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The Day the Earth Froze

1959 1h 9m Fantasy List
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 12% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Loukhy the witch (Ingrid Elhardt) steals the sun for spite after a logger (Jon Powers) denies her a magic mill.
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The Day the Earth Froze

Critics Reviews

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy "Sampo." Rated: 1/4 Apr 28, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member The terrible dubbing and, for one unfamiliar with Finnish mythology, the lack of coherence simply leaves the viewer as cold as they are confused. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Watching some of the old MST3K episodes available for streaming on Hulu and Netflix (there is a different random selection on each platform). Whether it is Joel or Mike watching these awful movies with the bots I do not envy their torture. Their snarky comments add some entertainment value, but my ratings are based on the movie's quality itself and not the commentary broadcast from the satellite of love. Are the boys on the SoL just trying to be funny or are they confused? They repeatedly insert jokes about the wrong Scandinavian country. Evidently Sampo is based on Finnish mythology and the lead hero is played by a Finnish actor. I myself thought it was Russian. The fantasy film was backed by Russian money with a mostly Russian crew including director Aleksandr Ptushko, who also directed Ilya Muromets, another film featured on MST3K. It is also very much in the style of the Russian mythical fantasy tale Jack Frost that I reviewed here previously. The plot contains a romance, a hero's journey, and lots of magic. The dubbing and narration leave much lost in translation to American audiences who may struggle to follow the cultural myths. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member A Finnish mythological epic produced in Finland, it's silly mostly due to the dubbing but even so the bad editing and cheap costumes made the film all the siller. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Caught the MST3K version and wasn't even all that impressed with them poking fun at this turkey. Pass. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member [font='Times New Roman'][size=4]This Finnish/Russian production was called [i]Sampo[/i] in itÂ’s nations of origin but in the American release it was renamed [i]The Day the Earth Froze.[/i] The plot isnÂ’t actually too bad, being taken from ancient Finnish mythology as it is. The characters that it introduces us to are good fantasy fare. The kind and innocent maiden, the brave hero, the evil sorceress (witch) that freezes the world in order to get what she wants all make for a decent fantasy film cast. The actors donÂ’t really rise up to the potential though. Most just recite their lines rather than really become their characters and many tend to over act their parts. The soundtrack isnÂ’t very good, actually distracting me a few times from the action on the screen. The special effects are not horrible at all, even for a late 50s film such as this one. They arenÂ’t anything amazing admittedly, but they do their job well enough. Unless youÂ’re a diehard fantasy film fan or a fetishist for Finnish fare, this one isnÂ’t really worth looking at. If you can watch it in the [i]Mystery Science Theater 3000[/i] version (which is where I first saw it) it is pretty entertaining then![/size][/font] Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautyful but utterly boring. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Day the Earth Froze

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Loukhy the witch (Ingrid Elhardt) steals the sun for spite after a logger (Jon Powers) denies her a magic mill.
Director
Aleksandr Ptushko
Production Co
Suomi-Filmi, Mosfilm
Genre
Fantasy
Original Language
Finnish
Release Date (DVD)
Jan 20, 2009
Runtime
1h 9m
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