Max Manus: Man of War [DVD] [2011] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Strange is it not that even a film like this can result in a range of stars from 1 to 5?
I have opted to give it a 4 star as I felt that this was indeed a very good, well acted film. Awesome, perhaps not, but very watchable.
There really is no point in dwelling on whether the Norwegian's were in part or all against Nazi's; it is one of those historical arguments you can get embroiled in unnecessarily as to how much they 'resisted'.
The fact of the matter is that some did, and this film covers this in a very well paced way.
My only beef, hence 4 and not five, is more because being deaf I rely heavily on subtitles, and when the dialogue reverted to English, there was no subtitle, this I hope, will assist those of you who are hard of hearing.

I had been waiting for this film for a long while and managed to see it at one of the advanced screenings. It really is an incredible film. It's been a long while since a WW2 movie has moved me in the same way - I'm thinking The Pianist. I also read that the screenwriter died very recently at the age of just 28... which is incredible in itself given the depth and sheer scale of this film. A true epic in every sense of the word the film follows Max Manus, a Norwegian resistance figher first in the Winter War in Finland against the advancing Russian army and then in Norway itself where he wages war on the occupying Nazi forces with a group of resistance fighters called "The Oslo Gang". Shockingly brutal at times in terms of the violence this film does not shy away from the harsh realities of war and the incredible ordeal that occupied countries suffered at the hands of Nazi Germany. Packed with intense visceral action this is a film that will both keep you locked to the screen with excitement and have a profound emotional affect. In all honesty this is one of the most brilliant war movies I have seen for a long time. Breathtaking

For some unfathomable reason, when this thrilling and moving movie was released on DVD in the USA and the UK, the distributors decided to change the title from the simple and effective Max Manus, and add the terrible line Man of War, making it sound like some gung-ho action movie, and nothing could be further from the truth.
Based on true events (and once you have watched the film, the word "heroic" takes on new meaning), the film tells the story of Max Manus, a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War 2 and the leader of the so called "Oslo gang", a group of dedicated patriots who decided to strike back at the occupying Nazi forces any way the could. Beginning with Max's experiences as a volunteer in the Finnish war of 1940 against the invading Soviets, the film then moves on to detail his exploits following the occupation of his beloved Norway by the Nazi's. Initially idealistic and something of a loose cannon, a brutal brush with the Gestapo see's Max flee to England, where he receives training in the arts of the resistance fighter and is parachuted back into Norway to organise the resistance, older, wiser and totally dedicated to the cause. Alongside Max are a group of like minded young men, all prepared to die for their cause, and it is their secret war that forms the heart of the film. Living on their nerves, aware that capture means death, this group of men carry out a series of spectacular and damaging operations against the Nazi regime, but as the casualties grow, Max struggles to come to terms with the loss of his friends and the sacrifices necessary to ensure victory.
The star of the film is without a doubt Aksel Hennie as Max, who breathes life into this apparently quiet man who decides to stand up and be counted. Hennie's Max is brave to the point of foolhardiness, and prepared to do whatever he must to get his country back, but feels crushed by the responsibility of his actions and slowly unravels as his friends die around him. But Hennie is ably supported by the likes of Christian Rubeck and Nicolai Cleve Broch as his two most trusted friends within the gang, and Ken Duken as Siegfried Fehmer, the Nazi officer tasked with capturing Max and his associates, and a truly great piece of acting it is as Duken gives Fehmer a truly seductive yet menacing charm.
Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg who directed the movie, and Thomas Nordseth-Tiller who wrote the screenplay, deserve every credit for giving the viewer a great piece of cinema. Never averse to showing the consequences of the gang's actions, from retributive executions by the Nazi's to the violent and bloody deaths of some of Max's closest friends, this is a film that is both strong and subtle but never showy. With a closing sequence that is both heart braking and uplifting at the same time and speaks volumes about the nature of war, this is an epic in every sense of the word.