Hidalgo
2004
A breathtakingly photographed, epic western like none produced for decades, HIDALGO recounts the life of legend Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen). Set in the 1800s, this family film chronicles the triumphant victory won by Frank and his mustang Hidalgo in the Ocean of Fire, an often-fatal competition in which the best riders .. Read more
| Starring | Viggo Mortensen, Zuleikha Robinson, Omar Sharif, Louise Lombard |
|---|---|
| Director | Joe Johnston |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
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Hidalgo
A breathtakingly photographed, epic western like none produced for decades, HIDALGO recounts the life of legend Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen). Set in the 1800s, this family film chronicles the triumphant victory won by Frank and his mustang Hidalgo in the Ocean of Fire, an often-fatal competition in which the best riders and thoroughbreds race across Middle Eastern deserts. For Frank, who is known in the west for his prowess as a Pony Express rider and the winner of long-distance horse races, the lure of the Ocean of Fire is not only the $100,000 purse but also the clear challenge--both of which prove irresistible, and inspire him to travel across the world for this life-altering experience.
With sweeping landscapes that evoke John Ford westerns like STAGECOACH and THE SEARCHERS, HIDALGO features enough racing, rivalry, and romance to befit any action film. But the race also provides a vehicle for the story of Frank forgiving himself for his participation in the Wounded Knee slaughter and accepting his part-Indian ancestry. The film's message, highlighted in a particularly moving scene where Frank invokes the spirits of his Native American ancestors, is that the key to happiness is accepting yourself as you are.
| Starring | Viggo Mortensen, Zuleikha Robinson, Omar Sharif, Louise Lombard |
|---|---|
| Director | Joe Johnston |
| Studio | WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 11 mins Blu-ray: 2 hrs 11 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
| Language | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Released | DVD: 30 Aug 2004 Blu-ray: not available Production year: 2004 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (4)
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This sprawling “underdog” epic has Viggo Mortensen, in his first post-Lord of the Rings role, playing real-life cowboy Frank T Hopkins, a specialist in endurance horse races. Hopkins and mustang Hidalgo are challenged to compete in the Ocean of Fire, a 3,000-mile race across the Arabian Desert. Man and mustang are soon up to their necks in dune and gloom, facing sandstorms, dastardly rivals, attractive femmes fatales and Omar Sharif's inevitably noble Sheikh Riyadh. This “Viggo of Arabia” adventure plays like an unholy hybrid of Seabiscuit and Indiana Jones. It's big and it's clumsy, but quite watchable, even if the central so-called race turns out to be more of an endless plod than an edge-of-seat sprint. Aragorn fans, though, will no doubt lap up Viggo's every furlong.
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Based on a true story, an old fashioned Boy's Own adventure with antiquated attitudes and stereotypes in keeping with its style Ð except that in the past it would have been cut to a more pleasing ninety minutes.
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Most helpful member's review
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42 out of 54 people found this review helpful
Hidalgo
The first thing that struck me was the blatant copy of Indiana Jones, not any movie in particular but just the style, script and action that we can see in all the Jones movies. The basic plot is Hopkins (Mortensen) is a hard bitten cross country horse rider who is up for any adventure and his faithful horse-Hidalgo-is the ?best horse in the world?. He accepts a challenge to race in the ?Ocean of Fire? in Africa. Yet nothing goes to plan and it ends up a rescue mission to save the Sheik?s (Omar Sharif) daughter. Mortensen is enjoyable to watch on screen yet for me was not the main drive of the movie. Sharif is, of course, outstanding and steals everyone?s thunder when he is on screen. Apart from these two renowned actors, everything else remains fairly wooden and boring. For hardened Indiana Jones fans, this movie may be extremely cringing it places and just bad in others, yet if you want a decent yarn with some good action set pieces then rent this movie. Overall, I?d give it 8 out of 10, yet this is only a guide and this movie may not be to everyone?s taste and movie buffs may find it hard to watch.
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Thoughful and leaves you wanting more
Hidalgo has a lot of good things about it and a few things lacking. The action pieces - the races, the fights etc - were very well done and filmed, the scenery was gorgeous, and the basic idea of the plot a good one, but I did feel that we weren't allowed into the hero's psyche much, and this was a bit frustrating. It is easy to imagine he is running away from guilt, and throwing himself into other pursuits such as the circus, the races, but this is never fully explained or any indication given as to his background or what really drives him. Maybe this is a good thing, as it leaves a lot to our imaginations, instead of having everything spelt out for us. But I found it hard to really warm to him in the end, I felt much more for the poor horse who races through the extreme conditions.
Best scene for sheer emotion is the bit near the end of the race where both of them are close to despair. Beautiful colouring and filmography here.
The idea that a mere mustang could do so well against all the specially-bred Arabs annoyed me a bit as well, but as a bit of a fan of Lassie et al, it didn't annoy me all THAT much!
All in all however, I enjoyed it, the 136 (or so) minutes didn't drag, and it is highly recommended for all ages (barely any swearing, no naughty stuff, perfect!). Rollicking good adventure. -
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- Hidalgo - BLU-RAY Version
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A breathtakingly photographed, epic western like none produced for decades, HIDALGO recounts the life of legend Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen). Set in the 1800s, this family film chronicles the ... -
