Niko - lentäjän poika (2008) Online

Although I'm a Finn I can see where the negative comments of the American parents come from. You have grown up with the Disney policy of showing children only sugarcoated films trying to protect them from the real world. I am a great fan of enchantment, princesses and cute animals but to make changed versions of world classics such as The Little Mermaid in which the ending was ruined by changing it into a happy one is a sacrilege. The Andersen story is forever spoiled for those who have first seen the film.

I don't actually believe that children pay much attention to the one night stand or the macho behaviour of the reindeer. That's there for the grown-ups. The children are drawn to the story and if you don't point the other matter to them, it goes by like a snowflake.

On the other hand many children living with a single parent may relate to Niko's situation and find comfort in seeing that he is not an outcast. It would be wonderful if all families had two parents and everyone lived happily ever after but sadly it isn't so. The word bastard should be deleted from the world. Your own goals and resources are what matters, not your family background.

As mentioned in another post the animation of snow is fantastic in this movie. Also the animals are drawn well. The reindeer really look like this and the wolves' running rhythm is spot on. There are many local details like the landing light on the runway. They are called lumberman's candles in Lapland.

Niko and the Way to the Stars is an animated story of a young reindeer boy Niko, taking place somewhere in Lapland. Niko's father is gone, and his mother tells him dad is a member of Santa's Flying Reindeer Squad. Niko is supervised and taken care of by a flying squirrel named Julius who believes Niko will be able to fly someday, just like his father. The reindeer aren't allowed to go outside the valley because of the wolves who stalk there. After his disobedient visit outside the valley and a consequent incident with the wolves which forces the reindeer to move on, Niko decides to run away and look for his father further north where Santa resides. Adventure ensues.

From a Finn's standpoint this film felt a bit odd. It's written, produced and animated in Finland - yet the Finnish version of the film feels like an American animation film that has been translated and dubbed into Finnish. I wondered about this, but a friend explained to me the film is actually primarily intended for the international, mainly American market, and was written and lip-synced accordingly. Considering the country of origin, I was expecting a bit better Finnish translation though. The characters' lines were full of clumsy Anglicisms. Because of this, I have a feeling that native English viewers will enjoy this film more than Finnish viewers.

At a standard issue family entertainment level this film performs competently. There's family friendly humor and family values, there are no odd quirks, cussing or violence. It's exciting at times, but not too scary for young children. Perhaps with all this it is a bit bland, but still likable.

If you're looking for something to watch with your kids around Xmas, I can recommend this. However, if you're looking for something odd, quirky, eye-opening or original, look somewhere else.

My kids (6,4,4) love this movie. It keeps them interested and engaged. It's mildly suspenseful, funny at times, and keeps moving at a pretty brisk pace. The animation is very good, and worth the price for the snowfall effects.

Maybe I've become overly sensitive to this type of thing, but I felt that the way in which Niko came into the world was a little much for a kids' movie. His mother hooks up with one of Santa's flying reindeer and she never sees him again. I understand that this is how it works in the animal kingdom (minus the flying) but when the characters are personified kids relate them to people. I had to field a few questions about this.

Also, the flying reindeer sitting around a bar drinking was a little disturbing. And when they are informed that one of them is Niko's father they react in stereotypical frat-boy fashion. So, Santa's reindeer are a group of drunk, womanizers. Not exactly the Christmas image one would hope for.

Again, maybe I am too oversensitive to this. The rest of the movie is spot-on perfect.

I thought this was a very good animated movie! However, it didn't really have much to do with Christmas other than the setting and the characters... but the moral of the story, which was to be thankful for and appreciate those who care about you, was very nice.

I think it's funny that most of the other comments that users left about this movie talk about how terrible it is that Niko's dad had a one-night stand and didn't know he had a son. He's a deer!!! That's what deer do ~ they have many, many partners and make lots of babies!! And if you are convinced that these characters represent humans since they express human emotion, then you need to consider that this situation is a VERY realistic and common occurrence among people. I think that this movie would be great for kids who do not know their fathers, so they can see that others in their life who are there for them are the ones who matter. Other kids (like my son, and he loved the movie) who have both of their parents, may learn from this movie that other kids may not have their dads, and that's just how life is. Kids have to learn at some point that every family is different.

As for the beer-drinking that went on... big deal. The movie was great. We shouldn't be concerned about sheltering our kids THAT much!! Alcohol is shown in Disney movies and other kid movies... I don't know why Americans are so stuck up about these things...(I'm American too, so don't feel bad). We have a lot to learn from the Europeans...

There is a very important moral and the two main characters learn a lesson fro each other: Niko learns that there's no need to look for your real dad if you are surrender people who love you. Julius learns not to be too cautionary toward Niko. And it's the Christmas spirit (and a hilarious weasel called Wilma) which will teach them to appreciate each other. The animation is not the best, I mean, it's very good for five minutes, then it gets bad, then good for other five minutes and then bad again, because the animation has been created by more than 3 different studios set all over the Europe, and the directors weren't able to keep animation homogeneous all movie long. You can easily find out each animator's style and this is horrible because all the characters take turn to be badly animated, and this is sad. But graphics, score and story are gorgeous. I would have rated 9 if animation was better. Dave

I'm curious as to who thought these were good ideas: A weasel? mink? some member of that family singing a bar song to a group of reindeer to spring it on them that one of them is the father of the young reindeer that just showed up. That said reindeer aren't sure who of them is the father, the implications there are best left to the imagination.

Sant's reindeer hanging around in a bar in general, and using Santa's sleigh to basically pick up chicks.

The pink poodle lost in the woods subplot. No. Just... no.

And the ending... don't even get me started.

Also, Norm MacDonald really phoned it in. Seriously, I kept expecting him to chime in with "you'll pay me in real money, right?" I think he can be funny, but this sure wasn't funny.

The horrible dubbing in general, I was three quarters of the way through the movie before I figured out the reindeer were saying "Santa's Flying FORCES" and not HORSES.

I'm a big fan of B movies, and MSK3T and its successors, but I'm not sure they could have helped me get through this movie. "New classic Christmas story" indeed. Santa Clause Conquers the Martians was better than this.

Summary : A little reindeer on a search for his father. Helped by small rodents. Foiled by wolves who look to be copies of the hyenas in Lion King.

Family values: The little reindeer protagonist is basically told by his mom that he is the product of a one-night stand. And she tells him that his dad is off working and will not be coming back.

So, the gist of the story is that he is basically searching for his dead-beat dad who places work over family or personal responsibilities.

We could take the triteness of the first, but not the loose morals of the second.

In addition, the voice-over is pretty badly acted.

This is not a movie our family will watch again.

well, i'm not really into Finnish animated movies, but i make an exception for this one. Not because the main character got my name (lol), but cause it's cute, funny and touching. Ya OK, the animation's good but the story somehow seems weak and lacking. However, it did a pretty good job to entertain me cause i really liked it. In this movie, Niko's always practicing to fly like his dad, but the problem is he never met his dad. So, along with Julius, a lazy flying squirrel, he sets out for Santa's Fell to find him. Like i said, the movie's not bad, it's really funny parts in it, especially when Niko drinks a beer and burps. But it also leaves a really good message about how to not give up on your dream, even if u get into trouble. So, i'm gonna give this movie a 8.5 out of 10, cause i think it was really well done even if the story wasn't really strong.

This is one of the most twisted children's Christmas cartoons ever...I felt like a fool watching it and letting my kids watch it.

Seriously one of the worst Christmas movies I have ever seen. One of "Santa's Flying Forces" has a one night stand with a doe which results in Niko. Apparently Niko's mom doesn't bother to ask his name though (probably a common mistake among doe groupies trying to get laid by Santa's Flying Forces).

Movie includes: - A pretty scary pack of wolves with plans to eat Santa, Santa's reindeer, and children of the world. - A bar scene (yep, a reindeer bar scene) where none of Santa's reindeer remember Niko's mother ("Sorry kid, this is the world famous flying forces you're dealing with. We're gonna need more details.") - A a pink poodle subplot that might have belonged in another movie.

We watched with our 9 and 11 year-old sons and the only fun we had was making fun of how bad the movie was. They hated it, but I suspect for totally different reasons than my husband and myself, lol.

I have no problem with a Christmas movie that's a little bit raunchy (love Christmas Vacation and Bad Santa), but targeting a movie towards kids about one night stands that result in kids, Santa's reindeer in bars, and a scary wolf pack out to eat Santa is just sort of creepy.

After reading the reviews I must say that how can you judge the daddy reindeer for something he didn't even know to begin with! Yes, he may have had a one night stand with Oona, but Oona never told him about Niko. If Oona had told him it would be a whole different story. You don't know, maybe he would even stopped his job and be a father to Niko. Now you're thinking that "but Oona didn't know where the Santas workshop is", might be, but if Niko found it, then Oona would have found it too, if she would have wanted! Yes, the Santas FlyingForces might be a bunch of womanizers, and to be honest, this was something that caught my attention too at first, but then I actually forgot it because of the story taking me so deep into itself. In spite this little "problem" you seem to have towards the daddy, you have to agree that the movie was Great!

First off, the animation is beautiful. Very very well done. Possibly one of the best CG animation jobs on a Christmas Special ever! But I have to agree with some of the other American reviews on this board. Santa's reindeer are a bunch of womanizing pigs. One of them stops by and impregnates the star's (Niko's) mother. She never sees him again. Niko doesn't know which of the reindeer is his father, and when he finally meets up with the team, he asks if any of them met a lady on one of their flights...and they all proudly say yes and pretty much tell us that they all impregnate as many deer as possible.

So, Santa's reindeer like to have sex and not a relationship with a female.

Is that appropriate for a Christmas special? Not in the USA. It might be in other TV shows and movies...but come on...a Christmas special...and reindeer that are on Santa's team? Santa represents family and kids, and magic...all that's good...is this special from the creators of "Bad Santa"? At least that was a comedy.

For you Finns that are saying that Americans like to sugar coat stuff and aren't being realistic to the world...um...not all of us are from the trailer-park and make guest appearances on The Jerry Springer Show. I am a father and actually don't have one night stands and actually married the woman I fell in love with and had kids "after" we were married (novel concept eh?). Plus I actually want to have a relationship with my kids. Maybe men aren't that way in Finland, but there are a good portion of us that are good family men in the USA.

Even though the womanizing reindeer part of the story went over the head of my 4 year old, it's really not a message I want her to see at that age...let alone in a Christmas special.

I'd rather her grow up thinking men are good, and not all dead-beat-dad wanna-bees.

What's next? Showing a new take on the Little Drummer Boy and how he was sexually abused by a religious authority figure? That happens too, but not something I want to celebrate at Christmas time with my kids by having it forced into a story where it didn't need to be. I know...what about showing what really happened to the three "wise men" on their journey to Bethlehem? Maybe they stopped by a brothel? Perfect for the kids! Men do that all the time, so it's okay to show in a children's holiday special!

It's a shame this good animation and the voice talent was wasted on this story. A story that could just as easily been changed so that the father was just a "glory hound" or a "workaholic" or even like it's "his duty" (like a soldier that's off at war and can't visit his kids...which is happening now to kids all over). Something to think about.

We watched this show as a family with my 8 and 4 year old children. They like just about everything they watch, and even they called this show "horrible". Where to start with the problems with this show... - The main character is a result of a one night stand. Santa's reindeer are very open to the fact that one night stands are a common occurrence for them during their Christmas Eve travels. - Santa's reindeer are egotistical and haughty. They are shown drinking/socializing in a bar setting at the North Pole. - One of the protagonists, a ferret (?), sings in the bar in a very sexy voice with promiscuous moves. Kid appropriate? NO! - The antagonist is a scary wolf (which terrified my 4 year old) who plots to NOT ONLY EAT SANTA AND HIS REINDEER, but to then EAT CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD!!! - If that's not enough, the writing and dialog is just plain bad. Who in their right mind thought this made a good Christmas story????????????????????????????????????????????

The cartoon show 'The Flight Before Christmas' is a movie I will never buy or view again. In the show it talked about how Niko's mother had a one-night stand with his father. WHAT?!? Sure she didn't say it that way but might as well have. And what the hell was that showing Niko's father saying things that only a deadbeat dad would say. Not to mention that one of the reindeer's asked the others if they took a lady for a flight and all of them answered like they were at a bachelor party. Let me guess, didn't have the time to show the flashback to them all at a strip club shoving acorns in the ladies saddlebags? Bad enough that they showed the deer in a bar like setting drinking out of cups with the boy there. This movie does not show anything of the sort the true spirit of Christmas. They must do things very differently in Finland.

I just watched this with my 3 year old grandson and 1-1/2 year old granddaughter. Lucky most of the appalling story plot went over his head and she lost interest and started playing. I considered turning it off but decided to let him finish watching it, so I wouldn't have to explain why I didn't think it was appropriate.

Aside from the fact that Niko's mother had a one-night stand with one of Santa's reindeer, Prancer is a dead-beat father who first didn't even want to admit that he was Niko's dad. Afterall, what would a womanizing, conceited, barhopping, flying reindeer want with a little kid around, right? And then they even showed all the reindeer burping after they had their drink, giving Niko some too and looking expectingly at him until he burps too. Nice manners to be teaching! That singing weasel was extremely annoying, I could have done without that. And that tune she was singing at the bar reminded me an awful lot of "Santa Baby".

And don't even get me started on the pink poodle lost in the woods and the moss eating (vegetarian?) wolf who wants to be taught how to be a dog.

I'm glad the 1-1/2 year old went off to play before the black wolf and his horde started getting really mean, she might have gotten scared. She started crying during the part of Disney's Snow White, when Snow White was lost in the woods in the dark and all those eyes were scaring her. I can just imagine what would have happened, had she seen those growling, snarling wolves.

The dubbing was terrible. Like one of the other commenters, I also had trouble understanding what they were singing in the beginning and caught on to it later on: flying forces, not flying horses. And why did some of the characters call the kid Nieco and others pronounced it like Nicko? No consistency whatsoever.

Terrible terrible movie. No humor whatsoever and a plot more akin to a reality show. What a waste of time, money & talent.

I just finished watching this movie/cartoon with my son so its kind of fresh in my mind. For all of those who liked this, why waste your time reading any further, I think it sucked. Sure explaining to young children why most humans think it's unethical for humans to act like the animals in this feature can be delicate, but questions do arise. Children will relate with on-screen characters and try to emulate them and/or question about their motives. The bar scene is over the top for reindeer, the promiscuous behavior of the reindeer's mom and pop might be normal for that particular species but be hard to explain to a child. The wolf scenes were a bit much in the peril category for young children in my opinion, but then again when watching documentary type films with my kid I prefer to change the channel than let my kid watch wild animals tear each other apart, implied or not. The graphics were OK for a 2008 film, not anything stellar. For a Christmas film the only thing that remotely indicated Christmas were the references to Santa and his flying reindeer, so it missed the mark poorly. After reading the current reviews for this film and remarks about the American reviewers, I had a good laugh, American television can be quiet filthy just watch a little of the family guy or numerous other cable shows. Kids grow up fast enough like it is without having to force feed them with adult oriented content.

This is excellent movie. This film tells us about dream. Especially, how great it is to have a dream that you want so badly. And, I think it's great to have a super father that can make you dream higher to be in the future. This film also speaks not to give up your dream even though there are many obstacles. And it also speaks that you don't live by yourself in this world. I do catch the Christmas spirit (though I never celebrate it anyway). It's that Christmas will be so much wonderful day ever when we spend it with people who love us and we love them back as well. In the end, this movie "Niko & The Way to The Stars" is really great after all. Worthwatching!

Nothing at all to do with Christmas or the Christmas spirit. A bastard reindeer child searched for his "father" who flew into town one evening, impregnated his mother, and left the next day. Seriously? This has to be some sort of joke. There is no moral, no feel good ending, nothing at all to do with the spirit of Christmas. As I watched this on CBS my wife and I kept looking at each other in disbelief at the things that were said and the actions of some of the characters. This has to have been written as a joke and then produced to prove what suckers Americans are for good animation and and "b list" voice overs. Don"t waste your time or money if you are looking for a good children's Christmas story.

Niko is a brash young reindeer living somewhere in the Finnish highlands of Lapland, brought up by his single mother and a flying squirrel called Julius. Niko's real father is said to be a member of the famed fleet of flying reindeer in Santa's sleigh, thus infusing the young calf with a dream to sail through the skies. His attempts to run the wind end with calamity, as he leads a pack of wolves onto the trail of his herd, thus forcing them to evacuate their haven - a valley hidden between the mountains and trees. Hence fraught with self-resentment Niko decides to leave heading North to join his father as part of Santa's sleigh crew. Along the way he will learn the hard truths of life...

Thoroughly engaging, especially for my 5-year old, who was jumping in anticipation, joy and filtering through all the more tense moments, while at times incapable to hold back the emotions. In some ways a far cry from American fare, which shies away from more iffy subject matter (such as Nico's true father turning out to be a narcissistic, high-flying womaniser). Somehow American viewers tend to turn a blind eye at on-screen violence in children's movies, but a slight dosage of reality with blood-hungry wolves and the dissonance between truth and childhood imaginations, suddenly bring about a blow-back. "Niko" definitely treads on dangerous ground, making the movie not as family friendly as expected, given the Santa Claus plot line and the congestion of heavy concepts for youth, but all in all the mix was surprisingly workable with some very nice animation, superb character formation and a sweet tear-jerking resolve that will warm the coldest adult heart.

If you want to see real family issues solved how they must to be solved, without pretending they don't exist, without turning them into a sugarcoated "happy ending", you may like this movie.

Considering the movie's low ratings, I expected a silly predictable story with poor animation. I was pleasantly surprised it's not! Sure, if you're spoiled by Disney's animation, you'll notice it's not as perfect, but I watch movies not for their special effects. And let's be fair, it's good enough for today's standards.

The story is good. There're a some clumsy moments which adult audience may find too silly, but the story is far from being trivial and the characters aren't flat. When Niko, the main character, finds out not all dads are good for their family, does his dad magically turn into a perfect daddy after a few lectures? No. It doesn't work like this and he has to find a real solution, without Christmas and Santa doing everything magically for him. I adore this aspect of the film.

And I absolutely loved how Niko burped. It's not a burp of "I'm turning into a drunk uncaring womanizer like my daddy" kind, it's a burp of "I want to be part of your group" kind. We all do this to be accepted, there's nothing criminal about it. (By the way, was it beer in American version? It was kvass in Russian.) The movie may be a Christmas movie, but the setting doesn't really matter. It's not about Christmas at all. It's about family.

Love Christmas films, and Christmas is my favourite time of year. Am also a fan of animation, always have been since 2 years old getting into the Disney classics and always will be. So would see anything that are a mix of both, especially when this mix has seen films and specials that are good to classic (notably the best of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials).

While there are better examples of Christmas films, animated films and animation centred around Christmas around (as well as far worse), this animation from Finland 'The Flight Before Christmas' (not hard to guess what famous Christmas story the title is a play on of) is worth going on board for. It's not perfect, not many films are in retrospect, but to me as a family film it ticks most of the right boxes with room for improvement.

Sure the story is standard, a lot of it has a seen it all before vibe. Won't hold that against 'The Flight Before Christmas' too much. The weakest aspect is the film's translation and dubbing. Too much of the translation doesn't flow very well, there is a good deal of stilted cheese going on, and some of it is downright odd and feels out of place within the setting. The voice acting isn't awful as such, the voice actors are spirited and do their best but some of it is disjointed and a lot of the problem is the pacing and writing of the translation.

Occasionally, the animation lacks a little finesse and parts are a touch blocky. That apparently more than one studio was involved comes through clearly, but the unevenness (in terms of animation style and budget) with that being taken into account was unavoidable. The reindeer are mostly fun, but can act a little too stereotypically and act somewhat too disconcertingly differently than how they're usually portrayed in stories.

However, most of the animation is great. It's very lavishly coloured and most of the characters are drawn well particularly the reindeer. Where it scores most highly is in the meticulously imaginative and colourful backgrounds and the attention to detail for the little things as well as the big effects, including the animation of the snow (some of the best for animated film seen recently) and the movements of the wolves.

The music has liveliness, atmosphere and nuance with some catchy songs in the mix. 'The Flight Before Christmas' mostly is successful as a family film with something for children and adults like it clearly strived to appeal to all ages. The former will lap up the amusing and innocent humour, the cute characters, the easy to relate to themes the film teaches, the exciting adventurous elements and the quirkiness. The latter will be surprised at the more mature content that appeals to them and how mostly well handled it's done, it's not disturbing or overdone and doesn't feel misplaced or like the film didn't know what it wanted to be or who to aim it at.

This aspect may go over children's heads but they have enough to enjoy anyway elsewhere so it shouldn't be a problem. Meanwhile adults will like its cuteness, charm, the family values and how sincerely and not patronisingly they're delivered and the universal message, as well as seeing how children are enjoying it. As for the darker, more tense scenes, they may scare the very young but actually one might be surprised at how they'll take it, children's taste are under-estimated often and parents saying things like "this film is not for children" or "this scared my child" doesn't help.

Characters are easy to warm to, one will relate to the main character's story (another aspect that both children and adults will like), the action excites and the film flies by.

Overall, worth the watch if not blowing the mind. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Niko is a young reindeer told by his mother that his father is one of Santa's elite flying reindeers of the "Flying Forces". He has never met him because they are fully dedicated to flying for Santa. Flying squirrel Julius tries to guide the young reindeer and his friend Saga. Niko is eager to fly. They are hounded by the wolf pack and Niko overhears their plans to take on Santa and the Flying Forces. With the help of Wilma the weasel, Niko goes in search for his father in the Flying Forces.

The animation looks fine. It's a little blocky but the animals look cute enough. The Flying Forces are rather annoying and I wish they have a better name. That song just isn't funny. I also wish Niko knew his father's name. I don't know what kind of nameless reindeer sex his mother had. It doesn't cost the movie anything for him to admire a specific father from afar. This is an OK family film.