Born American (1986)

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers:

Renny Harlin (writer)
Markus Selin (writer)

Release Date:

30 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Freedom is just a word...until you lose it.

Plot:

Three American students vacationing in Finland, cross the border into Russia for fun of it. When they...

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Soldier | American | Finland | Border

Cast

Mike Norris	...	Savoy
Steve Durham	...	Mitch
David Coburn	...	K.C.
Thalmus Rasulala	...	The Admiral
Albert Salmi	...	United States emissary
Piita Vuosalmi	...	Nadja
Vesa Vierikko	...	Kapsky
Ismo Kallio	...	Zarkov
Laura Munsterhjelm	...	Irina (as Laura Heimo)
Antti Horko	...	Cossack
Pauli Virtanen	...	Sergei
Jone Takamäki	...	Interrogator (as Jouni Takamäki)
Inkeri Luoma-aho	...	Female Guard
Markku Blomqvist	...	Irina's Father
Sari Havas	...	Girl at Party

Also Known As:

Arctic Heat (International: English title) (working title)
Born american - jäätävä polte (Finland)
Jäätävä polte (Finland)
Wild Force (Finland) (working title)
Férias Para a Morte (Brazil) [pt]
Infierno en el Ártico (Spain) [es]
Nacionalidade Americana (Brazil) [pt]
Született amerikaiak (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

97 min | Germany:85 min | USA:95 min

Country:

USA | Finland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (original rating) (1986) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1989) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1986) | Finland:K-15 (2006) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Enontekiö, Finland

Company:

Cinema Group Ventures

Trivia:

Most expensive film ever made in Finland in that time.

Quotes:

Interrogator: [while torturing Mitch] We really do have all the time in the world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saalis (2007)

Worth slowing down while passing this car wreck

A "first movie" for a director is often quite interesting to watch. Sometimes the movie is excellent, sometimes full of film student stuff and pretentious tricks and usually tries too hard with too little. Born American is of the third variety.

The story follows three guys who are vacationing in Finland and cross over the border to the Soviet Union. Guess if the Soviets are depicted as interesting characters or something else (hint: this movie was made in the 1980s)? Anyway, things start exploding (often with the same sound effect). Also the Russians prove to be evil etc. Which is sort of interesting considering there was some tendency to self-censoring in Finland towards these kinds of things.

The plot is actually quite ridiculous because it goes way over the top at one point. It really feels like they had made the movie up to that point and they noticed they have way more money left so they added more things - or bought some of that new crack-cocaine. Some twists really made me laugh out loud in their outlandishness or how cliché they were.

Actually, if this movie starred Chuck Norris, for whom it originally was planned, it would be quite well known after that Chuck Norris revival fad. Now it's just a curiosity for anyone interested. As a Finn, I'm ashamed of this movie by Renny Harlin (he DID make a few good movies, though. I still like you, Renny). Ashamed and also proud, few countries have something unifying like this that people all around the world can laugh at.

The bottom line: DIY MST3K.