movie. Not bad but nothing else. Hovewer it has really funny moments which will make you laugh, for instance Finnish soldier pierced by a dozen of bullets was not only still alive but was able to run and fight. Or a booby trap made of a black powder with such a primitive fuse that was obsolete I think in 16 century. Or a bunch of Finns who assaulted and kicked asses of an entire Russian battalion in a Rambo style. Sorry to say that but it was not very pleasant for me to look how my fellow countrymen were represented in this masterpiece. The stone age barbarians must have had better and cleaner cabins then "Russa". It was laughable for me but almost all my friends who watched this film felt a little bit offended. As a conclusion: I am glad that I watched it but saved my money and didn't buy DVD. Peace.

ouija-3 I was disappointed with this film. It is an uneasy mixture of Hollywood-style shallow love story and a war film. For a Finnish film the film looked and sounded wonderful, but love story between the main characters was not successful, and the lovemaking scene at the beginning in front of a fireplace is silly.The action sequences and the suspense scenes were, on the other hand, very well done, especially when the Finnish soldiers explore an abandoned house. And the music was great.What disturbed was the way the Russians were depicted as cruel barbarians as opposed to the more or less heroic Finns. But on the whole, this is a mildly pleasing time-killer.