Rating: 
Summary: There is a proper way to retire horses in the U.S. calvary
Review: In 1930 General Douglas MacArthur was appointed chief of staff of the U.S. Army and attempted to modernize the Army. In June 1932 he used not only tanks and troops of cavalry with drawn sabers, but also infantry with fixed bayonets to attack the Bonus Army in Washington, D.C., claiming the outrageous idea of American troops attacking former members of the Army who had served in the First World War was justified because the nation was on the verge of a communist revolution.
While that infamous moment in American military history is the prologue for "In Pursuit of Honor," Dennis Lynton Clark's script tells what happened in 1935 when MacArthur changed the cavalry from men on horseback to men in tanks and ordered the destruction of hundreds of horses. The decision does not sit well with old Sergeant John Libbey (Don Johnson) and his other NCO's, but it is young Lt. Marshall Buxton (Craig Sheffer) who decides after watching the infantry gun down a hundred horses that they are not going to let the same thing be done to any more of the creatures. For these men it is a question of honor and they think when their service is no longer required horses should be treated the same way as former soldiers. Of course, the film's prologue amply proves that MacArthur (James Sikking) is willing to gun down old soldiers along with old horses.
Libbey is certainly an old soldier at home in the saddle and Buxton is young, a West Point graduate, but they have in common a tendency to be insubordinate when it comes to matters of honor. Libbey refused to ride down the women and children of the Bonus Army just because ordered to do so by Colonel John Hardesty (Bob Gunton), who is the officer MacArthur sends west to do the changeover. Buxton knows nothing about Hardesty's past, but he knows that what the Army is doing to this horses is wrong and in a split-second he makes a decision to save the rest of the horses.
Since the army base on the American-Mexican border is south of them, the soldiers take the horses north and Hardesty sets off in pursuit with his mechanized force. Unfortunately director Ken Olin made "In Pursuit of Honor" for television, which means the budget for depicting an epic chase between horses and machines was never there. There is an entire dimension to this story with regards to the disadvantages of trying to find roads to travel on in the U.S. in 1935 in pursuit of a bunch of horses.
The best parts of this television movie are out in the middle of no where with the five soldiers and their hundreds of horses. Johnson's performance is the cornerstone of the film, caught up in the attempt to save the horses without really pausing to consider the implications of what it means for any of them. However, the whole ideal of the big confrontation that is building throughout the film ends up becoming something of an anticlimax by the time it is finally played out, although why is not exactly clear. While the horses are heading north we have a subplot involving Colonel Owen Stuart (Rod Steiger), the retired former leader of the cavalry, who goes to the nation's capital to try and convince MacArthur of the mistake he is making, and his daughter, Jessica (Gabrielle Anwar), a young reporter.
The suggestion is that something bigger than the military is going to save the day, but that does not really prove to be the case. If anything, the lesson of this 1995 movie is that the honor of the U.S. Army is where it has always been, in the hearts of its non-commissioned officers. The officers can give all the commands they want, but the sense of what is right and wrong in the military comes in the looks of not only Sgt. Libbey's companions, Sgt. Thomas Mulcahey (John Dennis Johnston), Sgt. James Shattuck (Robert Coleby), and Sgt. Sean Quinlain (Neil Melville), put a pair of non-coms who are involved in the pursuit, Sgt. Ernest Gruber (Peter Curtin) and Sgt. Nathaniel Rutherford (Brian McDermott).
In 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent MacArthur to organize the defense of the Philippines, a fact that is not related at the end of "In Pursuit of Honor." Actually, there is not any sort of scroll of information at the end to let us know what happened to the participants in this true story. But the idea that FDR would boot MacArthur to the other side of the globe for thinking shooting several hundred horses is a good idea is certainly a decision you would want to applaud (although Herbert Hoover having done it three years earlier would be even better).
Rating: 
Summary: In Pursuit of Honor falters and then Flops
Review: In Pursuit of Honor is a charade. Billed as a true story it isn't as the producer and writer later admitted. The costumes and props were semi-accurate. The horse furniture, weapons and personal equipment of the horse soldiers were right on with a couple of glaring exceptions. In 1935 enlisted men did not wear orniments on their campaign hats in the field and neither did officers. Those used in the film were grossly incorrect for any period. In 1935 EM wore knee length laced (engineer) boots with flexible uppers. The collar brass was too small, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: Horses and Heroes
Review: In the new age of 1930s warfare the once-mighty cavalry has become obsolete, but officers (Don Johnson and Craig Sheffer) do the honorable thing and defy General MacArthur's orders to shoot and kill 500 healthy but surplus military horses.
Well-acted but somewhat slow story focuses much more on the people than the animals -- the horses are just "the horses."
Staci Layne Wilson
Author of Staci's Guide to Animal Movies
Rating:
Summary: just for the record
Review: Just for the record the 12th cavalry regiment was dismounted not mechanised on 28 feb 1943,so the threat of swapping the horse for armour is irrelevant.There are many references to the Mexican campaign but they also dont hold water ,the 12th cavalry simply did not participate in the punitive expedition.The only history in this movie is the bonus march,which blends from real footage to modern footage almost fluidly.The film is a bit of fun and it is always nice to see the US army prior to Pearl Harbour.The Australian outback looks wonderful as economic alternative to expensive US location.You all probably think i hate this movie but i actually really like it,its just not a true story and HBO should know better,but its cavalry and it will have to do until someone makes a movie based on Marsmen In Burma.Thanks for your time,allons.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Action
Review: Ok, so it was not very true and did not stick to history, but it was a good story. Yes, it was BASED on a true story, which means that it is based on what is said and heard, NOT entirely true. I thought it was an excellent story with Great horsemanship. However, I do know a few horse people that were a bit disturbed by the horse killing. But other than that I thought it was a good movie.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS REALLY A GREAT MOVIE
Review: Quite a sleeper - never heard of it - but what a great movie !!
Rating:
Summary: REMEMBER HOW WOODROW WILSON KILLED VETERANS:-(
Review: REMEMBER WOODROW WILSON AND HOW HE HAD U.S. VETERNS RUN DOWN AND KILLED BY HORSE SOLDIERS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF GENERAL MCARTHUR---WHICH CAUSED VETERANS TO COME TOGETHER AND FORM THE DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS (DAV) SO VETERANS COULD GET THEIR LAWFUL ENTITLEMENTS---FOR MORE INFO: (WWW.DAV.ORG)
Rating:
Summary: Recommeded, with some Reservations...
Review: Taking into consideration the fact that most Americans don't know anything about the U.S. Army, let alone the state of the U.S. Army in the years preceeding World War II, "In Pursuit of Honor" is worth watching.The film is supposed to be "based on an actual event", but in all actuality, the storyline is highly improbable. For example, I can't imagine the Army unloading a ton of ordinance (which, at that time, was much more expensive than it is today) in order to stop a herd of aging horses cross over into Canada, let alone a mechanized infantry unit pursing the same herd over half a continent. Those elements of the film basically make no sense. However, the depiction of the War Bonus Protesters in Washington, although a small part of the film, is something that was real. That the Army still used mounted soldiers a that time was real. That the Armed Forces were unprepaired to do battle with the axis powers was real. That the Army was in transition to a more modern force under Roosevelt (who knew that the country would be at war within the decade) was real. I suppose that if someone wanted to get really technical, certain aspects of the film aren't 100% accurate, like maybe the exact unit designation of the squadron wasn't right, but so what? Only a U.S. Army Cavalry devotee or a member of some mutual admiration society is going to care about this. Everyone else is going to assume that the cavalry oufit in this film is only one of other such outfits that were employed by the Army at that time. I'd like to see more films made concerning this era and how it effected our Armed Forces, not just the Army. An understanding of this important period of time helps to explain how and why the magnatude of the U.S.'s present armed forces came to be. I'd recommend this film with some reservations, but otherwise, I'd say that the period of time preceeding World War II and the state our our Armed Forces has been more effectively portrayed before, in more historically accurate films like "The Sand Pebbles".
Rating:
Summary: Disobeying an order does not always make you less honorable
Review: This is a great movie where men of our country disobey an order in Pursuit of Honor to save horses that are part of the Cavalry and have been for years. They have been ordered to put to death Cavalry horses that are no longer needed in the Army now that times are changing. These men feel the horses deserve better than to be put to death for serving their country, even though they're horses, not men. Although these men have been disobedient in the past, I think they become true saviors, heros and honorable men when they disobey this particular order. They decide they're going to try and save their country's horses and travel miles north to the Canadian border to set them free. They feel these horses deserve a retirement from the Army not be put to death for serving it. It's a rough and rugged trek north being pursued by the Army for disobeying. The news gets spread throughout the country that this is happening and the whole country becomes interested in this pursuit. There's laughter and tears as they travel north In Pursuit of Honor. I thoroughly loved this movie and have searched for over a year to own it. Now I can watch it over and over. This is a great film for adults and for children to watch with supervision for what honor means in this country. A wonderful movie. I recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood, Not History
Review: This is an very entertaining action yarn -- and that is just what it is, pure fiction. The previous reviewer who blasted the film as fiction is apparently correct. Although the US Cavalry Association and the MacArthur Foundation thoroughly researched this alleged incident, they were unable to find anything remotely like it that actually occurred in history. The Cavalry Association contacted the film's writer and was told that it was based on a story the writer had heard from "3 old sergeants" (quoted from an e-mail received by this reviewer from the Cavalry Association.) Both organizations wrote to HBO requesting that the film's billing, "Based on a true story" be removed from the film. But since Hollywood often doesn't much care for the truth with its products, they were ignored. So, moviegoer, enjoy a good action tale, but until or unless HBO decides to divulge the actual source(s)of this allged "true story", don't believe a line or scene of it as regards the slaughter and rescue of the horses it portrays. As for the film itself, it is very entertaining and all members of the cast do a nice job with it. I am giving it a 4 star rating for its entertainment value alone; a NO STAR rating for its apparently false claim of being "based on a true story." Good cast, nice locations, and a depiction of the "brown shoe" army that existed between the World Wars not often depicted on the screen make it enjoyable to watch.
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