Customer Reviews

FIRE AND ICE: The Winter War of Finland and Russia

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I saw most of this excellent documentary on PBS, and ordered my own copy after it won an Emmy. It provides a splendid history lesson about a war that most of us know nothing about, in which the Soviet Union invaded Finland after the signing of the Hitler-Salin pact in 1939. The presentation moves smoothly between real historical footage, modern re-enactments, and excerpts from interviews. One of the many strengths of this film is that it allows viewers to draw their own conclusions about the underlying issues of war, peace, national prestige, and military preparedness. But I think the strongest praise I can give is that I happened to start the documentary with my 6th grade daughter and 8th grade son watching with me. About halfway through, I asked if they wanted to do something else while I finished. Each of them quickly said they wanted to see the rest. This would be a great film for schools to show.

When watching any programs on TV, you never see much or hear much about Finland and the oppression the people of that country endured over the many centuries. These people don't do a lot of whining unlike many others we hear about over and over and over again. This is an excellent production about one period in time. It is a refreshing topic, and it is extremely well done. It shows exactly how much sisu the people of Finland have. Go Suomi!

As a Finn now living in Canada this documentary made me feel proud of my birth country. My grandfather fought in the winter war and I remember the stories he would tell us.... Many of these stories came back to me watching this. Highly recommend to anyone interested in history of Finland !!!