Hidalgo (Widescreen Edition)

Amazon.com

Director Joe Johnston has always had an entertaining sense of adventure, and with Hidalgo he proves it in spades. It's yet another underrated film for Johnston (along with such enjoyable popcorn flicks as The Rocketeer and Jurassic Park III), dismissed by many critics but a welcome treat for anyone drawn to good ol'-fashioned movie excitement. In his first role since playing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen brings handsome appeal to his low-key portrayal of Frank T. Hopkins, a real-life long-distance horse racer who, as the movie opens, has witnessed the appalling massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1890. Drifting into Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, he agrees to compete, with his trusty mustang, Hidalgo, in "The Ocean of Fire," a treacherous 3,000-mile horse race across the Arabian desert. Toss in a bunch of conspiring competitors, a noble sheik (Omar Sharif), his lovely daughter (Zuleikha Robinson), and enough fast-paced danger to fill 133 minutes, and you've got a rousing, humorous, and lightly spiritual adventure that's a lot of fun to watch. It hardly matters that it's almost pure fiction (the real Hopkins was known by many as "a pathological liar"). More important is the love of movies and moviemaking that Johnston so delightfully conveys. --Jeff Shannon

Description

A sandstorm of epic proportions. A swarm of locusts so massive it obliterates the relentless sun. Deadly traps that defy imagination. These are just a few of the astonishing obstacles Frank T. Hopkins, the greatest long-distance racer ever, faces in the rousing action-adventure HIDALGO. Based on a true story and starring Viggo Mortensen (THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy), Hopkins (Mortensen) and his mustang Hidalgo enter the ultimate extreme sport of its time -- the Ocean Of Fire. Underdogs challenging the finest Arabian horses and riders, they must not only survive the grueling race across 3,000 miles of the Arabian Desert's punishing terrain, but they must thwart the evil plots of competitors who vow victory at all costs! A great story of personal triumph, amazing special effects, and memorable characters make HIDALGO one of the most thrilling adventures ever.

Customer Reviews:

Great story, entertaining and exciting........2007-08-06

Great movie - you will watch it more than once!
Excellent acting, wonderful story! An exciting movie that keeps your interest.

great movie.......2007-07-19

if you love a great movie and like horses, this is the movie for you. i have watched this movie more time than i can count.

The Wild, Wild Mideast.......2007-07-11

The strong presence of Viggo Mortensen makes this movie work as well as it does, and also carries it: a slightly ironic statement since it is the dogged mustang, Hidalgo, who carries Mortgensen's character across the Arabian peninsula. This is a "based on actual events" film about a death-defying horse nineteenth-century race that pits all comers against both one another and the nearly indomitable hazards of the desert terrain. While many begin the contest of living will against mindless nature, few, one, even none typically live to finish it, and never before has a white man so much as tried. Beginning in the vanishing realm of the American west around the time of the Wounded Knee massacre and soon transferring to the scenic desert of southern Asia, this tale of a rugged man named Frank Hopkins and his legendary horse Hidalgo has moments of greatness but overall spreads its brave plot too thin. There is a brief subplot about Buffalo Bill and some of the others in his colorful and refreshingly non-PC traveling show, and Omar Sharif is always nice to see in any movie, but these are all more distractions than additions. Mortgensen's fans will adore this movie, as will those who go in for animal flicks or the historical genre, but others who might see it strictly for its being an adventure story (which it really isn't) will probably find it disappointing.

The kind of movie I never get tired of seeing.......2007-05-11

My profile. 43 yo (and getting better). No qulaifications as a movie critic whatsoever

This is one of those adventure movies I just cannot stop seeing... everything is perfect, the production, the choosing of the actors, the action.. and the love between man and horse united in such way that makes you actually hear the horse's thoughts..

Painted Horse.......2007-03-15

Know one thought Frank Hopkins horse would win, Hidalgo went the 3,000 miles, over the desert of fire. This horse out ran a sand storm, This movie will be my favorite for a long tine.

Average customer rating:

Great story, entertaining and exciting.
great movie
The Wild, Wild Mideast
The kind of movie I never get tired of seeing
Painted Horse

Hidalgo (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen , Zuleikha Robinson , Omar Sharif , Louise Lombard , and Adam Alexi-Malle
Director: Joe Johnston
Manufacturer: Touchstone / Disney
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00024I2TA
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

Great story, entertaining and exciting........2007-08-06

Great movie - you will watch it more than once!
Excellent acting, wonderful story! An exciting movie that keeps your interest.

great movie.......2007-07-19

if you love a great movie and like horses, this is the movie for you. i have watched this movie more time than i can count.

The Wild, Wild Mideast.......2007-07-11

The kind of movie I never get tired of seeing.......2007-05-11

Painted Horse.......2007-03-15

Know one thought Frank Hopkins horse would win, Hidalgo went the 3,000 miles, over the desert of fire. This horse out ran a sand storm, This movie will be my favorite for a long tine.

Average customer rating:

Weaves stories well into movie
55 Years Ago I saw The Red Pony in Memphis
Beautiful and touching
Unhappy family working out its issues through horses
Very good movie, great musical score, so-so transfer

The Red Pony
Starring: Myrna Loy , Robert Mitchum , Louis Calhern , Shepperd Strudwick , and Peter Miles
Director: Lewis Milestone
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Animals | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00009NH9W
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Customer Reviews:

Weaves stories well into movie.......2007-03-09

Although some of the names were changed in the movie, the essential elements of the book were woven into the movie quite well. My students enjoyed this movie.

55 Years Ago I saw The Red Pony in Memphis.......2006-04-28

I remember like yesterday sitting in the "picture show" with my father dressed in his Sunday Suit and me with my pretty dress on watching The Red Pony. I must have been about 8 to 10 years old and today I am 65 years of age and I am on Amazon.com about to order the DVD so that I can sit in front of our 62" plasma with my grandchildren and enjoy "once again" the Red Pony as I pass "them" the popcorn in a brown paper bag. Such Memories...

Beautiful and touching.......2005-09-14

Excellent screen version of John Steinbeck's short novel, with effective and renowned Aaron Copeland score to match. It's more than just a story about a boy and his love for his pony that gets sick and dies; it's about life and fitting in, about who we are and how we choose to be accepted. Everyone does a fine job on the screen. Best perhaps is Louis Calhern as Grandpa, who once led a wagon train across the plains. Robert Mitchum is the laconic ranch hand Billy Buck. Definitely worth a watch.

Unhappy family working out its issues through horses.......2005-08-23

I was told that this movie, unlike Steinbeck's original story, had a happy ending. Well... yes and no. At the very end of the film, everybody's laughing. (A little manaically, in my opinion.) But the movie is still about an unhappy family, and it's full of tense, strained scenes at the breakfast table. Nor does "happy ending" mean that we escape the bad things that happen in the book.

There were some nice wildlife and scenery shots of Steinbeck country, but I could have used more.

The children in the film, except for the main character, are horrible yelling little bullies. I took positive delight in their oppression by the very recognizable Wicked Witch of the West as their schoolteacher.

Robert Mitchum's character, who at first is presented as the hero who knows everything there is to know about horses, is gradually revealed as someone who promises more than he can deliver. The uncovering of his flaws and instability is very well done. In general, the movie avoids too much cliche (except in the hokey daydream sequences), and examines its own stereotypes (the old settler, the perfect horse trainer, the incompetent city slicker) in interesting ways.

The parents and grandfather are slightly strange characters, who give the little boy so many conflicting and unspoken commands that I felt very sorry for him trying to grow up in such a crazy environment. Yet it's all under the surface of a wholesome and respectable ranch life. Myrna Loy is cold and gives orders to everyone; she'd be right at home with a riding crop in her hand. She's in the middle between her husband and her father, who have little patience for one another. Mealtime scenes are authentically tense, if not exactly fun to watch.

Aaron Copland's music is given high billing, but if you've heard the suite, you've heard all the good stuff. A lot of the score is boilerplate with just a hint of Copland's style.

This movie is not for kids. It's quite disturbing in a subtle way that gets under your skin. I'll be thinking about it long after watching it.

The DVD has no features other than "play movie" and scene selection. The movie is in Technicolor.

Very good movie, great musical score, so-so transfer.......2005-07-23

This is a fine family film with a first rate cast, based on Steinbeck's short stories of course. The score by Aaron Copland is just great, as is the photography by Tony Gaudio. It's one of the very few times Republic Pictures used Technicolor instead of their inferior two color Trucolor system. Even though the packaging proclaims "Digitally Mastered from the Original Film Negative", it's just so-so quality wise, about equal to the earlier Laserdisc release. Technicolor can and should look much better than this! The packaging also indicates the original theatrical trailer is included (as it was on the Laserdisc) but I couldn't find it on the DVD. Apparently Artisan just doesn't care much about their classic film library, unless John Wayne is involved, and even there some of the end product is mediocre (such as "The Quiet Man"). Don't hold your breath waiting for a restoration or special edition from these clowns. It's a very good film and the price is right. Buy it!

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