What is all the fuss!

In "War Horse" Steven Spielberg once again returns to one of his favorite genres: War. The plot follows a young man Albert (Jeremy Irving) and his horse Joey, before, during and after WWI. The unusual friendship, allegiance and bravery that develops.


The movie is told from a different slant then the book/play, which was more from the POV of the horse.


Personally, I found the film to be too conventional, mainstream, predictable, over-the-top Hollywood. Yes, it was beautiful to look at and great horse acting. An attempt to be a family movie that is sprawling, ambitious and touching. Unfortunately, I found important parts to be pure corn and unbalanced. There was very little sub-text. Joey's long journey of tragedy, and in some cases good-will, eventually was overkill.


Spielberg could have cut 25 minutes off the reel. It took forever to get the war started. The ending was right out of "Gone With The Wind"


There are some critics claiming this is a Spielberg masterpiece. If so, what does that make "Schindler's List" or "Saving private Ryan". This is not one of his conquering films.



B

Jack

Annoyingly I forgot to order tickets for the night that JohnTams [ who helped with the music] is introducing it; he's a 'local lad'. I was hoping that Spielberg wouldn't 'Spielberg' it. Perhaps it had to be aimed at too many people of all ages. The stage play is the best thing I have seen in my life. Perfection.

Problem...Spielberg used real horses (lol) . What made the play work was the use of puppets

Not just the use of puppets, but everything about it. I saw a programme about the making of it, and hadn't realised that even the backdrop consisted of sketches from the drawing book of one of the soldiers. Every last detail was thought through; the fact that the puppeteers gave the horses not just life but a soul was the finishing touch. I know I'll be very critical of the film, but even if I don't like it I'm happy just looking at horses!

Saw the film last night. The puppets were, in fact, more real than the horses in the film who did the stereotypical rearing up and pawing of the ground that we used to see in Fury and Champion the Wonder Horse. It was beautifully filmed, and I did cry [the latter part of the film was the best; especially the bit where when Joey galloped through no mans land] but I'd love to see someone else take the film on. Having said that, it must have been difficult making the film to appeal to all ages; could do with a film for kids and an adult version perhaps?

This is one of the most beautiful movies I've seen in a long time. Done expertly as I would expect nothing less from such a pro as Spielberg. The scenes with the horse were amazing. I don't know how many stars total, but I would say this movie deserves a best picture even though I don't think it got much recognition at all. The story, the plot, the cinematography, the script, the characters, the acting - everything was so well done. I don't normally care too much for movies with a war setting, but this one was exceptional on all levels. It brought out the true humanity among men during the war at that time.