War Horse (2011)QuickRating: It doesn't rank as one of Steven Spielberg's most remarkable films and Jeremy Irvine's lead performance feels a bit forced, but "War Horse" makes up for its minor flaws with a touching, gripping and well-structured story, masterful direction, brilliantly-executed battle scenes and an authentic production design and absolutely ravishing cinematography that make it one of the most good-looking movies of 2011, if not one of the best.
14 comments:
Good review, George! I enjoyed War Horse as well. Yes, it was emotionally manipulative. But aren't all movies? Granted, the manipulation was perhaps a bit more aggressive and overt, but I didn't find it any less effective.
Well, I disagree but thanks anyway, LOL. :) It was, but that didn't bother me. I enjoyed it as a whole. Spielberg definitely knows how to make ENTERTAINING films and War Horse is no exception.
I loved this movie. Something about it fell short of being great, but the scenery was beautiful as was the horse and I really cared what happened to Joey.
L. Diane Wolfe, I did too. Yes it lacked this extra little something, but the scenery was incredible, the story was moving and the horse itself was glorious!
I thought it was good. (I seem to have good luck with 'stupid horse movies.') Very intense though. The barbed wire scene was hard to watch.
Alex, I agree about that particular scene. I was hoping they didn't hurt the horse during the shooting of that scene. I almost felt its pain.
I want to see this simply because it deals with one of the most under-filmed , yet arguably most important events of the 20th century, the First World War. WWII hogs all the film time because hey, those guys are still around, but WWI was the cause for every single thing that lead up to WWII. I do love Spielberg and know that I will be in for emotional manipulation, but I don't care. ;) Great review, sweetie. :)
Mel, I actually didn't think of that. You're so right. Ah, clever girl. I've seen lots of other dramas that awe much more emotionally manipulative than this one. I thought War Horse was moving and kind-hearted, but not unnecessarily overdramatic, so the story worked for me. I just didn't like Jeremy. I thought he was miscast.
I passed on this one by my daughters recommendation. My heart is still breaking for the horses I used to raise in the US. She said the movie was good but a heart breaker for horse lovers.
Maybe I'll give it a try on DVD, when I'm in a particularly'up' mood. Thanks for a great review.
A good story and a fairly good film overall, but it starts to get a bit tiresom along the way. Probably won't be watching it again.
farawayeyes, as a true horse lover, you should definitely check this one out. It's NOT depressing, so you won't be heart broken. I promise. :)
Hans, first of all welcome to my blog! I'm glad to have you as a follower. I followed back, thought I couldn't recognize your language. I know it's Scandinavian, but not sure if it's Swedish, Norwegian or Danish. Would you please clear that up for me? :)
As for War Hores, I liked it, but wouldn't watch it again either.
the language is faroese, which is what you speak if you're from the Faroe Islands. It's 18 small islands somewhere between Norway and Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean. Like Greenland, we belong to Denmark.
Hans, thanks for clearing it up for me. I've never heard of Faroe Islands if I have to be honest, which is a shame, because I'm a huge fan of everything Scandinavian, mostly the people. :)
Post a Comment