"WARHORSE film - I was underwhelmed" Topic

Haven't read book or seen acclaimed stageplay. Took (nearly 13 year old)daughter.

As unfamiliar with book, hard to tell what his fault of Richard Curtis (trademark heartstring-tugging-by-numbers script) or Morpurgo's story. I've never known such a film that required me to suspend disbelief from beginning to end, & that failed to do that throughout… It's a fairytale set in the Great War, which makes for a very incongruous blending of genres…

I was thinking of seeing it; not worth the price of the popcorn then?

This reviewer was not very nice about it either:

link

I've heard that the stage version is hugely superior.

My daughter enjoyed it & it exposed her to a lot of Great War 'stuff'… for myself, I'd've given it a miss. The military set pieces are 'epic' & well-mounted (excuse the pun)(Although that's been done elsewhere) John William's soundtrack is good. Feels like a real old-style film, if child Hayley Mills suddenly appeared in it you wouldn't have been least bit surprised…

I didn't believe in any of the characters, aside from the big contrivances, coincidences & implausibilities the plot requires you to swallow.

The Telegraph review was on the money, except I sat through it stoney-faced. (In the 'Over-the-top' scene my daughter was sat with her fingers in her ears as the machine guns & artillery were jolly loud) I loathe Richard Curtis when he's trying to be all worthy & tear-jerking & I'm immune to it.

I'm off to see the stage version in about 4 weeks time so I'm giving the film a miss.

Not quite living up to the Saving Private Dobbin of the advertising then?

Cheers
Mark

Might be able to entice her to watch THE LIGHTHORSEMEN on the back of it. Her maternal great-great-grandfather fought in Mesopotamia. My Great-grandfather was gassed on the Somme, so the Western front/gassing scenes were a good talking point with her.

I was entertained, but not overwhelmed. The costumes, action scenes and acting were good. The story line was also good, but not great.

Not being an eight-year-old girl myself, I was never particularly enthralled by the idea of a film with a horse as its central character in the first place.

My expectation has always been that it will be crap, so with such low expectations I may actually enjoy it when I finally see it.

It's based on a children's book. What did you expect? Sigh. Gamers…

Not being an eight-year-old girl myself… it's based on a children's book..

Well, people on here go on and on about the Lord of the Rings, so why should other children's books not get fair treatment?

Seriously, there was a thread on the other TMP about this before it was aired, and the general opinion was anything by Spielburg with a script by Curtis was goin to be shallow, and so nauseatingly sacherine and cloying it would make golden syrup taste like Vinegar.

Pat

Let me rephrase what I said. Replace "crap" with "not my cup of tea" if that will stop Condottiere from sighing.

This reviewer was not very nice about it either:

Magic turnips! Lol.

I'm a bit wary of it myself because of the massive hype about it, and the general impression that it's all built up with a lot of cynical sentimentality. So the reviewer pretty much confirmed my misgivings. (whether he's absolutely right may be another matter)

What makes me even more unsettled are the comments there: all the people lambasting the reviewer, telling him they went along to have a good sob for a couple of hours, but agreeing (or at least not disagreeing) that it's a pile of shallow emotional manipulation. Whatever the rights and wrongs of it, that just seems deeply odd to me.

Condy: it's been plastered about everywhere, and until now I've seen no claim that it's for kids. All the trailers, features and plugs I've noticed pretty much paint it as an epic wartime drama. All the disneyfication is between the lines…

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Warren B.
minisculpture.co.uk

I was debating about whether or not to see this. From the sounds of it it is not something I would enjoy. Guess if the opportunity comes up when it is on video and there is nothing else.

I'm off to see the stage version in about 4 weeks time so I'm giving the film a miss.

I saw the stage version and the stagecraft is wonderful. The story is pretty much irredeemable: as noted, it's based a children's book. The uniforms were spot on, though!

"It's based on a children's book. What did you expect?"

So was THE EAGLE. I expected the children's book. i was cruelly disappointed.

I enjoyed this more than THE EAGLE…

The French grand-daughter's accent seems to veer between French & German..?

Maybe she was from Alsace.

Took my 22 year old daughter to see it and we enjoyed it.
Had a great time.

The film of "The Eagle" was a disgusting travesty of the book !!!!!

Please – the Eagle was such a poor version it had nothing to do with such a great book.

I have not seen the Warhorse yet, but might see it at the weekend (girlfriend likes Horses, it has a bit of a war story for me and I get an Ice cream… might just do.)

I will probably be a blubbering wreck, Spielberg with his movies for kids gets me every time.

I still cry when I watch ET.

(at the D & D scene)

I thought it was a damn fine film. It's entertainment, people…

Went with 3 folks who were not at all versed in WWI. It was a love story, a man and his horse with some other personals story intertwined. It was entertaining but some of it unbelieveable, but not gory for the kids.

But waiting for John Carter now..LOL

No, it isn't gory, I grant you that

Still want to see it – it's based on an excellent book, Morpurgo is a superb writer (seems to be a pretty decent bloke too).

The Eagle – you know they actually started to film the book (see the DVD deleted scenes) and then decided "nah, let's screw it up instead".

But it was nominated for picture of the year!!!…..

Seemed a bit daft to make a movie about to me, and I'm an animal lover.

Perhaps the War Pigeon sequel will be better!

A trained homing pigeon is serving in the Allied army in WWI France. Things begin to heat up, and the Germans are threatening to encircle a tired army. They desperately need reinforcements, but all of the runners have been shot by snipers. Can the pigeon get through all of the bullets, shells, shrapnel, other dangers, and rain to save the day? Or, will he: get lost, find the true love of his life and fly south for the winter, get attacked by a German hawk, get shredded by an aircraft propeller, defect to the other side for better food, or end up on someone's dinner plate?

See the movie, to find out. Coming in the Spring of 2013.

They already made that. Dick Dastardly was in it.

Let me get this straight… Warhorse is a make-you-cry movie, isn't it? Well, in that case I think I will go. God knows I need some catharsis ASAP! And nothing better than a good cry (or a good laugh!) to get it.

I went to it with no information or preconceptions… I'd seen the name mentioned here but kinda thought maybe it was something to do with the Trojan wars.
But surprise, it was some sort of throwback to Disney films of the 50s/60s… except even more sentimental, artificial and (in places) badly acted… oh, and with OVERBEARING music throughout.

I'm not a complete curmudgeon… I love those old Hayley Mills movies… but this thing had 3x the heavy-handed artifice and 1/3 the charm.
When Spielberg's name came up on the credits at the end it was an 'AHA!' moment for me.

A movie can be well-made and still not be particularly good.

And "The Eagle" mentioned previously got a 39: link

This was a classic Lassie Come Home, National Velvet, Hollywood film from the late 40s-even the color was oversaturated to simulate late 40s Technicolor! The final shot was the classic definition of the "Sunset" close. Well done and the cast and acting were first rate. Sure it's a fairy-tale! That's what movies do!

I always marvel how good films such as this get razzed by some TMP'ers while they wax euphoric about turkeys such as the Gettysburg/Gods and Generals, which BTW got an 8 on RT! That means that 92% of the critics that saw those frozen birds thought they really sucked. They were absolutely right.

So here we go: 77% on RT which is high enough score to be worth a risk

Yeah, because the tastes of the general public are always so reliably well considered and dependable. Fast food is fine cuisine… Wal Mart is Bloomingdales… and Jersey Shore is the best show ever on television!

Venusboy-the RT rating is two numbers-the one quoted above is from all critics; There is also a general public rating. That does reflect the "common" taste more-but is often parallel.

Rotten Tomatoes is followed by a lot of people in print, film, and on-line and is considered a pretty good measure of whether a film is worth seeing. It does have some Male Geek factor among its critics which gives a slightly higher rating to a lot of movies with explosions, demons, aliens, and a slight penalty to what is normally called "Chick-flicks", but is usually dependable. Anything over 70 or so is generally pretty good, anything below 50 is usually a turkey

Yeah, I see even Ebert liked it… I'll just have to agree to disagree.

Saw it this afternoon. Any more I'm glad if I feel like I got my ticket price out of the experience. Thought it did that pretty decently.

Glad if it works for some!

Terrement: Ah, but I said 'kids', not 'family'.

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Warren B.
minisculpture.co.uk

On this site the only criterion should be how accurate was the military stuff? Uniforms, weapons, terrain, tactics.

So how was it?

I liked this movie and 'The Eagle'.

The 'military stuff' was very well done.

The Devonshire regiment has a long and glorious tradition, it is my understanding that this is the regiment from which the horse was part of the yeomanry. My Grandfather was a Lieuteneant in the South Western Mounted Brigade and his brother a private in the Royal North Devon Yeomanry..there is an excellent history written of this regiment for the Great War