War Horse
War Horse is a 2011 American war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and is intended for release in the United States on 25 December 2011 and in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2012. It is based on both War Horse, a children's novel set during World War I, by British author Michael Morpurgo, first published in the United Kingdom in 1982, and the 2007 stage adaptation of the same name. The cast includes David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Tom Hiddleston and Peter Mullan. The film is produced by Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, and executive produced by Frank Marshall and Revel Guest. Long term Spielberg collaborators Janusz Kamiński, Michael Kahn and John Williams have all worked on the film. In Devon at the outbreak of World War I, Joey, young Albert Narracott's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He serves in the British and German armies, which takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before being alone in No Man's Land. But Albert cannot forget Joey, and, still not old enough to enlist in the army, he embarks on a dangerous mission to find and bring Joey home. Michael Morpurgo wrote the 1982
Release Date: December 25, 2011
Runtime: 2 hr 26 min
Genre: Drama , Historical drama , War
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Revel Guest
Cast: David Thewlis, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, Peter Mullan, Geoff Bell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Toby Kebbell, Patrick Kennedy, David Kross, Rainer Bock, Robert Emms, Jeremy Irvine, Celine Buckens, Leonard Carow, Matt Milne
(less)Ok for ages 13+ . What would you rate it?
Rated PG-13 Intense Seq. of War Violence
- Sex & Nudity
- Violence & Gore
- Profanity
Content details via Kids-In-Mind
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Reviews
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This is a great movie. It underscores the virtues of hard work and fulfilling commitments, and also shows the grim darkness of war. We watched it with middle-aged and young adults. The middle-agers enjoyed it, the younger set thought that the pacing was too slow.
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This movie was designed to play on your emotions. It was so sappy that my wife and I found ourselves laughing where I'm sure they wanted us to cry. It was way too long and tremendously falsely sentimental. we gave it a 1.5 out of 4 simply because you could take your family to see it without sex, blood and vularity.
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Much more a story of the horrors of war, and those effected by it, than a horse story. Very real battle seens.
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War Horse looks and sounds great. And the story is fine. The horse (Joey) is the star of the movie, and it is impressive to see the many tricks he had to pull for the film.
There is a good amount of war violence of course, and the movie length was a bit too much, but it is a good old-fashion movie. -
Don't believe the hipe. This movie sucked so bad! It is not a WWI movie at all. Its a story of a house. Unless you're a girl you will not like this movie. I cannot stress enough how bad this movie is. Stay as far away as possible
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The horse(s) are amazing in this film. Their acting and what they do on the big screen is worth watching. There are some very powerful scenes and moments in this movie. It is worth watching. The epic'ness is not quite sustainable through out the entire film, but still worth watching.
June 22nd, 2012 Details -
The cinematography in this film is a mixed bag. In several scenes the entire background is replaced using digital wizardry. The replacement, while done well, is still very dicernable. Other parts of the film are stunning. The most outstanding example being a scene in which the horse takes off into No-mans land. The effects and timing of the scene are superb. I've never seen anything like it.
The messages of the film are heart-rending. Bottom line: War is a terrible thing and the strong and lucky are those that survive them. I really liked how they used the father's war flag as a device for connecting the various people and stories of the film.
The film is a work of art and worth your time. The PG-13 rating is deserved. Much violence, death and perilous situations. But nothing so graphic that you couldn't watch with your family and children above the age of 12.June 30th, 2012 Details -
This film is beautiful to look at, and an excellent film in many ways, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I will warn you that the story really wanders around. It is a film about WWI as told through the character of a horse. The film goes wherever the horse goes. Because it is a horse, I did not feel as compelled as I might have had the main character been a human, but it was still a very very well made film. There were some scenes in no man’s land (that place full of barbed wire in between trenches) toward the end of the film that were really amazing. It is really hard to describe this film in such a way that does it justice. You really do not see it for the story. You see it for the sheer cinematic excellence on display from a master film maker.
July 10th, 2012 Details -
Epic film, great story line. Took the whole family
March 13th, 2012 Details -
This is not a movie to watch casually. That said, it is definitely a movie to watch, and emotionally invest in it, the payoff is incredible. Although the beginning lagged a bit (there could have easily been a good 15 minutes taken off of the running time), once the battle scenes picked up I became enthralled.
Steven Spielberg hits home once again with this film, and John William’s soundtrack is completely outstanding. And there is a slew of recognizable actors from David Thewlis (Remus Lupin in Harry Potter) to Eddie Marsan (Inspector Lestrade in Sherlock Holmes).
Overall this movie was immensely satisfying, and moving in a couple parts.
Four solid stars (out of 5).April 21st, 2012 Details -
Best movie ever!
December 31st, 2011 Details -
This was a great movie. I enjoyed it a lot. I would recommend this movie to young adults and older individuals. It was somewhat graphic but you expect that with a war movie. I would be comfortable watching with my mom sitting next to me.
April 23rd, 2012 Details -
This is a pretty good show considering the plot. I thought it would be slow and boring but ultimately it is relatively engaging and fascinating.
A horse touched so many lives in so many different ways. Not even war could stand in the way of the horse affecting people for the positive.August 7th, 2012 Details -
I've tried watching this one a couple of times, but honestly it's long and gets slow in places. I think it's a decently produced film, but it wouldn't be my first choice. There are also a ton of movies out there that are much worse. So see this one before those. Not my strongest recommendation, but being directed by Steven Spielberg should count for something.
April 5th, 2013 Details -
Amazing story!
July 29th, 2012 Details -
Cinematic experience oozing with ambience accompanied by large orchestrational movements. The meat of the story is disappointing though, touching on several compelling storylines but never following them through - ultimately leaves a sour taste. My 15 year old daughter and her friend saw this with me and both left the movie sad, depressed, and upset - stating that the movie felt like an utter let down.
July 24th, 2012 Details -
Great movie but as the ratings say it is a bit gory.
August 2nd, 2012 Details -
While I do enjoy movies from many genres, the movies I enjoy the most are ones that stir my best emotions most deeply. This is one of those movies. And although it was a little long, this movie makes it into my list of favorites. Not to the top, but still on the list.
November 29th, 2012 Details -
I have a hard time with this one. It was very well made, well written, well directed and the acting was good enough, but it had a look that didn't match its feel. It looked like it was made for adults, and it was dark and complex enough to make me think I was right, but the feel was more like an after school special, almost targeting 7-12 year olds, especially the way the horses acted with each other (think space buddies, where the dogs act like people). The first 2/3rds of this was a pretty decent movie, but then when they added that second horse, things got too cartoonish... Too childish for adults and way too complex and intense for children. They seemed to miss any target they were aiming for.
December 31st, 2012 Details