April 10, 2008

I don’t consider myself a fanatic when it comes to horses. I did grow up with the complete Black Stallion series of books next to my bed, and I do enjoy the occasional movie dealing with horses; Seabiscuit and Dreamer are two great examples. I also don’t consider myself a huge fan of the western movie genre, but I still manage to enjoy movies like 3:10 to Yuma. And let’s face it; whenever you have a western there are bound to be horses.

Hidalgo is an interesting story, part western, part horse movie, and part Arabian Nights. It tells an embellished story based on the real-life adventures of Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) and his trusty Mustang Hidalgo. Frank and Hidalgo take part in numerous endurance races (the X-Games of the 1800’s) and pretty much dominate them all. One of their more famous races was from Texas to Vermont in 30 days, which doesn’t sound all that impressive until you learn that the 2nd place rider shows up 15 days later.

Their fame spreads across the globe and during the World’s Fair in Paris the statement is made that Hidalgo is the best endurance racehorse in the world – a statement not taken lightly by Arabian Sheikh, Riyadh (Omar Sharif), whose own self-worth is determined by his family’s legacy of breeding the best endurance stallions in the world. The implication that an impure Spanish Mustang could best his prize stallion is an insult, so he challenges Frank to bring Hidalgo to his country and compete in a 3000-mile endurance race.

Frank and Hidalgo enter the race and have all sorts of grand adventures along the way. Frank must battle the prejudice of the true stallion owners as well as his own inner demons about his own Native American heritage. Frank is probably one of the most unassuming heroes in movie history. He comes across as confident but never boastful, thanks to a very subtle performance by Viggo. Even when antagonized by his fellow racers he simply plays his harmonica or makes a witty retort.

Over the course of the race you’ll see a gradual change in attitude from the competing riders. At first they cheat and even conspire to kill Hidalgo and strand Frank in the desert, but this mysterious Cowboy and his trusty steed slowly win them over with their determination and survivability against overwhelming odds.

Hidalgo manages to work in several underlying themes and sub-plots. While the story centers around the big race there are some interesting relations that develop between Frank and Riyadh as well as the Sheikh’s daughter, who is kidnapped about halfway through the race (and the movie) prompting an Indiana Jones style rescue. Hidalgo is packed with action, suspense, and lots of witty dialogue that will have you smiling or even laughing, even though his movie is far from being a comedy. In a word, Hidalgo is FUN, a grand adventure on an epic scale.

Filmmaking: 9
Hidalgo is a visionary adventure that takes us from the historic Wild West to the Arabian desert and its own unique culture. The filmmakers definitely did their best to encapsulate everything they could from the real-life story of Frank Hopkins, and filled in the missing pieces with some fantastic adventurous moments creating a movie that will appeal to just about everybody who watches it.

Visuals: 8
This new HD version boasts a remastered 2.40:1 widescreen format (versus the 2.35:1 of the original) and every scene in this feature flies off the screen in explosive detail. The panoramic vistas are breathtaking and Hidalgo features some of the most gorgeous sunsets and sunrises captured on film. This crisp new HD edition does reveal some questionable special effects, proving that early CG glitches could be hidden in lower resolutions. The CG sandstorm looked totally fake in HD, but it was still impressive and threatening, and the pumas released near the end of the film, while nicely animated on their own, failed to blend with their background plates.

Sound: 9
The soundtrack is as epic as the story and the setting, with a stirring score that will have your heart racing right along with a hundred stallions…and one Mustang. Sound effects really punch up the visuals, with deep rumbling bass for the sandstorm and locust swarm or the thunderous rumble of a hundred galloping steeds. The uncompressed 5.1 digital surround mix puts you smack in the middle of all the intense action. One major improvement – Viggo has a tendency to mumble some of his dialogue, which made him difficult to understand on the original DVD – that is no longer the case on the BD version.

Value: 7
As Disney and other studios start to go back through their existing libraries and re-release old titles on Blu-ray we really can’t expect anything new in the way of special features and bonus material. Hidalgo gives you exactly what you got on the original DVD release. In addition to the 136-minute feature you get "Sand and Celluloid," a lengthy (76 min) making-of documentary and "America's First Horse" an educational feature on the history of the Spanish Mustangs. To help ease the expense of converting your old library to Blu-ray, there is a $10 coupon included for those who already own the original DVD, assuming you are willing to deface both copies of the movie and mail in proof of purchase.

Overall: 8.7
Viggo nails the part of Frank T. Hopkins and Hidalgo is probably one of the most expressive horses in film history. The scene where Frank comments on the beauty of the Sheikh’s daughter and Hidalgo turns and looks at him as if to say, “you didn’t just use that line on her…” is priceless. The film is rated PG-13 and there is some violence, sword fights, gun fights, an off-screen indiana massacre, and a disturbing scene (for horse lovers) where Hidalgo is pierced with a spear and Frank has to remove it. If you love horses, westerns, or just a good old-fashioned action-adventure movie suitable for the entire family, then look no further than Hidalgo.