Cubussoli
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
ThrillMessage
There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.
MartinHafer
This film purports to be the adventures of a man named Frank Hopkins, a mixed race cowboy who lived during the late 19th century through much of the 20th century. From what I am able to gather, Mr. Hopkins claimed to have done many things...though many of them either cannot be verified or have clearly been disproven. Sadly for this film, according to the IMDB trivia and other information I've read, the central core of the movie, the great race in the Middle East NEVER OCCURRED! So, if you are looking for a history lesson, skip this one. On the other hand, true or not (and I would venture to say NOT), the story is a wonderful and sweeping adventure...the sort of old fashioned story you rarely see today. The story begins just before the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. Following his witnessing the aftermath of this horrible event, Frank Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) is horribly disturbed and suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For some time, his life is directionless and he drinks heavily...until fate brings him a challenge. His skills on the horse are almost legendary and an emissary from Arabia has arrived in the States to get him to participate in an insanely dangerous race across the Arabian Desert. Hopking goes and the vast majority of the film follows him during this race. It's surprisingly engaging and interesting...something I had a hard time believing! Overall, very well done...I just wish it was true...like the movie SEEMS to indicate!By the way, in the final scene you learn that the wild mustangs are allowed to live and they live happily ever after. This is true to many horse lovers and folks with tender hearts. However, according to SOME environmentalists, these non-native horses have destroyed the ecosystem out west. So, one person's blessing is another's plague!
DeuceWild_77
Directed by Joe Johnston, the man behind the excellent & severely underrated "The Rocketeer" ('91) which was also a period piece, "Hidalgo" is a biographical adventure film loosely based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins and his mustang, Hidalgo that competed on a long distance Middle Eastern race called itself "Ocean of Fire", against the best pure- blooded Arabian horses. The real life Hopkins and his alleged exploits were most likely fictional / tall stories told by a 'fabulator' man that once was a professional horseman performing with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Even if it wasn't all true, the Hopkins & Hidalgo's daring adventure across the scorching desert of Arabia was the perfect scenario for an adventure / drama film shot on location, with a sense of the classic swashbuckling style, long gone from the Entertainment Industry of nowadays. It looks & feels something like a lighthearted / toned-down version of such classics as "Lawrence of Arabia" meets "Dances with Wolves" with an Indiana Jones urge to it, some of the funny gags & action sequences are even based (or more like a tribute) to the world's most famous archaeologist. Smartly, the director Johnston keeps the CGI effects to a minimum, only when was strictly necessary (like the sandstorm who reminds a lot the less-inspired Stephen Sommers' blockbuster, "The Mummy") which enhanced the old school filmmaking factor. "Hidalgo" is an entertaining, upbeat & reckless ride that moves at nicely pace, competent photographed by Shelly Johnson with great sets & costume design and great performances all around from Viggo, still in the heroic & manly, but sensitive role of an Aragorn type of character to the legendary & sorely missed, Omar Sharif in a gracious & witty role as the Sheikh Riyadh. Malcolm McDowell, C. Thomas Howell & J.K. Simmons also provided interesting cameos, but above them all, T.J. as the beautiful mustang Hidalgo, deserves the highest praise.
rpvanderlinden
In the old west, Frank Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen), a half-breed American, is dispatched with a message to the military brass that orders the massacre of a tribe of native Americans at Wounded Knee, if necessary. It becomes apparently necessary. Hopkins takes to drink and joins Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show which dramatizes, with flash and fury, and guns a-blazing, the triumph of the noble white man over the pernicious savage. Strange to think how this idea was perpetuated by popular culture (the movies) until the 1950's and beyond. Anyway, fate intervenes - an Arab Sheikh (Omar Sharif) has taken an interest in long-distance horseman Hopkins and his wild mustang, Hidalgo, and soon the two are crossing "the great water" to compete in a prestigious horse race across the Arabian desert, against a different breed of horse – and horseman – altogether.In "Hidalgo" breeding is everything. In Arabia Hopkins encounters a world in which the privileged few – princes and sheikhs – hold sway over the multitudes, and lesser races are relegated to slavery (Hopkins was born in 1865, during the demise of American slavery). Hopkins and his mustang are sneered at by the breeders of generations of Arabian thoroughbreds, and the valiant riders of these princely animals are not above cheating and engaging in other forms of deadly chicanery in order to win the race. Mortensen plays Hopkins as a particular breed of man – one with honour, integrity, self-reliance and the ability to take care of himself – and this "infidel" eventually endears himself to Sheikh Riyadh who holds similar ideals (a little hokey, I admit, because this type of laconic American hero, the likes of Gary Cooper, has been so prevalent in American movies).I liked the "breeding" angle, which carries well throughout the movie, and I liked Viggo Mortensen's performance. Most of all, I liked the horse, Hidalgo, who pretty much steals the show. I found the race sequences to be a bit sketchy, and I had trouble believing that the participants actually covered the great distance we're told they did. It's an amiable adventure movie with stock action scenes, though not always that rousing. Writer John Fusco is purportedly a great fan of Hopkins whose claim to have participated in the Arabian horse race is held in question, according to my minimal research. But it's a good tall tale.
marcshank-388-582372
How strange the infidels give this classic a rating below, oh, 8. A fabulous movie, full of adventure and honor. Thanks, Joe and Vergo. IT would be easy to call this the American against the Muslims. And you may be right. But there is something about this movie that speaks to the American spirit. Something about the old west, too. Every scene is significant. Every scent an adventure. How could you not love it and how could the droids give it a numerical rating like that. There are only movies and anyone who doesn't recognize the great ones should stick with "Saw." The only movie besides "Little Big Man" that salutes the American Indian. The only movie that gives credit to our true heritage.
