Rating: 
Summary: Excellent movie.
Review: First of all, I need to disagree with the Amazon reviewer's opinion of Bryan Adams, the "80's rocker," who contributed to the soundtrack. I feel Adams' voice added much to the film, having that rough, gritty sound that stuck in my head as part of the West.That being out of the way, I was looking forward to seeing this movie ever since I saw the preview on Shrek. I am a 23 year old visual artist, and I adore good animation that doesn't come just from Disney. I loved the facial expressions used to convey emotion, and the fact that the sound editors used recordings from real horses, instead of using human voices, other than Matt Damon's voice, of course, but Spirit couldn't really talk. There were a couple parts in the movie where I got a little twitchy... such as the part where Spirit is cruelly mistreated by the American army trying to settle the West. If you're a parent, I would definitely talk to your young child about the parts involving the cruelty. About the soundtrack... I definitely think it fits the movie. The beautiful score has some ethereal strands to it, especially during the instrumentals... and you all know my feelings on how Bryan Adams' voice ties in with the movie. I will actually be purchasing it as soon as the soundtrack gets in my area. This is a movie I would most certainly see repeatedly. The animation is incredible, the story is beautiful, and the music is unforgettable. I highly recommend it to anyone, of any age. Hope this review helped.
Rating:
Summary: True-to-life animation... Fantastic!!
Review: "Spirit..." is a realistically done movie. The horse doesn't fake-talk to others. His expression is through body language, facial expression, and genuine horse sounds. This movie deals with reality issues ranging from leadership and responsibility to curiosity getting him into trouble. He faces challenges like being taken against his will and leaving loved ones behind, so that he can be tamed and used for work. However, along the way, he makes an indian friend, finds his true love, regains his freedom, and makes his way back to his family. The narration in the story is adequate; the animation is fantastic...very expressively done; the music does an excellent job setting moods and helping to tell the story. Although there will be some viewers who are not "horse-lovers", I think that once you see the spectacular animation, listen to the songs, and follow the story, you will agree that this movie is indeed realistic. I don't know that DreamWorks could have done it any better. Hats off to Hans Zimmer (music composer) and Bryan Adams (songwriter/ singer)who did a marvelous job writing and performing the music for Spirit. Together they gave this horse "Spirit" and it gets 5 stars in my book!!
Rating: 
Summary: If You Really Love Horses...
Review: If you really love horses, "Spirit" is a fair movie to watch. However, I like horses and couldn't sit through this agonizing movie. Neither could my two year old. It's boring, uneventful and the animation is no better than any other Dreamworks flick out as of right now. The characters aren't likeable and there are very few fun moments in the movie. I will have to say that the attempts at breaking "Spirit" were funny, but that's about where it ends.
The story moves at an agonizing pace. Forty minutes into the movie, the pace picks up a little bit. Other than that, the lack of dialogue leaves you wanting more. I'll give Dreamworks credit for attempting to use music as the horse's "voice," but Bryan Adams must have really ticked off a Canadian official to end up on this sinking ship.
The DVD extras aren't all that good either. The games didn't respond well to my remote, and the documentaries on the music and movie were just put in to allow the production team and Hans Zimmer to gush over themselves. They should keep their comments to themselves. In closing, I hate to knock a movie so hard, but this movie is bad. I wouldn't feel right telling a person how great it is when it really isn't that amazing. If you still want to watch a movie about an animal that lacks dialogue, watch "The Bear." It is twenty times better than this movie and a whole lot easier to watch. Sorry for the bad review, but my conscious is clear for now.
Rating: 
Summary: Spiritless
Review: Spirit claims to tell its story from the horse's ("Spirit's") point of view. Instead, it tells a story from an all-too-familiar, all-too-human perspective: That of a cross between radical multiculturalism and animal rights fanaticism. And so, we have morally superior horses, and evil humans who seek to break the horses' spirits. But not all humans are evil: The Indian is one with nature, loves horses, and frolics with Spirit, as if he too were a horse. It is the Evil White Male, who hates horses, imprisons them, and is a danger to nature. (And yet, Spirit's voice is done by Evil White Male, Matt Damon!) The movie makers' desire to impugn white men (or their flat-out ignorance) goes so far as to depict a cowboy roping Spirit's leg. Wranglers don't try to rope a horse's leg. If a wrangler even COULD rope a horse's leg without the rope slipping to the ground, it would break the horse's leg, requiring that the horse be shot. And the animation is as one-dimensional as the storytelling. Look at the water, when Spirit is in the river. Blank. Compare that to the water in Walt Disney's 1940 Pinocchio; it's full of reflected images. Note too the crude animation when the horses are running together. This ain't Pixar. This is just racist, propagandistic dreck, that didn't fool my three-year-old for a second! Whereas he wanted to see Pinocchio again and again and again, he never asked to see this a second time. In the days of the original Pinocchio, many children's movies were characterized by intelligence, moral weight, and yes, spirit. Today, we get this. April 5, 2004, The Critical Critic.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie That Gallops Into Your Heart
Review: Dreamworks gives us another fascinating tale that any one can truly enjoy. Basically, it tells the story of a proud mustang who is captured by white settlers trying to protect his family. There he meets up with several humans-good and bad-all the while trying to escape back home with his love by his side. The animation is truly top-notch. All the backgrounds look as if someone took a photograph. And the horses are animated to the fullest. Never have I seen an animated horse that truly gallops like one, seeing as how the animators used real ones to give you the feeling that Spirit was actually real. Another plus is that no animals talk. The horses uses a wide range of neighs and burrs and facial expressions, as if they were speaking in a whole new language. This gives the movie that whole real-life feel while still pertaining to its cartoonish style. I also enjoyed the music. The instrumentals are very moving and have that Western appeal and Bryan Adam's voice I think was perfect. He literally sounds as if Spirit would sing himself! He truly added to the movie's atmosphere and culture. Overall, Spirit is one of the best animated movies out there. He takes the whole 'trying to go home' story to a whole nother level, making this emotional story gripping and entertaining for all.
Rating:
Summary: A Wild Stallion of The West
Review: This is a great must see movie! It is about a spirited Kiger Mustang that is captured by rustlers and he has to escape and get back to his herd with the help of the indian "Little Creek". Along the way, he meets the Painted mare, Rain, and falls in love. Now, he has to make up his mind of where to go since he "His Heart Was Torn Two Ways".
Rating:
Summary: very well put together movie
Review: I really like this movie! The songs do go along with the part of the movie that is on at the time. However, Dreamworks made a little problem where they could have done better. When Rain is running along the river shore with Little creek on her back, the water looks like a painting of the river water. Also, if you are a parent, I would warn him or her about the wrong of the cruelty of the American Army to horses. But you have to realize, some of the American Army was cruel to horses, but some (Mabe some of the American Army that wasn't in the movie, or mabe some that was in the movie, depending on your opinion) of the American Army wasn't cruel to horses. But, this didn't affect my rating or anything because, if you look hard enough, you can find something wrong with any movie. It's definatly good listening to the singer, because it kind of sets the moods for the movie. I think it's a great movie, and the story is great too!
Rating:
Summary: WATCH SHREK INSTEAD SPIRIT IS FROM SAME STUDIO
Review: I will watch Spirit sometimes-but after a while it gets boring and I get tired while watching it-the animals not talking is just a mistake-and spirit running all the time makes a person want to go to sleep! So watch Shrek instead-its funnier-the animals talk and the animals in shrek dont whine-arnt in love with silly freedom-and Shrek is alot more entertaining! At least the Shrek soundtracks are alot more fun too-unlike the spirit soundtrack! Oh well-the summer of 2002 needed at least one movie to bomb-and it was spirit! Spirit doesnt know when to call it quits and run off into the sunset! And adding eyebrows on the horses was just stupid! After I watched spirit I put it back in the closet and watched oliver and company instead-anything is better then spirit! Spiritless!
Rating:
Summary: If You Really Love Horses...
Review: If you really love horses, "Spirit" is a fair movie to watch. However, I like horses and couldn't sit through this agonizing movie. Neither could my two year old. It's boring, uneventful and the animation is no better than any other Dreamworks flick out as of right now. The characters aren't likeable and there are very few fun moments in the movie. I will have to say that the attempts at breaking "Spirit" were funny, but that's about where it ends.
The story moves at an agonizing pace. Forty minutes into the movie, the pace picks up a little bit. Other than that, the lack of dialogue leaves you wanting more. I'll give Dreamworks credit for attempting to use music as the horse's "voice," but Bryan Adams must have really ticked off a Canadian official to end up on this sinking ship.
The DVD extras aren't all that good either. The games didn't respond well to my remote, and the documentaries on the music and movie were just put in to allow the production team and Hans Zimmer to gush over themselves. They should keep their comments to themselves. In closing, I hate to knock a movie so hard, but this movie is bad. I wouldn't feel right telling a person how great it is when it really isn't that amazing. If you still want to watch a movie about an animal that lacks dialogue, watch "The Bear." It is twenty times better than this movie and a whole lot easier to watch. Sorry for the bad review, but my conscious is clear for now.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it, my children loved it.
Review: My daughters ages 6 and 11 watch the movie frequently. The music and animation are wonderful and the story is good enough. What I detest in kids' animated films is the increasing use of character deaths and sadistic incomprehensible violence. My children cried on the way home after ICE AGE, especially my youngest, because they could't shake the sense of loss over the mastadon's family. Nemo's mother is killed in the first minutes of Saving Nemo. Couldn't he have just had a nervious Dad? Monster's Inc. has a little girl strapped to a machine that is going to suck the breath out of her. We see her terrified face and hear her screams. Why? These movies are not documentaries -- people had to make the choice to include these scenes. I cannot imagine what they were thinking. Thankfully, Spirit has none of this disturbing content. There is conflict and separation but things come out ok. I would recommend it for purchase if you like good animation and/or if you have kids.
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