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.

---

Plot Keywords:

return | finland | arson | cover up | mercenary | 

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

---

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

Director Tapio Piirainen says that the most difficult location during the production was Kallbådan lighthouse at Porkkala, Finland. The crew spent three days and two nights in the cramped quarters which they shared with the insects. Despite the challenging conditions it was the lighthouse where the whole crew really felt the camaraderie.

---

Quotes

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

---

Connections

Referenced in Paha parempi Raid (2003)

---

Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Finland's own action hero

Raid (the superb Kai Lehtinen) returns to Finland to find his ex-girlfriend Tarja (Mari Rantasila) only to hear that she has been killed in an arson made on the public voice press headquarters. Grieving, Raid begins his own investigation of what happened. Meanwhile Captain Jansson (Oiva Lohtander)of the Finnish police is investigating the murder of a protester during the world bank meeting held in Helsinki. Soon he realizes that all clues might be pointing into the wrong direction and with his friends, officers Huusko (Pekka Huotari) and Susisaari (Kirsti Väänänen) begin to take a closer look into the investigation. In the background spins a conspiracy and a strange charecter known as the legioner, but what do all these have to do with the same magazine as the one that Tarja worked for?

While Finland hasn't had a chance to boast with great movies until now with "The Man Without A Past" there still have been numerous great movies that have been made here. Considering that money is limited for movies, most have been small budget comedies and drama movies, but finally Finland can say that they have their own action hero. Kai Lehtinen is superb as the quiet Raid and Oiva Lohtander does a fabulous role as the sarcastic Jansson. While the movie has moments of slight clichés such as the Legioner, the whole movie fixes them and allows the movie really to shine. An excellent action movie with a decent plot that allows the audience really to connect with the characters, these are real people not super heroes.

4.5/5