Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful movie about a beautiful horse!
Review: I think that "Black Beauty" is the best horse movie I have ever seen. It is absolutely spectacular! The movie is from Beauty's perspective and it definitely is moving and touching at parts. I love all the horses in the movie and I love the camera angles and shots. It makes you feel like you are right there, sometimes even on the horse. I highly recommend this movie for people of all ages.
Rating:
Summary: A movie to be enjoyed by all.
Review: I've been watching Black Beauty since it came out in 1994 when I was 9. The enchanting cinematography, thoughtful narration and beautiful horses stick in your mind long after the movies is finished. I've worn the tape out and recently bought it on DVD. I watched it immediately with friends who made fun of me. 19 and in love with a horsey movie?? Luckily I forced them to watch it and they were soon engrossed in the fabulous story. I have never read the book, but anyone who dislikes this movie because it isn't "true" to the novel is a sad person indeed. This is a great movie that can be enjoyed by horse lovers or even people who aren't that fond of horses. A good movie is a good movie, and Black Beauty will remain a timeless classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Not just for horse lovers -
Review: Excellent adaptation of the classic book, that gives a voice to creatures in a new and startling way. It helps to love horses, but this viewpoint will speak to animal lovers, and help impress on young children the importance of pet responsibility. After all, as the main character clearly says, all animals have no choice, and no voice. Better that we should care for them even more diligently. The film clearly brings out how an animal suffers, if their care is neglected, even once. Very instructive, and highly recommended for all ages.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm sure kids will love it but adults be prepared
Review: I love horses and will watch almost any movie with them in it. But because I work with them I am also sensitive to their correct portrayals in film. Although lovingly filmed, with very pretty scenery, nice settings and good actors, this movie was disappointing. It was not its faithfulness to the book I call into question - a good movie adaptation will always have changes - but the style in which they were done.
Alan Cummings as the voice of Black Beauty was given an overly saccharine script in my opinion. Instead of giving the animal a realistic viewpoint, it was a whiny and naive portrayal. In a bizarre twist, Ginger was portrayed as Beauty's love interest, which I found completely incomprehensible, since Black Beauty is a) a gelding and b) it detracts from the true meaning of the story, which was that Ginger, a close companion during the best days of their youth together, was squandered and brought low by mens' cruelty.
I also found it jarring that none of the other horses were given voices of their own, especially the likes of Ginger and Merrylegs. They are portrayed interacting together at several points, yet while Black Beauty "speaks" during those times, he never refers to them speaking to him, nor do they ever speak directly in the film. It makes for an odd sense of dislocation, as you watch two horses acting out a scene together while the voice of one is reiterating the present happenings - without giving the other a viewpoint. Despite the fact that it is Black Beauty's story, this film also succumbs to giving him a human character with whom he forms a "deep" relationship. I find it irritating that most movies whose main characters are supposed to be animals usually resort to enlarging or inventing a human character for them to have a special relationship with - presumably to give the story significance, or substance, to the audience. If the story is being told correctly, the audience should identify with the main character directly, not only through a human relationship. Lastly, while some scenes were well done - notably Black Beauty's first experience with shoes - most of the horse scenes looked fake. Few and far between are the movies that portray horses in realistic ways. This is not one of them. The scenes with Ginger in pasture, when the two of them were reunited, were so obviously staged. Two horses, facing off camera, were being signalled to rear several times in a row. They were not even facing each other.
The action of the horses in harness was also lacking in realism. Neither horse traveled well in harness and when the bearing rein was supposedly put on, cranking their heads up, you couldn't tell the difference. When Ginger is stretching her neck out, supposedly in sympathy, it is another obvious horse trick - someone is holding a treat for her just off camera and she's stretching out her neck to get it.
Also, Doc's Keeping Time, the main equine actor, was signalled to perform an irritating trick of tossing his head around and up and down to indicate emotions. This is a bad habit for a horse to pick up and most people discourage it; beyond that it was irritating to watch because I knew it was a bad habit and therefore unrealistic, again, to the portrayal. Horses don't toss their heads around in that fashion when exhibiting such emotions. Picturing Black Beauty lying down while he narrates his tale was also extremely irritating to me. Most horses do not lie down naturally or often; it was an unrealistic attempt to elicit an empathetic reaction from the audience. The only thing I could think was that a horse would never stay for long in that position. The comic touches also fell flat. In addition, while I admire greatly any horse with the training and ability to perform such a demanding role, Doc's Keeping Time was the wrong physical type. The Black Beauty of that era was a thoroughbred and it is that type of horse which is needed to perform the roles of being a hunter and carriage horse with the correct style for the period. Doc's Keeping Time is an American Quarter Horse, and again, while I admire him greatly, the filmmakers should have spent some extra time or research finding an animal that better fit the role's requirements.
But the ending of the film was surprisingly good. For whatever reason, it touches an emotional chord. I recommend the film highly for children but for adults looking for a good horse movie - it will be amusing but probably disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: A Movie You'll Enjoy Again and Again
Review: Exquisitely filmed, beautifully acted, and true to the book. My nine year old daughter watched the movie three times in the first two days we had it....and I watched it with her. No hokey moving horse lips, no preachy asides. Just a wonderful story from the point of view of a special horse.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit boring. 15th april 2004.
Review: Kids would probably enjoy it. It was quite good the first time i watched it then i thought it was a kiddy film, but anyone would normally like these sorts of films. Not me it isn't my type.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful movie for horse-lovers!
Review: Black Beauty was one of the best movies I've ever seen! Docs Keepin Time was an excellent "actor". There was inhumane treatment of the animals and Ginger was so tragic. The horses had no say in anything and were abused yet they tried to please their masters. With kind masters they flourished and the ending was beautiful. The music was evocative and everything it this movie made me cry. (It was also an excellent book.)
Rating:
Summary: great for horse lovers
Review: Black Beauty is a great movie. It is interesting. It is great for any horse lover.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Movie
Review: I loved this Movie! I've always liked the Novel since I was in Junior High and finally decided to watch the story on the screen and I was highly impressed by the great performances by the Black Beauty horse and other ones. Music was just great!!! A Must buy!
Rating:
Summary: Overhyped and Pointlessly Altered
Review: I love horses. I will suffer through bad acting, awful plots, and overly precious child actors in just about any horse movie, and for me to say Black Beauty was almost unbearable is a statement and a half. I was hoping for so much more from this film after reading about how much more faithful a version it was. Having sat through two '80s animated monstrosities, an entertaining but in-name-only New Zealand made TV series, and a downright awful '70s version that has Beauty in the circus, going to war, and involved with a bunch of Irish Travelers, I was expecting much better from something prouduced in the '90s. It all starts innocently enough, with the lovely Sean Bean attending to Beauty from his birth and throughout his training and though I was a bit annoyed that the fox hunt was cut I could understand why something so brutal was left out. From thereonin it was all downhill. Absolutely pointless changes were made, nobody is permitted to die, they simply get fired or move to the country, and if we aren't shown anything an offhand remark tells us that 'all the other horse were saved too'. I can understand not wanting to frighten children but for heaven's sake, animals died in Babe didn't they? Black Beauty was not intended to be a kids' book, it was meant to draw attention to animal cruelty of the time period and for it to be so dumbed down is annoying. We are told Ginger is vicious, and there is an offhand comment about previous bad owners but that's about it. Only Beauty is given a voice and Merrylegs' and Ginger's stories are left frustratingly untold, replaced with overlong shots of them frolicking that will have even children getting antsy. And how annoying is it that Ginger is bizarrely made into a love interest? At least with the other Black Beauties the changes were apparent enough from the start that you weren't expecting much later on. Weird edits give us random shots of doors as scenes end or shots of Beauty tossing his head for minutes on end. The movie is 87 minutes long but because of the extended horse footage it seems to take forever. You know there's a problem when I'm counting down the minutes to when David Thewlis pops up instead of swooning over the horsies. I'm not so heartless as to not admit that the film made me cry, twice no less, but those were the only times I felt anything other than apathy or annoyance. It's too bad, because this really had the potential to be like Nightmare Before Christmas or Spirited Away and have a crossover appeal to young and old audiences. If you want a good horse film you won't have to suffer too much through, get Misty instead and, for a lush children's period piece, pick up the '95 incarnation of A Little Princess. Either way you'll have a nice family movie that will encourage kids to pick up a book without insulting your intelligence in the process.
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