Hyena Road

2015
R
2h

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

9.6K

YOUR RATING

Paul Gross and Rossif Sutherland in Hyena Road (2015)

Play trailer2:07

4 Videos

32 Photos

Drama War

Three different men, three different worlds, three different wars - all stand at the intersection of modern warfare - a murky world of fluid morality where all is not as it seems.Three different men, three different worlds, three different wars - all stand at the intersection of modern warfare - a murky world of fluid morality where all is not as it seems.Three different men, three different worlds, three different wars - all stand at the intersection of modern warfare - a murky world of fluid morality where all is not as it seems.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

9.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 5 wins & 12 nominations total

Videos4

'Hyena Road': Mess Hall

Photos31

+ 27

User reviews84

6.59.6K

Featured reviews

lhunt-9

A war tale told in a balanced way, from a uniquely Canadian perspective

This is an outstanding war film. As others have commented, it examines the Afghanistan conflict in a particularly Canadian way --- which means that each character has a distinct point of view and a unique place in the world. The film makes clear not only that each understands his/her situation differently, but also that each viewpoint merits the full weight of our attention and consideration. Both the nobility of sacrifice and the utter senselessness of war are captured. There have been many well-made recent films about our current conflict with the Islamic world. This is certainly one of the best of them.

10gkpearson41

Excellent Film. See it.

This is excellent film about modern warfare with convincing battle scenes, ramped up tension and incredible locations. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Very hard to tell in Afghanistan as Canadian soldiers do their duty, to little effect. In my view it is a superior film to the much hyped American Sniper. The performances were all very convincing and Paul Gross's direction was swift and to the point. The atmosphere of working in a very foreign land for the Canadian soldiers is very apparent. I found I cared about what they were doing, as I was frankly trying to figure out their mission. If you enjoyed films like Zero Dark Thirty or The Hurt Locker, you should see this film.

7MadamWarden

NO, HYENAS AREN'T FUNNY

This is a pretty well made little movie about the complexities of trying to understand cultural norms of a country thousands of years older than the conquering force. I liked that there was no judgement, just a simple, if somewhat disturbing, portrayal of this difficult circumstance.

Solid acting, realistic action and fairly good character development.

An interesting watch.

7hoss_jamison

What a pleasant surprise!

Well made movie. Lacked Hollywood glitz, it was very believable and I did enjoy the character development. I felt a need to give a total "neutrals" review of this. This will be a movie I return to from time to time.

The plot was good; and in that forsaken land of Afghanistan, I really got to like the Afghanistan people as well, well, at least a lot of them, not the terrorists of course. That war is so brutal and it's been in the upswing the last few years, it certainly seems.

Nice third world vibe. I could easily name some much more well known war movies I think this is better than. What's the fuss?

7jdeureka

"Hyena Road": Canada isn't just for limp maple leaves

One thing that makes "Hyena Road" excellent is that the film continues a cinematic and literary tradition of the Canadian ability to fight back, of intelligent opposition. In popular literature this goes back as far as Robert Service. In film it goes back to the (serious) Royal Mounties movies and to such Hollywood blockbusters as "The Wild North" (1952) and Stewart Grangers' character of Jules Vincent. Because Canada has become such an appendage to the USA in modern times we forget how outstanding the fighting ability of these people and their institutions can be. I do Not write this as a Canadian, mind you. But as an objective, non-Canadian who was very impressed by the combative intelligence and cross-cultural savvy of "Hyena Road". This is a sleeper. This is a keeper.

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The footage seen between scenes of vehicles, Afghan soldiers, etc. were actually shot in Kandahar during the final combat deployment.

Goofs
At the start of the movie the squad is in a good hide below the ridge line. When they move out the shot shows them walking down the top of the ridge perfectly silhouetted against the blue sky. It looks cool but soldiers would try not to present themselves as such a clear target. They would continue to move below the brow of the hill so as not to skyline themselves.

Quotes
Pete: Alexander the Great marched into this graveyard about 2,500 years ago. Easy to march in, hard to march out. His words. He and his mother wrote to each other all the time. One day, he got a letter from her saying: "What the hell? You conquered most of the known world in a day and a half, what are you doing bogged down in Afghanistan?" He grabbed a bag and shoveled it full of dirt and had it sent back to Greece with a message to his mother: "Take this dirt and dump it around the palace, see what happens."
Pete: So Alexander's mother spread the dirt all around the palace. Later that night, a couple of attendants showed up to make sure she was alright. One says: "Go ahead, after you." And the other says: "No, after you." And the first one says: "No, I insist." And the second one says: "Don't you tell me what to do." They pull their swords and go at it till they kill each other. Alexander's mother watched all this and wrote a note to him saying: "Okay, okay, now I get it." And he wrote back saying: "Even the dirt is hostile." In Afghanistan, dogs fight dogs, birds fight birds, men kill men.

Crazy credits
The film's title doesn't appear on screen until the closing credits.

Connections
Referenced in Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton (2015)

Soundtracks
Play That Funky Music
Performed by Leif Garrett
Written by Rob Parissi (as Robert W. Parissi)
Courtesy of Sweet City Records Inc., o/b/o itself, and, as administrator of RWP Music
Master Recording Courtesy of Cleopatra Records Inc.