The Black Stallion Reviews

Ever since I have heard about this movie, I became really intrigued about it. Indeed, somehow, Roger Ebert chose it as the best movie released in 1980, above 'Raging Bull' no less than that. However, at the end of the decade, it seems that Ebert came back to his senses and picked up 'Raging Bull' as best movie of the 80's and there was no sign of 'The Black Stallion' anywhere. Even so, I still wanted to check the damned thing. Basically, it is a decent family feature but not much more than that, I'm afraid. Indeed, it starts like 'The Blue Lagoon' and it becomes 'Seabiscuit' at some point. I mean, there is no denying that the first 30 minutes, without any dialogs, when you have just this boy and this horse alone on this island (Ebert's favorite part of this movie), you had some rather impressive scenes visually speaking and the tone was also very nice as well. The rest with the horse training and racing was also fairly decent but, all in all, I didn't care much about the whole story. To conclude, even though I don't really share Roger Ebert's enthusiasm about this flick, it is still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look.

Beautifully photographed and directed. It's about a Boy(Kelly Reno)Alec who is traveling in a ship with his father. There's a storm and they are shipwrecked. The next morning, the boy wakes up on an island. What follows is Alec trying to befriend the Black, and one of the most beautiful cinematographies ever.This scene is a delight to watch. The scariest part of it was when a cobra comes in front of the boy. The stallion saves the boy's life when he tramples on the cobra. He is then rescued by fishermen but he refuses to leave the island without the horse. Once the horse and the boy are home, there is trouble. A back yard is no place to keep a horse especialy a wild one like the Black. The horse runs away and ends up on a farm owned by a former jockey(Mickey Rooney). He then proceeds to train the boy and the horse for a race. The race scene at the end is by far the best horse race ever filmed.

I am ever so thankful I saw this movie as a child instead of an adult. Had I seen it at 30 instead of at 10, it would never have invaded my childhood daydreams the way it did. However, seeing it as an adult made me want to glorify the movie all the more. If you're above 20, then see it for the location shoots, music, cinematography, natural acting, minimal dialogue and the intensity of The Black. Kids, just saddle up and enjoy the ride!