War Horse - Spielberg - Dec 2011

I don't see anything here that makes me want to see this even though it's Steven Spielberg.

Something tells me that Steve's gonna be alright. I can't say that I'm all that interested in the subject matter but since it's Spielberg, I'll definitely be seeing it.

I ha'nt seen the new trailer, but I'm somewhat interested. It looks exactly like an old Lassie war movie, but with a horse.

Is this any relation to the Broadway play of the same name?

Yeah. There was a novel that was turned into a play that is now being turned into a movie.

So...has anyone seen it?

Trailer looked pretty good. Looks like something I may need some tissue with me to watch. Ya know...in case I get something in my eye and it starts tearing up.

I viewed it today and there were some in the audience that tear up, but not me.  It was okay, not one of Spielberg's best, but a good film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

 

I got tickets to the play for late January, wondering if I would 'ruin' that experience seeing the movie first or if it would make it better?

Agreed. Technically it's a marvel, but sadly it never seemed to rise above the level of OK.

For almost any other film maker, War Horse is a career highlight but for Spielberg, I found it to 'only' be pretty good. The guy is just a master and this movie shows it. Even at 2 and a half hours, it moves well (thanks in part to the shifting of focus between characters) and I don't know if it was editing or just shooting lots of footage of the horse but they managed to get a performance out of that animal. I'm assuming that there's a fair amount of CG in this movie but it's seamlessly blended with the live action. And I'm sure many will disagree (probably even Spielberg himself) but I thought he outdid Kubrick and Paths Of Glory with the WWI/over the top sequence in this movie.

Like Robert, there was a good chunk of the audience that was crying as the lights came up but it didn't have that effect on me.

I merely found it "okay." The story was good, the performances were suitable, and the cinematography beautiful (especially the last shot.) It's just that it wasn't all that memorable. I was also disappointed in the score. It was pleasant and enjoyable, but certainly nowhere near the top tier of Spielberg works.

The film "War Horse" answers the question of what would happen if you made a movie about Forrest Gump that took place during WWI in the UK countryside (and other European spots), and oh yeah, Forrest Gump was a horse.

Some bits were difficult to watch, as I'm not all that entertained by animals, even large animals like horses, being pushed to their limits and incurring depicted injuries and wounds.

Some of the plot points had that Gump feel to them, with shift of tone throughout the film that made viewing the film an awkward experience.

I give it 2.75 stars (mainly for earnestness) or a grade of B-.

I don't get the Forrest Gump comparison as these two films are nothing alike except for a war being fought in each film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

Does the horse run across the country at least once and invent funny t-shirts and eat a box of chocolate?

 

 

Wow.  I was afraid, coming here, to express a negative

opinion about WAR HORSE.  I thought I would be in the

minority.  Looks like I'm not.

 

Was it a bad film?  Certainly not.  It's just rather tough

to be entertained with a movie about a horse.  Until I

came to this thread I never made the Forrest Gump

connection, but Patrick Sun pretty much nailed it.

 

There's no mistaking this film as being a Steven

Spielberg effort -- and that was another problem

for me.  The film wreaks of his signature over-the-top

filtered photography.  There was a time when I really

loved the way he shot his films, but now that I'm just

a little wiser, I think the emphasized filtered sunrise/sunset 

effects that look like something out of Gone With The

Wind are overdone.  It's as if the director is pulling every

old trick out of the book to emphasize emotion.  Perhaps

the problem is that the action on the screen just doesn’t

live up to the hype of the finale shots he has created.

 

Not nearly his best effort.  I still think The Color Purple

draws more emotion from me than just about any film

I have seen.

I guess I'm in the minority as I was pretty impressed with the film. I understand how some might not enjoy the sentimental aspect of the story and typically I hate this kind of thing. In the past I've accused Spielberg of having no balls and often ruining films because he has to add sugar to everything but I thought the film worked because it put this "sugar" on its shoulder and was very proud to have it. EVERY "story" in this film should have been laughed at, hissed at and people should have walked out of this thing demanding their money back but I think Spielberg works his magic and makes all of them work.

MILD SPOILERS

The scene with the English and German soldiers should have been one of the worst scenes in film history but I thought it worked very well. Even the ending with that beautiful fake sky should have been laughed at but it works as a throwback to when films like these were good. The John Ford influence is also there. I could even see a little Griffith in the war scenes. In fact, the entire over-the-top sentimental value seems 100% Griffith.

END SPOILERS


I didn't find the emotional punch (tears) as some have but I was still very impressed with the film and especially it's look. I really didn't want to blink my eyes because of how beautiful it was.

I loved War Horse

I thought it was one of Spielbergs best. Beautifully shot, terrific acting, awesome score, gut wrenching scenes of war and completely emotionally satisfying.

This was exactly my experience. I liked this film a lot because it didn't have any pretensions other than the aim to be a big "old fashioned" movie, almost defiantly so. After all the imagination he put into Tintin, I think Spileberg is done trying to re-invent the wheel at this moment in time, and just wanted to tell a story that interested him. I suppose the disparity in people's reactions boils down to the sincerity underlying the emotion. Is Spielberg only trying to push buttons and get a response, or was he genuinely moved by this tale and just attempting to convey that? It felt like the latter to me, so I was onboard, but I can see how others' mileage might vary.

One thing that does rather confound me, though, is a fair bit of criticism I've seen directed at the music. In terms of both its function in the movie and the actual quality of the writing, I thought this was the best John Williams score I'd heard in YEARS.

Well I watched it anyway, thanks redbox.


I LOVED it. It is in my top five Spielberg movies now. The two opposing soldiers trying to save the Horse is one of my favorite scenes in any movie I have seen.

I am not ashamed to admit I cried like a baby at the end.

Beautiful movie and story.