Best movie of this year hands down!

Best movie of this year hands down!

Absolutely the worst movie.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

In Norway, Max Manus was a hero. And, I am sure that because of this that "Max Manus: Man of War" was such as successful film. Norwegians flocked to it like lemmings. However, if you aren't from Norway, I doubt if the movie will bowl you over like it did these folks. Now I am NOT saying it's a bad film--Manus was an incredible guy and the film is exciting. However, the film isn't perfect and I only mildly recommend it. Why? Well, although there are lots of wonderful scenes, the film has two huge problems. One, and this is a personal one, it uses the cursed unsteady cam--featuring lots of shots that look they were shot by a cinematographer with the DTs. The film shook so much on many of the closeups I felt like I was becoming motion sick! Second, the film is VERY sketchy. Too often, the film jumps from one scene to the next--many, many months apart. And, because of this, some of the characters are woefully underdeveloped. There apparently was supposed to be some sort of budding romance between Manus and his contact with the British consulate--but you'd never really know it--it just happened very abruptly. The same was Definitely the case with the blonde lady--who was she, why was she featured in the film and why should we care?! By the way, although this is an exciting film, be forewarned that it's VERY bloody. If you don't want to see tons of blood and gruesomeness, try another film.

I had this for my birthday, and unsurprisingly once again found that a 'Straight to DVD' movie is a hidden gem. Although it starts off a little slow it quickly becomes apparent this is necessary to illustrate the background of each of the protagonists.I was pleased to see it was in the original Norwegian except where necessary, because although I do not speak the language myself I am not a fan of 'Herr Kapitan, vhy are ve speakink English?' style of movie where everyone speaks English regardless of nationality. The subtitles were at times a little obtrusive as you'd end up with the translation and the ordinary title - such as showing location - at the same time.The portrayal of the main characters was superb but none better than that of Max himself. You are drawn throughout the movie along with him from the brash young boy, taking ridiculous risks, to the mature leader of his men in wartime, to the ending with his despair that although peace has come finally to Europe it is too late for so many of his closest friends who didn't live to see it. In this lies the true strength of the movie; it is real. It is not a gung-ho happily ever after story. It portrays war not as it affects countries, but as it *actually* affects those involved, and shows that the effects don't go away just because everyone stopped shooting.

This film is really good.A great story about a guy called Max Manus who was the leader of the Norwegian underground movement. It covers his life and the fate of his comrades throughout World War 2.No huge budgets, no big name stars, a really good story and some class acting.This is probably the best film I have seen covering the sacrifices made by the underground movements in occupied Europe.The best part is that its true.Jason

From an outsider point of view I Felt that the film was a Hollywood-war film copy. Although the actors were playing well and there were some very nice scenes visually. It just felt as an documentary piece done with actors.I was surprised that this level of visualization of war could be done with a Scandinavian budget, but it didn't really help my problem: The lack of a strong universal story-line. The plot was as thin as paper and there was really nothing to wait for.The film was a huge disappointment for me after hearing the numbers of viewers that the film received in Norway.I can see why it did so. It's a typical story of a Norwegian war hero, but for a foreigner it's just a basic war film and a boring one.