Raid (2003)

A hard-nosed hit man Raid returns to Finland and is unofficially asked to investigate the arson case involving his old flame Tarja.

Director:

Tapio Piirainen

Writers:

Harri Nykänen, Tapio Piirainen

Stars:

Kai Lehtinen, Oiva Lohtander, Mari Rantasila

4 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kai Lehtinen	...	Raid
Oiva Lohtander	...	Police Lieutenant Eero Jansson
Mari Rantasila	...	Tarja Piirainen
Pekka Huotari	...	Police Sergeant Hannu 'Hopo' Huusko
Kirsti Väänänen	...	Sergeant Susanna 'Sanna' Susisaari
Juha Muje	...	Sundman
Markku Maalismaa	...	Horseman
Harry Baer	...	Mark Hollander
Lia Boysen	...	Venla Saarenmaa
Jorma Tommila	...	Legionary
Seppo Kulmala	...	Ponytail
Erik Kiviniemi	...	Scarface
Jari Hietanen	...	Russian Criminal
Tommi Korpela	...	Russian Criminal
Jari Pehkonen	...	Russian Criminal

Storyline

A hard-nosed hit man Raid returns to Finland and is unofficially asked to investigate the arson case involving his old flame Tarja.

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Plot Keywords:

return | finland | arson | cover up | mercenary | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Finland]

Country:

Finland Sweden Germany

Language:

Finnish

Release Date:

31 January 2003 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Рейд

Filming Locations:

Helsinki, Finland

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$218,457 (Finland), 6 February 2003, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kinoproduction,Filmlance International AB,Red Beat Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min 124 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The lead actors Kai Lehtinen and Mari Rantasila have been known each other for a long time, since both studied at the Theatre Academy of Helsinki, also under its notorious rector Jouko Turkka. In 1989 Turkka directed the TV series "Seitsemän veljestä" where Lehtinen and Rantasila appeared together for the first time on television.

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Quotes

Horseman: Lada kardan?
Russian Criminal: Njet. Volga.
Horseman: Kalashnikov?
Russian Criminal: Da.

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Connections

Referenced in Paha parempi Raid (2003)

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Soundtracks

Mandshurian kukkuloilla
Music by J.E.Schatrow
Lyrics by Kerttu Mustonen
Performed by Viljo Vesterinen and Aimo Andersson (as A. Aimo)

User Reviews

More powerful, but less believable than the miniseries

In June of 2005, the Finnish embassy and the MHz channel arranged a special showing of the RAID sequel at the AFI Silver, just outside Washington DC. We stood in line surrounded by enthusiastic Finnish-Americans. Kai Lehtinen and Tapio Piirainen had flown in, signed autographs and posed for snapshots with fans.

The film delivered most of our favorite characters in another involved political conspiracy with economic consequences. Running gags from the series were continued in the film. It was hard to judge if the film was funnier than the series, or if the enthusiastic crowd made it seem more humorous.

The events in the series were fictional, but believable. Raid was still the talented and instinctive hero, and Uki, Tarja, Jansson and Sundman were still very believable characters; the actions they took were plausible enough to suspend disbelief. Sundman's relationship with a plump model was intriguing.

This film was more action-packed, but it was more difficult to believe that the climactic events could have occurred without serious repercussions for Raid and his cohort. And the film's villain wasn't as memorable as Hammar.

After the showing, Lehtinen laughed a lot while he and Piirainen fielded questions from the stage. Kai seemed very surprised and flattered to be a hit in America, but was grounded enough to brush off any talk of leaving Finland to pursue a Hollywood career.