Rating: Summary: My all time favorite! Review: This movie is my all time favorite. Unlike most of today's movies The Black Stallion is truly touching and beautiful based on a a story of strong friendship between a horse and a young boy and I have never watched an movies so emotional.This is THE movie for the entire family!!
Rating: Summary: Great Disappointment Review: After seeing this movie, I was greatly disappointed. I have worn out my copy of The Black Stallion by re-reading it over and over again, and expected the movie to be closer to the book. In the book, Alec travels alone to India to visit his uncle, although in the movie his father is with him. Another discrepancy is that in this movie Alec is a little boy, 11 or 12, but in the book, Alec was at least 15 years old. Alec was also very responsible, he worked to help pay for the Black's food. The reporter, Jim Neville, is reduced to a mere annoyance, although in the book, Jim is a highly respected sports reporter who believes in the Black and works hard for him to get in the match race. I could state quite a few other discrepancies, but there is no need. If you haven't read the book in a while, or don't care if it is an accurate portrayal of the book; this movie is great. I rated it three stars, because of the excellent photography, and chorography especially the scene where Alec plays tag with the Black.
Rating: Summary: A Classic for children and adults Review: I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it. This is family entertainment at its best. The viewer gets drawn in from the beginning all the way until the end. It offers you some action, breathtaking scenery, a truly inspiring finale and pulls on your heartstrings like the best of the Disney movies. As I look back on the Black Stallion 20yrs later I still view it with the same excitement and enjoyment as when I was 10. I recommend this dvd to any family that enjoys fun well made movies. Or if your a babysitter and you need some time for schoolwork or phone chatting this is guaranteed to keep the kids busy for 90 minutes.
Rating: Summary: magical cinematic expression Review: The story of Alec and Black and the strong bond between them was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and it's still a favorite of mine. My favorite scenes from the movie are the ones that occur during the first 45 minutes. The scenes where they're stranded on the island are so magical that I almost feel disappointed when they get rescued. After that, everything becomes much more ordinary: not bad, necessarily, but ordinary. Up until the racing scene, when all the beauty apparent in the island scenes resurfaces. Throughout, the cinematography, production values, and acting are first-rate, and the story has become classic. This is such a great movie, and not just for kids.
Rating: Summary: Great Movie! Review: This is a great movie for the whole family. A wonderful story about the love and bond between a horse and a boy. When The Drake went down, Alec and the black horse are the only two survivors. They both stranded on an island where both horse and boy are forced to fend for themselves. Over the time that they are on the island, a inseparable bond grows between them. A very touching adaption from Walter Farley's book, The Black Stallion. A must see for all horse lovers. A must see for eveyone. I absolutely love this movie! It is one of my favorite horse movies. I rated this with five stars but I wish that they would have stayed closer to the book. But it is still a great movie and I give it a personal rating of 10 out of 10.
Rating: Summary: Simply Beautiful... Review: The first time I watched this movie I was entralled with it. It's one of the most wonderful movies I have ever seen. It has beautiful scenery and you can really feel a strong bond between Alec and "The Black". This is an amazing film that will inspire the imagination of all who watch it!
Rating: Summary: Good Movie, just not like the book Review: I have to sound a common refrain for most movies adapted from books: the movie isn't as good as the book! Yes, the cinematography is stunning, and it is a PRIVILEGE to see a beautiful horse like Cass-Ole. But, when the movie came out I was a teenager who had read the Black Stallion series when I was a little younger. I could not get past the fact that Alec in the movie looks to be about "middle school" or jr high age, rather than the young man of high school age he is in the books. Alec was a role model for me when I read the books, but the movie Alec just seems a hapless child. Also, though Cass-Ole is beautiful, he is obviously a small horse, like most purebred Arabs. Much is made in the book series about the Black's mixed blood, though he does have Arabian in him. To many people these would be minor things, but kids are very conservative and I could not get past these differences when I was younger.As an adult, I can look at the movie more objectively, and admit that the relationship between the boy and the horse is beautifully portrayed, and the island scenery is stunning, etc. But the haunting horse-through-the-ages and Bucephalus stuff wasn't really in the book, and the opening sequence (of the movie) seems to me to be artificially imbued with meaning. The movie director/producers seem to be trying to give the movie some kind of strange quality that the book just didn't have, in my opinion. The book has a simple bracing human-and-horse against-the-odds feel; Alec is like a boy scout finding carageenan to sustain himself and the horse. He is not trying to work through his father's death through his love for the Black. However, if the movie creators wanted to have a mystical horse story, they didn't have to look any further than this series. Books like the Island Stallion Races and The Black Stallion's Ghost were plenty mystical and strange. These could have been filmed as haunting stories and remained true to the books.
Rating: Summary: fantastic! Review: I feel I have been so fortunate to be able to say I saw this film when it first came out. It is my favorite movie of my childhood and will ever remain a top one of all time. What child/adult doesnt love a well told story about a boy and his beloved horse. It has excitement, mystery and in the end, triumph! For adults it has the most amazingly beautiful cinematography and sound track. A vertual dinner for the eyes and the ears. I never get tired of it. It inspires and renews our ideas of what it's like to be a kid. After it came out I read that Kelly Reno learned how to swim for this role. It made me want to learn myself. The ship sinking scenes seem so real and the island water scenes are delightfull. We get to see what Queens was like back in the old days. When I'm there I often think about it wishing I could go back in time. Oh,I could go on for hours about this movie. I think they should bring it back to the BIG SCREEN.
Rating: Summary: Still magical, for kids of all ages Review: I first saw this movie over twenty years ago, on the big screen at one of the local theatres. It reminded me then of the kinds of movies I loved as a child, full of adventure, but also full of emotions that haunt the world of childhood--loneliness, wonder, hope, admiration. All of these are in this movie, especially in the brilliant first half, depicting a boy who has the cruelest adventure imaginable, but also an awakening to a new world of natural beauty and another kind of adventure. The first hour of this movie, with a shipwreck, a young boy, the only survivor, other than a fierce and wild horse who somehow bonds with him, is beautiful and moving almost beyond belief. The second half is a more traditional thriller, as the horse becomes a champion race horse, is almost formulaic, but it is done so well that what might be called "manipulation" is not heavy-handed or noticeable in the way that it is in most movies made in the last decade. And having Mickey Rooney in a starring role as the horse trainer is a special treat for those of us who remember him in the movies of the '50s. This is a movie that you can watch with your kids, or with your parents, and everyone will enjoy it. I bought the DVD version for some friends' kids who I knew had never seen this movie--they have seen everything from the last ten years, mostly a lot of junk. They loved this movie, and so did their parents. Don't miss it!
Rating: Summary: Forever in my Heart Review: The Black Stallion will always be my idea of that perfect horse that I wonder if I will ever have. I still cry everytime I watch that movie, cause the beauty and intenseness that it portrays throws me off into a world of my own each time I watch it.(...) Anyways if you ever want to watch yourself a lovely movie full of wonderful dreams, then you must watch the Black Stallion. It will make you feel like no other movie will likely ever make you feel. The Black Stallion is truely a work of art that will always remain in my heart.
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