I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Fantastic!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Okay, I know in Finland this is like Citizen Kane to them, I've even looked at message boards here to see how much Finland loves this movie. I thought that I might take a look.My overall reaction of the 169 minute version was that it displayed the violence like how you'd want it to be, for a 50's movie I was expecting tamer violence, Although... As far as Finnish war films go I prefer the 1989 film Talvisota, it's all opinion. The one thing I did find weird was that the characters went through violence like that and they're acting light-hearted for what you'd expect the dialogue to be, I was expecting the dialogue to be more grim than it actually was, Not that it wasn't grim - There is a scene where a soldier gets shot and injured, the platoon then believes he's dead and he then wants to die and that The Russians can't aim for him and he then commits suicide, it's just the dialogue that's light-hearted.In my opinion this movie has full reason to be considered a classic, (I rated The Seven Samurai the same rating) I will watch the remake done by Rauni Mollberg, I will not expect the same quality type of movie though I will expect a remake that is still good yet nothing on this, maybe a perfect example of a remake being not as good as the original yet still good is the remake of the German movie Nosferatu.In my opinion I think this does have full reason to be considered a classic (unlike a few American films I've seen) but it's not as good as the hype around it was suggesting - will watch the remake though.

Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier), based on Väinö Linna's novel, is the most succeeded domestic movie in Finland. It's easy to understand how it has gained such a high position.The direction of Edvin Laine shows all that is essential and transitions between scenes work because of authentic war film material. Music does its purpose and serves patriotic positive atmosphere, especially Jean Sibelius' Finlandia hymn is impressive. Some hilarious comments make smile besides of dark subject. Sound effects have however gotten old-fashioned, especially the voice of bouncing bullets from old westerns is extremely unrealistic.There's lots of strong performances in Tuntematon sotilas, Heikki Savolainen's delighted Hietanen, Leo Riuttu's funny Vanhala and Jussi Jurkka's swaggering Lammio are only few examples. Although the actors are professionals and superstars of their time most of them are way too old to be their young role characters. Especially Olavi Ahonen's middle-aged timid Riitaoja didn't make positive impact. Also some of the actors die too theatrically.The script of the movie is good but it presumes too much that all of the viewers have read the novel. For example most of the characters names are not mentioned at all or are only mentioned in the near of the end of their lives. Mostly the only way for those who haven't read the novel to recognize the characters is to recognize the actors who are playing them. Also some aspects of the book witch emphasize the Continiuty War's violent and absurd points, like insane Viirilä, are completely left off, which little dims the novel's strong antiwar message. The only significant error in Tuntematon sotilas is that it's too much a prisoner of its time.In any case, Tuntematon sotilas is still worth of watching because of it's impressive narration, atmosphere and characters, even though the movie doesn't feel as fresh as 52 years ago.

Being a swede myself and reading politi kasses interpretation of this movie as soviet propaganda makes me embarrassed. Of course it isn't! Probably he has never seen a soviet propaganda movie? Talking about propaganda I would say "Band of Brothers" contains more American propaganda than this movie contains soviet propaganda - even though Band of Brothers is a fantastic creation. I always find it refreshing to see war movies from other countries than USA. Often the consequences and moral issues of war are more much more interesting. Almost everyone in Europe knows somebody who fought in the war or suffered the consequences. Europeans saw their continent blow into pieces. Thats why we love anti-heroic movies like Das Boot and Stalingrad - and this one. By the way, how often do you see Finnish soldiers in movies? 10 out of 10.

I haven't ever heard such incomprehensible gibberish in my life. The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon Sotilas) is not Soviet propoganda but a poignant and still very relevant look at the inhumanity of war. It is probably the only film that takes place during the little known Continuation War (1941-44), the sequel to the also little known Winter War (1939-40). Unlike Talvisota, the other great Finnish war movie, some knowledge of the chronology and background to this conflict is required. In 1941, Finland mobilized its forces along the 1940 armistice line incurring the wrath of the Soviet Union which bombed several Finnish cities in response. Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began shortly after. With most Soviet forces tied down in defending the motherland against the Germans, Finland seized the opportunity and reoccupied the land it had lost in the previous war. The plucky Finns made significant gains until the war entered its 'static phase' with neither side giving or taking any ground for nearly 2 years. The Finns did, however, refuse to link up with the Germans at Stalingrad which consequently may have cost Germany (and Finland) the war. There was a color remake of this film but in my opinion, this appears to be the superior version. If you can get a copy of the novel in English, I would recommend reading that as well.