War Horse

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

That was a very lovely sweeping epic. Gorgeous cinematography and nice performances from Thewlis, Emily Watson Cumberbatch (awesome, wish there was more of his character) and others I dont know the name of. But the star of the show was of course...the goose! I could watch a whole movie about the adventures of that bloody goose. I swear its the same goose as the one in Babe. Alright, Joey the war horse was indeed the real star, his journey was epic, sad and adventurous. His friendship with the majestic Major's horse was sweet. Spielbergs direction was technically brilliant and as usual manipulative when he is doing this type of film. This feels more like Empire of the Sun than his other war themed movies and I mean that in good way because I absolutely love Empire of the Sun. I do tire of his use of John Williams strings to manipulate our emotions though. I am not knocking Williams, he is one of my all time favourites but sometimes Williams is lazy...well he is 80 so I shouldn't be too harsh! Shame on me picking on the old man like that.

Another small gripe I have is that it sure packs in a lot of coincidental plot devices. I know it can be a small world, I've had my fair share of them. I once met up with the owner of my first car in a Subway takeaway, I know that's not a big deal but this Subway was in Barcelona. We knew each other briefly as he is the brother of my work colleague, that's how I got to b*y the car from him. So after our initial moments of staring at each other in surprise, he asked me how the car was, I told him that piece of junk got a mind of its own and is trying to control me, to which he responded what did I expect for £500 and we both laughed and went our own ways munching on our baguettes. It also happened to a friend of mine, who bumped into our other friend's ex-Jamaican girlfriend in Thailand! He came back and told our mate, and consequently got back with her. That was weird. Um...anyway, bizarre coincidences can occur is the point I am trying to make through my usually spectacular derailment. So i guess I can give War Horse the benefit of the doubt and imagine God is at play here.



8.5/10

[stuartboy]

Couldn't resist seeing War Horse again tonight. Second time in 2 days. Every bit as good this time. Definitely epic and a beautifully shot film. Spectacular.

[raj101]

Rather overblown, lacking brain power but heavy on the emotion.

If you go in with your brain switched off then you should enjoy it*. Or if you have no brain like me, its a win-win situation.



* but keep your 'medulla' part of the brain switched on, since that generates your emotional responses. Ha!

[superhero]

Blasphemy! Are you saying Spielberg has made a brainless film based on a brainless book? hahaha

[lisapip]

hopefully will get to see it on the big screen!

[RA1]

The film was good, but not great. Spielberg creates a realistic "battlefield" (as he did for Saving Private Ryan) but the realism was hindered by the fact that all foreigners spoke English, albeit with a strange accent. I thought that, following the success of Dances With Wolves, Americans were now able to accept subtitles ~ but perhaps not. The characterisations were in danger of slipping into caricature ~ and the film progressed at far too slow a pace ~ the first hour really seemed to take an age without moving the story along ~ a thirty minute reduction in film length would have been good. Having expected a "Three Hankie" movie, and being someone who wells up when watching Casablanca or ET, I was surprised that only once, right near the end, did I get a lump in my throat. Overall it was a very good film. There were some excellent individual performances with Benedict Cumberbatch the pick of the bunch. The film was often visually stunning, but somehow didn’t grab the heartstrings, which was a surprise given the emotive subject and the brilliant director. I would not expect a Best Film nomination for this one ~ but do go see it ~ it was good, just not as good as I had hoped.

[Kaybeelon]

Blasphemy! Are you saying Spielberg has made a brainless film based on a brainless book? hahaha

The book is not brainless!

[the fox]

So tried to see this on Leicester on Sunday but screening was already full, managed to see Sherlock Holmes for free instead. 2nd time lucky managed to get tickets for the screening in Derby yesterday. What a brilliant film thoroughly enjoyed it. 

[Celini]

* but keep your 'medulla' part of the brain switched on, since that generates your emotional responses. Ha!

I am concerned now, I think my medulla may be rather damaged... not a single tear not even a "awwwwwwwww sweeeeeet"

[superhero]

Kate Middleton cried when she watched it, good to know she has a functioning medulla