The first steps of this Finnish director were, running the year 1980, as director of commercials for large companies with a medium-sized production company. The following year he had the opportunity to take a camera with the director Janne Kuusi.
His first feature Born american, It was a leave and drive of great complications. First, the idea that the main actor of this action movie was the wonderful Chuck Norris, but, due to problems with his son Mike, he had to back down. The movie about three Americans vacationing in Finland was the most expensive feature in Finland in those years.
Although the film was for a time banned in Finland, in the United States, it was a great success and opened the doors of Hollywood for Harlin.
Thus, Harlin decides to move to the United States. By the year 1988, is hired to direct the film Prison, with the actor Viggo Mortensen.
That same year Harlin was lucky enough to direct one of the chapters of the most important independent horror saga in the world, Freddy Kruger in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. With this film, which raises millions and millions of dollars and becomes the most famous of the saga, he quickly manages to position himself.
On 1990 He is called to direct another great action film success, the film that forever marked not only the career of this prolific director, but also Bruce Willis, Die hard 2.
Year 1993 it was a year of hard work for this director. It manages to produce yet another commercial success Clifhanger with Stallone.
Around those years, Harlin gets married. On nineteen ninety five, a crack comes into his life that has rarely been seen. Decide to film Cutthroat island with Michael Douglas. The film that was predicted to be an instant hit and which cost more than ninety million dollars, was such a resounding failure, that it even made it to the Guinness guide of records for being the biggest loss of money of a studio in a movie. . The days were dark.
Harlin and his wife Davis, parted ways in 1998, after his divorce he is hired by Warner and directs now yes, again a success Deep blue sea.
Finally in the 2001 can record well with Stallone again the movie about car racing, Driven. Although, the movie was not a great success.
Then I shoot a reversion of a traditional horror movie Exorcist: The Beginning, which ended up premiering in the 2004.
In the 2006 another poor success came from the director The Convenant.