Hyena Road: the movie

[rob love]

So just got in from Hyena road, which started showing in Brandon last Friday. Tonight was cheapo Tuesdays, so the wife and I headed out.

I read the reviews before, not that it mattered: I was going to see this movie. Seems like the critics are mixed, but the viewers liked it. I am with the viewers.

We had talked about this movie a bit in the Paschandale thread, but I thought it would be better to have it's own thread.

As could be expected in a community like this, half the people attending were military. There was a row of them who were somewhat boisterous when the movie started. By the end of the movie they were silent.

It is possible to pick apart the inconsistencies and one has to remember that as a Canadian production, they were not about to bring in RG32s, Mercedes Actros, or even Leos for the production. As a result, there was a lot more softskin, including more than a few shots of the rusty Shilo MLVWs. But overall the effect was there.

The only thing the movie needed was more dust. Too many green vehicles and white table tops.

The romance was kept reasonable, although the fraternization was perhaps a little too open for reality. As well, the ramp ceremony only had two ranks in two sections. The real ramp ceremonies had hundreds (pushing a thousand) of Cdn military, a couple hundred civilian (between cancap and PSP) along with a formation of other nationality officers, and a section of US military to cap off the parade. If there was a time that they should have paid for more extras, the ramp ceremony was it.

The WO always had a 2 day shadow, which also came across a little hokey. He was into KAF and the FOBs enough times to shave.

The camera tended to shake around a little too much in the action scenes, which was a little uncomfortable. But the plot was realistic, and the actors held their own. Except maybe where one of the actors has a little fit during an O group. That one might have been a little lacking.

It was kind of cool to point out where I lived to the wife during the ariel shots. They even had a good crane shot of the poo pond.

I guess the thing with this movie was that it hit home on several fronts. The sacrifice of the soldiers, and the craziness of it all. I personally would recommend it.