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also known as Rukajärven tie
Ambush1999
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AMBUSH takes place in the first days of World War II in Russian Karelia by the Finnish border. A young lieutenant is sent on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines, leaving his beautiful fiancee behind. During his mission he receives the tragic news that she has been killed by the Russians. Now the war is personal and the young blue-eyed officer changes into an unstoppable killing machine.
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Starring
- Irina Björklund - Lotta Kaarina Vainikainen
- Tommi Eronen - Private Simo Karppinen
- Peter Franzén - Lieutenant Eero Perkola
- Pekka Heikkinen - Corporal Evert Rönkkö
- Kari Heiskanen - Lance Corporal Jussi Lukkari
- Pekka Huotari - Private Martti Raassina
- Tero Jartti - Private Moilanen
- Rauno Juvonen - Private Hämäläinen
- Taisto Reimaluoto - Corporal Unto Saarinen
- Kari Väänänen - Corporal Tauno Snicker
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Member Reviews (17)
top reviewer
Long on brooding stares, weepy violins and maudlin flashbacks with lightning, short on action and suspense. You’d never guess that the Finns were some of the world’s greatest soldiers and fought the Russians to a standstill in the Winter War from watching this. Nice scenery, sets and well shot, but the harlequin melodrama overstays its welcome by about 30 minutes.
top reviewer
I agree that the description of the film is utterly misleading. This is not the story of a man turned into a killing machine; it is an elegiac account of a young couple swept up in a theatre of World War II little known to audiences that have been sated with Hollywood's versions of the war.
It's a film of strange disconnections between the physical beauty of the protagonists and the filth and blood of battle; between the movie's somber and sweet music, and the rattle of automatic weapons; between the grey-green palette of Karelia's landscape and the incandescence of war's destruction.
The film brings to mind Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line," which also sets the majesty of nature and human love against the equally human capability for making horror. It's a beautiful film about terrible things, one that invites contemplation.
well done
Great war movie
Very good. Interesting.
Quite beautiful. War is absurd, love is too. One is real each moment in time.
Decent war movie. Quite suspenseful at times. A few predictable moments, but on the whole I was gripped.
Its very detailed and very well done!
Ambush is a fascinating film about a much unknown piece of history and a powerful piece of storytelling. It is well forth seeing. You will not be sorry.
The sentiments, photography, were very good. Being a Finn, I had a lot emotion for the WWII. Scenery was authentic. I liked a lot.
The reality of war and the unstoppable spirit. A very good movie.
no
Finnish history in a drama.. There is a lot of info shared if you know Finlands history.. I would watch it again.
I found it a odd picture. A slow paced war movie. The production values were great but it needed more editing.
The description of the movie is a little off. He doesn't really become an "unstoppable killing machine". Still a good movie, nice to see non Hollywood war movies.
great movie!
I cannot decide whether this film is one more training film to induce yet another generation to follow in the "noble" behavior of "brave" warriors or, whether, it is a film helping us men realize the utter senselessness of war.
Really, guys crawling through the mud after repeatedly standing up to get shot again and again and, then, treated by his buddies as some-kind of hero? When will we men just stop participating?
These are the kinds of questions this film brilliantly bring into sharp focus.