Justin Miller I know their were Canadians who did combat operations in Afghanistan, but unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to work with them. I absolutely know they would hate this movie though. They way the Soldiers were portrayed in such a cliché way, to the horrible one dimensional representations of the Afghans. All the great user reviews from the Canadians here, do yourselves a favor and go talk to one of your veterans...and not someone who worked in the TOC or someone who claims they are a war hero, go talk to an average grunt who went out on patrol everyday and saw action a handful of times because this is the fantasy type crap that creates s**t ideas of what war is like.

sam-102 Can tell a lot of effort went into production, and a sincere effort was made at authenticity...but still comes off as a movie that doesn't take itself very seriously, played by actors who take themselves perhaps too seriously. At times I wasn't entirely sure this wasn't a deliberately tongue-in-cheek drama with the aim of a little awkward comic relief; however, neither one works well as it is neither here nor there. Perhaps soap-opera-ish would be a good descriptor in terms of overall production value, not content per se'.The combat scenes, while not poorly acted or choreographed, still come off as a little bit staged. Sometimes it's just the little things, like uniforms not being quite dirty enough after soldiers were supposedly rolling around in the mountains for a few hours; sometimes the mountains look a little bit more like the Arizona Rockies than Afghanistan. Sometimes The Afghani villagers look a little bit too clean, well fed, and smooth-skinned to be actual Afghani villagers. The way the Taliban swarm en-masse, hail-mary style is just not how they tend to move tactically in the real world. Like I said, the little things. the sniper scope reticle they give us a peek through is, thankfully, not the usual nonsense with all sorts of colors and numbers and flashing lights, as is seen in some movies. it's not the standard Mil Dot reticle, but at least it's half believable.Ultimately, on a budget, just so much can really be put into production. overall, not a terrible movie, perhaps as an amateur military historian who's watched more than my fair share of combat helmet cams, I'm a bit more tuned in to the minutiae. So be it...overall, I'd give it a 7 for effort, and a 5 for final product, so at 6 I think is a fair score.

irvin snyder This is the fist review I have ever written online after watching what seems like a thousand movies in my lifetime. The action scenes are so real and the back stories keep your interest. I was specially surprised that this was a Canadian film! I did not know that much of their involvement in the war, but I am very thankful for this Movie for bringing it to my attention. I now realize that no country is alone in this fight against terrorism and we must continue to oppress any threat to anyone's freedom, whether it be an individual or a country in whole! This Movie brought that to light by showing the ways of the Taliban people and how they have no regard for their own countrymen, only in what makes them richer! All the people involved in this Movie did a GREAT JOB!!! Thank you CANADA!!!!!! p.s this may not be your typical type of review, but I did say it was my first ever. TY

zardoz-13 "Passchendaele" actor & director Paul Gross' Canuck military actioneer set in Afghanistan "Hyena Road" is an above-average combat movie with sturdy performances, solid production values, but its standard-issue message that 'war is hell' is its only drawback. Donald Sutherland's son Rossif Sutherland plays Ryan Sanders, an officer in charge of a team of snipers while Paul Gross casts himself intelligence officer Pete Mitchell. Sanders believes that one shot can make the difference, but Mitchell has a more cynical attitude to warfare. Everything revolves around a high ranking officer's decision to build a road through the Kandahar Province. The first scene, where Sanders and his team drill a Taliban fighter who is trying to booby-trap a road, is riveting stuff. After they perforate the Taliban fighter, the poor slobs slumps down into a kneeling, prayer-like position. As our guys withdraw, they notice some curious looking spots on part of the paved highway running through the barren desert setting. Sanders orders a sniper to shoot at the spots, but nothing happens. When the sniper fires an incendiary round, the entire terrain vanishes in a huge explosion. Sanders and his team scramble out of the area and soon find themselves pursued hotly by several Taliban fighters wielding AK-47 assault rifles. Our heroes make it to the refuge of a house after a Taliban with an RPG accidentally blasts a hole into a doorway in the wall surrounding the house. According to Sanders' description of the man in the room with them where they hole up, the individual sounds like a legendary freedom fighter known as 'the Ghost.' Meanwhile, back at headquarters, Mitchell listens intently to Sanders as he describes their benefactor, and Mitchell is convinced that this is the same native who help oust the Soviets from Afghanistan. Mitchell wants to recruit the Afghanistan man to the cause. At the same time, few know Sanders has been having a secret romance with a headquarters communications officer Jennifer (Christine Horne of "Survival Code") who fears that the brass will learn about their romance and cashier her. Jennifer and Ryan agree to keep their affair off the grid. The conflict intensifies not only when Jennifer discovers that she is pregnant with Sanders' child, but also when Sanders plunges back into the desert to kill more enemy. The violence is sporadic, but graphic. Heads are shot off and drenched with gore. Comparisons between "Hyena Road" and Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" are inevitable. Nevertheless, despite its romantic subplot, this is a movie worth watching with a downbeat finale.