Hallo, hat von Euch schon einer den Film gesehen? Wenn ja, wie ist er?


Hello, has anybody seen this movie? If yes, what do you think about it?

I'll watch him this week
I am very exciting about it!!!
I think it will be a good story , and off course a nice actor..

Love from Belgium
Hanne

Hi Andrea,

I've seen Hidalgo a couple of times now and I like the story behind the movie. The filmmakers have stayed as close to the scenery as they can and haven't romaticised it too much. It is a nice film, don't expect heaps of it and you'll like it too. Mister Mortensson makes a pretty good impression as a rider, which we already could notice in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

If you get a chance, go and see it as the story is worth it.

Best regards,
Stephanie

I have also seen this movie & enjoyed it. It was reasonably authentic & as I am a "desert" person I thought the scenery was very good.

Alot of people here in Australia knocked it, as it was promoted as a true story. Whether it is or isn't doesn't worry me as I go to the cinema to be entertained, not to nit pick.

I enjoyed the scenes with the horses running through the desert.

I would buy it on DVD if & when it is released.

All the best from Down Under........Debbie.

I liked it a lot, too.
I think it was rather strange that it was promoted as a true story as there is no way of finding out if those events really took place. The movie really didn't need such publicity. It's a great story whether it is true or not. I'm also already waiting for the DVD.

I have not seen the movie yet. However, Cynthia Culbertson did publish a review of the movie. Not altogether favorable! Given Cynthia's education in Arabic, Middle East studies, and Arabian horses, her views carry a lot of weight!!

Maybe Cynthia will be able to jump in here with a few comments!

Majid

Thanks for your answers!
I'm glad that most of you enjoined the movie although theres is some bad critique!
But I'm really surprised to hear that there's no true story behind!

Dear Cynthia, I would be appreciated to hear or read the review of you!

@Hanne: Yes, a nice actor but my favourite is "Merry"!

Nevertheless I will go this week to see the movie and then I will tell you about!

Who is Merry???

I saw the movie Hildago several weeks ago. And ever since have been wondering what the name "Al Hattal" (the black stallion in the movie) means.
Can anybody here help?

Thanks,
Sandy

As for the movie Hidalgo, I felt it was quite sad that Disney shamelessly promoted this movie as based "on the incredible true story of Frank T. Hopkins." As any student of the Middle East knows, there is no such race as the "Ocean of Fire" and none of Mr. Hopkins claims stand up to serious academic scrutiny. The Long Riders Guild, a group of serious endurance riders, have created a website which debunks the claims of Hidalgo, and it is very interesting reading. You may visit this site at http://www.thelongridersguild.com/hopkins.htm.

I was asked to write a review of this movie for an arts and entertainment magazine in New Mexico. Any of you wishing to read my review may e-mail me and I will happily send a copy. Or should Oliver and Aleksi wish (it is about 1,000 words) I could post it here. Because of its length I would ask their kind permission first.

Best Regards,

Cynthia Culbertson

Please, don't hesitate to post it.
I will go and see the film in a few days - so this could be helpful.
Oliver

My review of Hidalgo courtesy of "Bob" Magazine, an Arts and Entertainment publication in New Mexico.

Best Regards,

Cynthia Culbertson

A Review of Hidalgo
by Cynthia Culbertson

I distinctly recall the first time I saw a trailer advertising the Disney film “Hidalgo.” For a moment I thought that human levitation was actually possible – that’s just how fast and far I rose out of my comfy chair in utter disbelief. “Based on the Incredible True Story of Frank T. Hopkins,” said the words across the screen, yet it seemed impossible that any portion of what I had just seen was based on historical fact. A world famous American endurance rider on a pinto mustang named Hidalgo competing in a centuries old race across Arabia called the “Ocean of Fire?” For someone with a lifelong addiction to horses, not to mention many years of devoted research on the Bedouins, I was astonished that I had never encountered this story.

I have a love-hate relationship with the internet, but admitting the possibility that I had failed to ferret out a vital Arabic manuscript, I did what we all must do occasionally – I “Googled” – and confirmed my deepest fears. Claiming that “Hidalgo” is based on a true story is about as believable as Disney saying that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs actually lived in Lithuania during the mid-15th century.

Just reading about the adventures of Frank T. Hopkins is a skeptic’s dream. His mother was the proverbial Indian Princess; he witnessed the massacre at Wounded Knee; he joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show as one of its stars; he won more than 400 cross-country endurance races; and oh yeah, he knew Wild Bill Hickok, Geronimo, and you-guessed-it – Billy the Kid. Surely this would be enough to send anyone running for historical verification. Except, of course, a Disney screenwriter. As several university professors, documentarians, and western historians discovered, the sad truth is that Frank T. Hopkins was from New York City, not Wyoming. His employment records show a stint as a ditch digger and Ringling Brothers horse handler, while the archives at the Buffalo Bill Museum show no one by his name ever employed by the famous Wild West Show. One by one, his fantastic claims, including the existence of a mustang named Hidalgo, are confirmed to be just so much hot air – hot air he never breathed in the Arabian desert.

As for the movie? Well, I vowed to let it stand on its own merits, despite the ridiculous claim of being based on truth. After all, the story line has all the elements of a great adventure yarn – a half-Indian cowboy, haunted by the massacre at Wounded Knee, joins the Wild West Show as the world’s greatest endurance rider, and then accepts the challenge of an Arab sheikh to compete in the longest and most grueling horse race ever devised. The plot is thickened by the sheikh’s beautiful and headstrong young daughter, a wealthy Englishwoman seeking to win the race, an evil kidnapper, and, of course, the treacherous desert over which the race takes place. Yet somehow, while “Hidalgo” succeeds at times, it simply doesn’t deliver – the characters are shallow clichés, the race depressingly boring, the fight scenes predictable, and the humor largely ineffectual.

Of course Hollywood loves to portray Arabs in the most stereotypical way, and “Hidalgo” does not disappoint in this regard. Since Disney didn’t bother to check out the Frank T. Hopkins story, it comes as no surprise that they didn’t check the facts concerning the culture, religion, and horses of the Arabs, either. I stopped counting the fatal mistakes about ten minutes into the desert part of the film, but just to name a few, the desert depicted isn’t Arabia – it’s North Africa; the horses aren’t Arabian, they are Barbs (ironically the ancestors of the Mustang); the plural of Bedouin isn’t Bedowi (actually Bedouin IS plural); and Muslims can only have four wives, not five. Not to mention the reason the Arabs dislike a pinto or paint horse is not solely a purist ideology as portrayed in the film, but also that their white skin burns to a crisp under the desert sun. Think of it this way – if your life depended upon a horse would you want to risk it on a UV compromised equine? Oh, and the race ends in Damascus, where Hopkins and Hidalgo take a brief dip in the Mediterranean after the grueling finish. Woops! Check your maps all you geography fans!

It’s true that Viggo Mortensen, fresh from his success as Aragorn in “Lord of the Rings” is a credible cowboy with his rugged good looks and obvious riding ability. Yet unlike his role in the Tolkien trilogy, he appears limited by the script to no more than three facial expressions. In fact, it often seems his equine co-star, Hidalgo, a handsome Overo Paint, is capable of more emotion. To give Disney a teensy bit of credit, however, someone in the research department was busy basing the character of Englishwoman Lady Anne Davenport on a combination of the wonderful Lady Anne Blunt, the first western woman to explore central Arabia, and Homer Davenport, an American who went to Syria in search of fine Arabian horses. If, however, the gracious and scholarly Lady Anne Blunt could see her namesake in “Hidalgo” (portrayed as a woman who wants to win the famous race so badly she offers her favors to the stoic Hopkins), she would undoubtedly rise up from the grave and join Roy Disney in the fight against Michael Eisner.

Despite some wonderful desert scenery and the uplifting sight of mustangs galloping across the American prairie at the end of the film, “Hidalgo” simply isn’t a winner. Even at the conclusion Disney persists in its ludicrous claim of historical truth, proclaiming that the bloodlines of the famous Hidalgo exist today in a mustang herd in Oklahoma (pretty hard for a fictional horse to leave descendants, eh?) But if “Hidalgo” has one high point it is the indomitable Omar Sharif as Sheikh Riyadh. He clearly gives Disney their money’s worth, delivering the most credible acting performance in the film. Not only that, but at age 71 he still has the best set of male eyes that ever graced the silver screen.

My recommendation? If you’re in the mood for an action/adventure flick, check out “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” If you’re after an exciting and well-crafted horse movie, go rent “Seabiscuit.” After all, it really IS based on an incredible true story.

To read more about the Frank T. Hopkins controversy visit: http://www.thelongridersguild.com/hopkins.htm

Hi Cynthia,

I must have missed the claims of a true story then.... probably me not looking nor listening to carefully to claims like that.

No seriously, I didn't realise this movie was claimed to be on a true story. As I said in my previous post, it is an enjoyable movie as are many many others. I guess the trick is not to dig into the story too deeply and to ignore the very obvious mistakes that raise the eyebrows of those who know better (many of us can see the hick-ups). To those who have yet to see it, ignore the claims of a true story and try not to get irritated by the mistakes made. Just try and enjoy the film and that incredibly Omar (he doesn't look 71).

Greetz,
Stephanie

Hallo Hanne,

Merry is Meriadoc Brandybock.....of the Lord of the Rings trilogy I think....isn´t it ?

regards
Babette

Dear Cynthia,
this was such an incredible, extremely well-written and witty review - thank you very much.

I saw the movie. It was entertaining at best. But I did not like the depiction of "Lady Davenport" (aka, a sniveling cheater and murderer)...to name a few other things! UUURRRGGGGHHHH!!!

There were some really nice paint horses.

And, my oh my....oh...so nice to see Omar Sharif once again!

Hello Cynthia,

thanks for that honest essay! I would have like to know the truth and you gave it to me!
And I got no problem with it . Now I know why there's some bad critique about the movie.
But I will go to cinema tomorrow and I will form an opinion for my own.
I think I will enjoy the movie as it is about horses!
Have a nice day!

For Sandy on the other thread who asked about Al Hattal, here is the original Hildago thread.

Majid

Hi there

I really enjoyed the movie thought it was great fun. Did you know that Viggo Mortensen purchased the horse after they finished the film? He said that he loved the little painted horse so much that he had to have him...

Jennifer

As Cynthia said, it was a movie with some nice moments but lots of inaccuraxies even without knowing the historical facts relating to Hopkins. I liked the ending, and am very glad that Viggo bought the horse-a real charmer... Omar El Sharif is always a good actor but I was a bit frustrated that he let some of the more glaring nonsense pass-as an Arab and a Muslim-and I fully agree that the habit of filming in North Africa -with the according scenery ,costumes and accents-is VERY off putting -they did the same with Kingdom of Heaven and one spends half one's energy trying to ignore the incongruity .Imagine making a cowboy movie about Texas and filming it in Rhode Island...