# Born American

Born American (Finnish: Jäätävä polte also known as Arctic Heat) is a 1986 Finnish film directed by Renny Harlin. It was originally supposed to star Chuck Norris but he backed out when filming was delayed by funding problems and his son, Mike Norris, landed the lead instead. A Finnish production, this was at that time the most expensive film ever to have been made in Finland. The Finnish Board of Film Classification initially banned the movie due to its excessive violence and anti-Soviet elements. Because of that, the movie had to be shortened 3.5 minutes before it was finally accepted for distribution October 29, 1986 with the Supreme Court decision. The premiere was December 19, 1986. The success of the film in the United States allowed Harlin to get his foot in the door in Hollywood, giving him his first American directorial work in the 1987 horror film Prison.
In his 2008 book Kohti sinipunaa, Juhani Suomi revealed that the request to ban the movie originated from Vladimir Sobolev, the Soviet Union's ambassador to Finland.

## Plot

Three college friends—born leader Savoy, fun-loving Mitch, and intellectual KC—head to Finland for winter break. They make the unfortunate decision to cross the borderline into the Soviet Union, and end up clashing with corrupt leaders in a small village before being arrested and taken to a prison facility. Once there, the KGB agents in charge of the prison torture the three young men until they confess to being American spies (they also pin the rape and murder of a young woman by a depraved priest on them) and throw them into the brutal general population. Savoy and a black-market running prisoner try to help KC, who is suffering from an infection that leaves him bedridden, while Mitch is forced into a sick "chess match" where prisoners fight amongst each other to the death. The U.S. Ambassador arrives at the prison and Savoy begs him for help, but the Ambassador later tells the Russian prison administrator that it would be best if the young Americans simply disappeared. The prisoner arranges a meeting between Savoy and a VIP prisoner known as The Admiral, a former secret agent who has comfortable living space and luxuries because the KGB wants him to defect to their side, unaware that his plan is to release all of his American AND Russian secrets once he escapes with Savoy's health. The fixer performs a mercy killing on an invalid KC, and Savoy rages at the loss before starting his own escape mission. He enlists a young female Russian prisoner, rescues Mitch from the death matches, and reaches the Admiral before they start a gun battle that kills many security officers but also costs Mitch his life. Savoy and the young woman get near the Finnish border, kill the prison administrator, and get out of the USSR for good. A postscript reveals that the Admiral escaped to an unknown location, Savoy and his love interest are somewhere in America, and both Washington and Moscow have erased the entire story by both denying that there were ever prisoners or any escape by them.

## Cast

* Mike Norris as Savoy Brown
* Steve Durham as Mitch Sheppard
* David Coburn as K.C.
* Piita Vuosalmi as Nadja Kulakova
* Vesa Vierikko as Kapsky
* Thalmus Rasulala as Admiral
* Albert Salmi as US Ambassador Drane
* Ismo Kallio as Zarkov
* Marjo Vuollo as Tamara
* Laura Munsterhjelm as Irina
* Antti Horko as Cossack
* Pauli Virtanen as Sergei
* Jone Takamaki as Interrogator
* Inkeri Luoma-Aho as Female Guard
* Markku Blomqvist as Irina's Father
* Sari Havas as Girl At Party
* Rapa Ripa as KGB Agent (uncredited)
* Mats Helge Olsson as Priest (uncredited)
* Stack Pierce as Admiral (voice) (uncredited)
* Renny Harlin as Man's Voice From Ship's Loudspeaker (voice) (uncredited)

## North America box office

Born American was released in North America over the Labor Day Weekend in 1986. It was the ninth biggest movie that weekend, earning $2.2 million in 1,071 theaters. The film's overall box office take was $3,388,020.