Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

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

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Jan Strydom BORN American marked the feature directorial debut of Renny Harlin who in fact went on to direct well known films like PRISON, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4, DIE HARD 2, CLIFFHANGER and DEEP BLUE SEA, just to name a few.This film however is actually pretty good, its not a masterpiece but definitely worth seeing, many people have said this film is far fetched it actually isn't, it is pretty accurate in its portrayal of the events it depicts and of the soviets which it does in a really unflattering way, the story itself is fictional.The acting is actually very good, the best performances are given by Mike Norris and David Coburn, who pretty much carry the film.Overall, Even though its not a masterpiece it is worth seeing, the acting is great and the direction is handle very well by then first time director Renny Harlin.

pork92807 I first saw this in the late 80's with a friend of mine who rented the VHS (no DVD's back then!) We were smoking a lot of marijuana back then and I recall being shocked by the more memorable action scenes, especially the Pepsi bottle incident. I think I stood up when that happened.How can you NOT rub the side of your face after watching that scene? ANd yes, the chess game scenes were creepy. The trio of two rough-house guys with the computer-geek friend seemed to work. Also notable: Norris' Kung Fu moves while beating up Russian soldiers. That is one of the feel-good-to-be-American perts of the movie.Anyway, I bought the DVD and watch it once a month.I MADE my twin 10-year old girls watch it too.

xtravaluemeal If I were to pick two words to describe this movie it would be unbelievable and unpredictable. Unpredictable because not a single moment of this movie could be foretold. And unbelievable because it has above a 4 rating on this website. This movie doesn't deserve the use of stars, it should be given its own rating system of awful, like a 5 rectum review or something. I mean this movie stinks up something awful, so awful I had no choice but to express my sincere concern that someone else might one day view this movie, or worse pay for it. Please dont... Renny (the brilliant director of other favorites such as Cutthroat Island and Driven) has presented something truly unique to the world of cinema this time however. No protagonists and no antagonists, at least no clear ones, any time we start to develop any kind of sympathy for a character he kills them! any time something happens in this movie it is wasted, unused, unexplained. Here this should sum up the movie: 3 kids go to Finland (for spring break i guess, it has become quite the hotspot) and within 2 minutes are driving to the north pole for no reason. We soon find out that 2 of these guys are your traditional jocks/heros and one is a worthless nerd. The jocks bring guns and a bow and arrow set while the nerd just has unbelievably nerdy things for a vacation like, a camera! and clothes! and food! Our "protagonists" pick on the one normal and decent character in this movie to the point where A) its unbelievable they would be friends let alone the best of friends and B) we hate the kid too. They then shoot a few things on the border of lapland and Russia (during the cold war mind you) and decide it would be best to cross the border with their weapons to "check it out,'" like the ground would be paved with gold and the streams would flow with vodka. They then forcefully kidnap a girl so they can tell her "not to be scared," I mean i fully thought they were gonna rape this girl, but it turns out they just wanted to ask some questions. The girl screams and as you would expect they are then captured by villagers and accused of murdering a small girl by an occultist/demon possessed priest (no explanation of course) who has brain washed a village... So our americans kill everyone... EVERYONE! The military shows up so they kill more. You may be thinking... Why is this guy giving away the whole movie. I'M NOT, THIS IS ALL IN THE FIRST 10 MINUTES!!!! we havent even gotten to the HUMAN CHESS MATCH where the opponents fight to the death (apparently remmy doesnt quite get the concept of chess, what if the pawn took the knight when the knight was taking the pawn? well thats giving this movie too much credit). I watch bad movies a lot. If you are looking for one you've found it. Its damned funny, and a wonderful example in what drugs you should never take when you are on a deadline to make a movie. Just please understand, in no way is this movie good. It couldnt be good if it tried, it breaks every rule of film, theater, story, human relation, history, etc. This movie just, sucks.

fugu_286 This movie is interesting as it is directed by a Finn and is filmed in the Republic of Finland, and most of the extras are Finns. Since there isn't too many Finnish films in English marketed towards an American audience, this film is unique in itself. You can see how the Finns used to view their Russian neighbors and also what an aspiring Finnish director thinks would appeal to American audiences. The film is pretty hit and miss but the human chess scenes are quite entertaining.