Full of cheesy one liners...I wonder was this supposed to be a comedy? But even then it would have failed. Apparently Paul Gross was meticulous in his preparation for this venture, made in memory of his grandfather. But,it comes across as a self indulgent game of war the likes of which would be played out by 8year old school boys in the playground. The fact that he directed, wrote/took the lead role in this sad affair comes across as a kind of ego trip. He even wrote the forgettable second rate love theme song. Mr Gross either treated the movie as his baby,or nobody else in the industry wanted anything to do with it.The scene where Mr Gross's character heroically carries David back to the Canadian lines (all on his own)on some sort of wooden cross was I in fairness absolutely hilarious. The movie cost 20 mill Canadian dollars(shame on him).What a dreadful insult to brave Canadians who gave their lives in WW1. As a comedy 3/10 at best. Otherwise, sub-zero $1 DVD bargain bin trash.

Sergeant Michael Dunne (Paul Gross) survives a brutal vicious assault and finds himself in a Calgary hospital being treated by nurse Sarah Mann (Caroline Dhavernas). She and her brother David (Joe Dinicol) face problems arising from their German father who died for the German army. David's asthma keeps him out of the war which is looked down upon by his girlfriend Cassie Walker's father. Michael is facing desertion charges and possible execution back at the front despite winning a medal from the fight. The three of them eventually find themselves back in the war.There are compelling bits of scenes here and there. It's kinda daring to have the protagonist bayonet a helpless German boy in the forehead. The shaming of the men who haven't enlisted is interesting. The story back home is way too messy encompassing too many elements. It's trying to do too much. Paul Gross is not gritty enough for this role. The first half becomes a sincere melodrama. The second half is more or less a big muddy WWI trench war movie. The production is not as high as Hollywood. The sincerity does keep it from being truly bad.

Listened to a CBC archived interview of a veteran who was there. This movie is not worthy of the name. Paul Gross should have looked at "Gallipoli", and gone that direction. Instead, he has a jingoistic romance. It really doesn't give any sense that about a half million soldiers died in a mud pit, for nothing. If it was made in the fifties, it might have had some context. As it is a product of the new millennium, there is reason to indulge in this sort of homage to the old trope: "Canada was forged on the battlefield of the first world war". On the positive side, I've seen worse. The settings in western Canada were well chosen and that part of the story did unfold in a predictable, but pleasant enough way. There was an opportunity in this part of the story to ask questions about the relevance of a European war to the people in western Canada. Again, Mr. Gross could have looked to Gallipoli for some inspiration. Actually, if any of this strikes a chord for you, maybe you should rent Gallipoli. Just be forewarned: Mel Gibson is in that movie, although he doesn't have a blue and white painted face.

This movie was pretty dreadful. And I am saying this as a Canadian, a very patriotic one at that. Our valor at war which is often overlooked and under appreciated should indeed be celebrated and respected however this film did very little to promote any thing much more than blatantly over the top patriotism. The love story is uninteresting and forgettable. The actors are poorly cast and their dialogue is poorly written. With so much to work with and with such a key historic moment such as Passchendaele it is astounding to me that this is the best they could do. Again the fight scenes were alright although not very realistic. Suffice to say this movie is pretty boring and poorly done. I recommend giving it a skip.***/10