Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

tfmj-1 What a missed opportunity. This could have been a great anti war film but it turns out to be a Canadian Pearl Harbor (Michael Bay's that is) drama with an overblown love story and sometimes terrible dialogs. I could not identify with or care about any of the characters. The battle scenes try to evoke a Saving Private Ryan feeling but they look terribly staged. Thank God it ends after about 2 hours and does not drag on for another hour. If you really want to watch an interesting and compelling movie about the horrors of the Great War I do recommend "All Quiet on the Western Front" (the original as well as the remake) or the Australian production "Gallipoli".

michaelhirakida Passchendaele was shown in my Socials 11 class and is suppose to be accurate to what actually happened at what I like to call 'The Pointless Battle' as the Germans took back their land. I had no problems with the war scenes. But, this movie is a dull clichéd mess. The characters are super irritating especially the guy who played David. He is like the Hayden Christintian of war films. But where you felt Anakin's pain in Episode II of Star Wars, This guy is a irritating brat who can't make up his mind on what he wants to do. The scenes in Calgary are super dull. We have all seen this before. The romance is too similar to many other films. The war scenes I didn't have a problem but this movie is such a mess it seems to make fun of what life in 1917 was like. It doesn't work.54/100 C

Malcolm Parker Some of the less 'glorious' aspects of life on the home front during WWI are better captured in this film than in any other drama I've seen to date. The ritual humiliation of anyone of age who hadn't joined up and the vilification of anyone one with German parentage were day-to-day occurrences that are rarely mentioned. A fairly good opening battle scene is bought almost to a close with a very curious coup de grace inflicted by Michael Dunne on a young German soldier. This action was so peculiar that I'm sure it must be based on something Paul Gross's grandfather had mentioned to him when recollecting the events of his service during WW1 upon which this film is based. Unfortunately, like several other critical action points in the film, the way it is staged jars as unrealistic and unnecessary. Though it was perhaps significant as a memory, in the context of this film it distracts us from an otherwise interesting narrative and ultimately reduces the overall impact. Later, an iconic photograph of Passchendale - of shattered trees with duckboards crossing an impassible quagmire - is wonderfully recreated. Only to be wrecked a few moments later by out of scale soldiers strolling through the impassable mud alongside the duckboard track. Later still the scene with the faux crucifixion and finally the ranks of tombstones (a very poor CGI substitute for the final scene of 'Oh what a Lovely War'). There was a lot of great material in this film, and the overview of the battlefront and the scenes of hand to hand combat in the shell holes are second to none, but the inexperience of Paul Gross as both writer and director gets the better of him and this is definitely a case where less artifice and symbolism would have produced a better film.

jack-wallet This was and is one of the very best war-time films we have ever enjoyed. The writing and directing, we believe were great. Realistic dialogue and incredibly real special effects.It was and is one of the very best movies we have ever enjoyed. Although it has some all too heart-breaking moments that happen in war situations, there are beautiful moments of love and compassion. In particular, there is a scene in which a Canadian soldier is thrown onto a barbed-wire fence due to an explosion and he is suspended in a "crucifixion like" pose. Soldiers on both sides stop the battle long enough for the young soldier to be retrieved by the Canadian side. It is an extremely emotional scene - so well written and directed.Paul Gross should be commended for an outstanding film. We don't believe it has gotten the amount of attention it deserves.