BORN AMERICAN marks the directorial debut of Finnish director Renny Harlin, who would jet off to Hollywood after this to knock out the likes of DIE HARD 2 and CLIFFHANGER. Although low budget, this US/Finnish co-production is fairly well-paced and has some interesting omoments. The story involves a trio of American youths (one of them played by Mike "son of Chuck" Norris) who end up in a Russian border town, where they're wrongfully accused of murder and must fight for survival. They eventually end up getting captured by Russian troops where bad stuff happens, including a game of chess played with human pieces. It's an anything-goes kind of production, certainly not the greatest, but rough and ready and with a fair bit of action to see it through.
Review of Born American
