Shergar: Discover the Heart of a Champion: Based on a True Story

Customer Reviews:

The Movie Poster/Cover Is Misleading . . ........2007-07-05

The movie poster/cover is misleading, in that the movie star names at the top do not correspond with the faces under the names. The names on the cover are purely for recognition (sales), but all are in supporting roles. This would make a difference in Ireland, but I doubt that the names are as recognizable here in the U.S. The credits are in alphabetical order which, although fair, give no clue as to top billing. I suggest that the stars are as pictured, not as captioned or credited, i.e., Tom Walsh (foreground) as Kevin Doherty, Laura Murphy (middle) as Kate and Ian Holm (background, from Chariots of Fire) as Joseph Maguire, Kate's grandfather. I'm glad I did not read the back cover or reviews before viewing, as the container reveals the plot, as do some reviews, and it was more of a mystery as to what happens, who gets killed or whether the horse is killed in the dramatization of the true story. I felt unsatisfied with the ending, but what can be expected because Shergar's fate is still unknown after all these years. The movie/story is an example of how kidnapping can be just as senseless as terrorism and it happens that terrorists utilize kidnapping here in a convergance stranger than fiction, thus, a good story. Odd to have a story so much about a racehorse, but so little about horse racing. I would have liked to have seen more of the horse and less of the actors whose Irish brogues were heavy enough to cause me to turn the volume up to understand; I played it back in a few spots to catch what was said, but some phrases I could not decipher. The landscape is beautiful on the Isle of Man location and I appreciated the glimpse into Irish life. Not rated here for a theatrical release, the movie is a TV-14 on U.S. cable, probably for violence, as the language seems suitable for all ages. Sectarian-violence terrorism has ruined Ireland, in my opinion, and this adds a horse to the long list of victims.

Excellent inspiring horse movie!.......2007-01-11

This movie is excellently done. Allowing one to learn a lot about Irish culture and see a lot of on location scenery. The plot is very heart-warming. While it is true that the "based on a true story" element is not much of the story line, since not much is known about what happenned to the real Shergar, it is a charming conjecture.
It is a delightful film that's excellent for family viewing.

The movie Shergar ought to come with a warning........2006-02-26

As a devoted movie-lover and horse-owner, I must say I regret watching this movie. The only good that came from watching it is at least now I know who Shergar was.

The failure of this film rests entirely in its plot, which is pure fantasy (or nightmare) and utterly unrealistic. The ending is so atrocious it destroyed the little bit of pleasure that I experienced watching beautiful horses and scenery.

Before I purchased the movie (on sale), I read the description of the plot thinking it might be similar to "Flash." "Flash" is a very well made fictional Disney movie about a boy who steals back his horse from an abusive owner and rides it from Georgia to New Jersey to save its life and be reunited with his merchant-marine father.

Instead, the movie "Shergar" should come with a warning. It is far more similar to "Phar Lap," a well-produced drama which condenses the life of Australia's most famous flat-track Thoroughbred and ends with Phar Lap's sudden and mysterious death.

Like many pleasure-horse owners, I'm not an expert on the history--even the recent history--of international equine celebrities. But even if I had known that Shergar was most likely killed by his abductors, the horribly patched-up ending of the movie made me nearly physically ill with grief and shock.

I will probably keep the movie just as a part of my horse film collection, but I will never watch it again. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, but in this case the truth (still a mystery) is MUCH preferred to this piece of fiction, "based on a true story."

If you love horse movies, purchase a nice new DVD of Coppola's Classic, "The Black Stallion," or Disney's "Flash." You'll get all the beauty, suspense, and thrills without a sickening ending.

Again, for the horse.......2006-01-17

Who wrote this thing? Who directed it? Who could make Ian Holm almost less than good? Who scored it? The insensitive inappropriate music that swallowed up and spat out our emotions was criminal. What happened to Mickey Rourke's face? That was also criminal. Some plastic surgeon somewhere made him look like Frankenstein's monster...all he left out were the neck bolts. Why was O'Rourke in it in the first place? He played a small, wooden, and rather pointless part...then they killed him, rather ingloriously. As for the story woven around the very sad truth of Shergar's kidnapping for ransom by the throroughly inglorious IRA (so O'Rourke's death was at least right in one way), it wasn't bad, it had a certain charm. The boy playing the actual hero here tried his best with the character as written. But a real boy would have gone straight to the cops and the real Shergar would have been home in an hour. For his good deed, the boy would have been a national hero and no one would be throwing him back in gaol. Bad plot point, very bad. But as he didn't, but instead kept running that wonderful horse around the Irish countryside (some beautiful scenery) we got to meet a hippie-tinker and his charming daughter...who is this minute, I hope, enjoying a solid career in the Irish theater. As for running the horse off a cliff (ala Thelma and Louise), the least the writer could do was allow the boy to die with the horse. After all, it was his decision to kill him in such a way and his responsibility to do to himself what he'd done to the horse. But no, he comes alive again and we are all supposed to be happy, happy, even adding a weanling Shergar foal to make us even happy happier. Horsewallop. I was totally cheesed off. Kill the real horse, save the made-up boy, and we all leave the movie satisfied? Not bloody likely.

I thought about the real kidnapping after the movie was over (poor thing that it was), and decided though the IRA might well have been stupid enough to kidnap a great horse, an Irish national hero, for which no one was going to pay them money so they might buy bombs and more arms, they would not be stupid enough to kill him when their ill-conceived plan failed. He was still worth money. And a lot of it. In my opinion, they sold him to the Japanese or the Arabs or the Auzzies for good coin of whichever realm. If they had killed him, they would have wanted us to know...but no proof was ever forthcoming. They'd want us to know in order to show the kind of men they were: dedicated to their cause, serious, not to be taken lightly, and vengeful. Of course, if they killed the horse most people would see them as stupid, cruel, insensitive, and chained to a cause that means nothing in the end but one stupid bloody act after another. If Shergar wound up in a foreign country, two things would happen. One, the rich owner would know it was Shergar, even if he couldn't say so...just as buyers of stolen artwork live with no one knowing. Two, he could breed him, and though the results couldn't be openly named Shergar's progeny, some of them were bound to inherit Daddy's brilliance, and _they_ could be named, and go to become valuable themselves. I know someone in the _know_ claimed they killed him right after the kidnapping because he was so difficult to handle. But they would say that, wouldn't they...to cover the secret deal they made with someone somewhere.

That's what I'd like to believe anyway...and it certainly could have happened that way. My reality allows Shergar a long life somewhere warm, where he covered a lot of good mares, and is only now getting ready to die of a contented old age.

If nothing else, the movie made me think. Hence the two stars. One really.

What really happened to Shergar?.......2005-12-17

More than twenty years after the disappearance of the real-life great race horse, Shergar, the mystery continues as to what really happened to him. [Those involved, years later, said he was so high-strung they shot him just hours or a day or two after he was stolen because they couldn't handle him. Since Shergar was owned by the Aga Khan, worth about $4-5 billion at the time, ransom was immediately ruled out.] With this in mind, this movie should be watched, not as a docudrama but as fiction, with only the horse's name and kidnapping being factual.

Both my wife and I were fully captivated by the story until the unexpected ending. As with most movies, there are a few "holes" in the story, but not enough to detract from the adventure and suspense. We enjoyed the movie (and we own more than a thousand DVD movies related to kids and teens). Because we could not stop rooting for the boy to save the horse, I rate it an above average, but not a classic, horse movie.

[Parents might wish to discuss with their kids what the boy should have done with the hores instead of what he actually did.]

Average customer rating:

SHERGAR -- compelling story, performances and scenery
Based on A True Story my eye...

Shergar
Starring: Ian Holm , Mickey Rourke , David Warner , Alan Barker (II) , and Billy Boyle
Director: Dennis C. Lewiston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000066CUO

Customer Reviews:

SHERGAR -- compelling story, performances and scenery.......2007-06-20

Recently I picked up a DVD of the 1999 movie SHERGAR because it starred Ian Holm and David Warner, two of my favorites, and because as a life-long horse owner, breeder and trainer, I am a sucker for horseflicks. Holm and Warner both had plenty of scenery to chew on, so they did not disappoint, and neither did the movie. I cried buckets at the end. All in all, I think the filmmakers did a good job. There were some painfully Disney-esque moments, but for the most part, the filmmakers practiced reasonable restraint and avoided the gagging-smarm-factor. The location shooting (Isle of Mann) was spectacular.

The ad copy said "Based on a True Story" and I suppose technically that is true. There was a great Irish racehorse named Shergar, and he was kidnapped by the IRA in 1983. What happened after that was completely unknown, until fairly recent (2003) new evidense. Since the kidnapping takes maybe the first 2-3 minutes of the movie, the rest of the movie is completely fictional conjecture. Nonetheless, the filmmakers did an admirable job of creating a compelling (albeit totally fictional) story, with elements of Greek tragedy and bringing to mind Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces.

I was inspired by the movie to visit the internet to learn more. A number of news articles from 2003 filled in a wee bit more actual history. What struck me is the repeated reference to the fact that the kidnappers were not "horse people," and consequently they were not prepared to know how to handle any horse, let alone a high-strung breeding stallion. According to recently uncovered evidense, it appears that the £20 million stallion was probably killed within hours of the kidnapping, simply because his abductors were terrified of him. How interesting.

In some ways, the filmmakers were as ignorant of horses as the original kidnappers, and that is where some of the "painfully Disney-esque" moments came in. However, I've seen far worse sins committed by horse-ignorant filmmakers. All in all, SHERGAR is a good movie.

Based on A True Story my eye..........2007-05-18

Intrigued by the cast including Mickey Roarke and Ian Holm, I bought the videotape of this film for one dollar. I was robbed, I think. "Based on a True Story" is the first disappointment. The kidnapping itself is well documented, and this film doesn't even hold to the facts, other than Shergar was taken from the farm. The filmmakers then weave a fantastic and unbelievable tale of what they think happened (complete with human hair dye that doesn't sweat off of a horse, but rinses off completely in the rain), and a preposterous ending where we're not even sure that the horse is dead.
And what in heavens happened to Mickey Roarke's face??? Did he have plastic surgery in a strip mall? He looks like Tahlulah Bankhead in male drag (or that he got Angelina Jolie's lips). Ian Holm, as always, is great, but he's not in enough of the movie to make it worthwhile. And, to note, this is definitely NOT a kid's movie. Or an adult's, for that matter. Save your dollar.

DVD:

DVD

DVD