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.

valkalab I am a 60-year old Russian born in Estonia (a Baltic country annexed and occupied by Russia 1940-1991). I have travelled a lot by hitch-hike around the USSR and seen what the life was like there. I know the grim Russian reality first-hand.That is why I disagree with a comment saying that Born American "is a bad, bad film and it's made worse by the fact that it portrays every level of Russian society in a very unflattering manner".In fact, the film is realistic -- therefore its portrait of the Russian society is unflattering. The Finnish producer seems to know much more about the real life in Russia than many in the West. Later the film turns into an 'action'. But the general picture of the Soviet-time Russia is true.Until the Soviet bloc collapsed this film could not be demonstrated here: it was banned. Moreover, Moscow made a protest to the Finnish government, even demanding that the film be banned from cinemas in Finland! Can there be a better proof that the film demonstrates the Soviet/Russian reality in a honest way?Indeed, for a person in the West it may be hard to believe that such reality can exist. But may I tell you that an elderly Estonian exile once told of having cried watching a film about Russian slave labour camps, while other western audience laughed. People just couldn't believe it was possible -- but she knew, and she cried.Valeri Kalabugin Tallinn, Estonia

janne-junnonen This is an interesting film considering the era this film is from. This may seem like your average B-class action movie, but it also has a political tint to it.The film is intentionally over-the-top critical to USSR. At the time the norm in Finland was ass-kissing the USSR, not ass-kicking. Times were tense, and the film pis*ed of (or scared) politicians so much that is was BANNED in Finland at the time.B-class it may be, but it still is probably one of the best Finnish action movies of all time. (Well, depending on whether or not you count war movies as "action movies"... Finland has produced some very good war flicks.)

Jonathon Dabell Born American (GB title: Arctic Heat) is a bad, bad film and it's made worse by the fact that it portrays every level of Russian society in a very unflattering manner. I'm well aware that at the time of this film's release, relations between the US and the USSR were strained, but the offensive depiction of Russians in this film is enough to drive even an American viewer for the exits!The story concerns three young Americans vacationing in the Arctic Circle region of Finland. Whilst deer hunting, they stray into Russia and in their efforts to escape they inadvertently decimate a small town and its army garrison. After all that, they are captured anyway, and find themselves thrown into a Siberian prison camp where they are to be forgotten forever, thus cancelling out any embarrassment or tension their actions might have caused between the two war-mongering nations.The drab and freezing prison scenes are boring, but they at least convey Russian prison conditions effectively. The part of the film that displeases me most is the ludicrous, violent episode in which the three Americans try to shoot their way out of the Russian village. No disrespect, but if three men from any nation did that in another country (other than their own), surely it would be only right and proper for them to be thrown into jail for a very long time. This film asks us to sympathise with them, but in my opinion they deserved all the punishment they received..... and more! Don't bother with this film. It's xenophobic and offensive in the extreme.