Customer Reviews

Black Beauty [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There have been several versions of Black Beauty produced for the cinema and for television. One of the weakest versions is the 1971 British production, which focuses much more on its parade of human characters than it does the horse. In the book and several of the movie versions, we get to know Beauty. We feel what he feels, and we understand what he is thinking as he passes from owner to owner. Beauty goes from a loving, happy family and life on an English farm with a little boy (Mark Lester) who loves him, to the cruel hands of the local land baron (Patrick Mower). Then he's stolen by Gypsy stereotypes, shipped across the continent, sold to a circus, and gifted to a gentleman who in turn gives the horse to his daughter. The daughter presents Beauty to her lover, who's a soldier headed for India. When the young man is killed in battle, Beauty is shipped back to England, where he goes to work in a coal mine. Instead of the people in the story being the thread woven through the horse's life, in this version it is just the opposite. While a horse called Ginger is mentioned in passing, the colorful equine characters in Beauty's orbit - most notably, Merrylegs - are all excised.

Adding insult to injury, the filmmakers made precious little attempt to match the various horses who portrayed Beauty throughout the years. Different shades, different builds, and even completely different breeds were used interchangeably. To a horse-lover, this is on par with a director casting Jack Nicholson, Jackie Chan, and Jacqueline Bisset in the same role and expecting the audience not to notice. The only constant was the extremely shoddy-looking fake star painted on the horse's forehead.


Staci Layne Wilson

As a young girl, I was truly struck by this film; the music, the texture of the lighting, and the tall, dark, and handsome leading man leant it an uncannily romantic feel. However, when I tried shared the movie with the little girls I babysit for, the sophisticated narrative and general lack of explosions bored them to distraction. This particular telling of BLACK BEAUTY no longer serves its function as a children's story, but is nonetheless compelling for adults.

After hearing so much about Black Beauty, and studying horses with my 5yr old we got this movie at the library. I was sad that I had not previewed it before letting her view it. I was surprised to see the fighting with the men stabbed in the chest. After talking with some friends I have found out there are other versions of Black Beauty that are wonderful and good for children to see.

This is, quite simply, the best film version of Anna Sewell's classic novel about the adventures and misadventures of a beautiful horse when he gets seperated from his original owner. Mark Lester(of OLIVER! fame) stars as the young boy who searches desperately for his beloved horse. A gentel, international retelling of the timeless story, and fairly faithful to its source, this version can hold its own against the later, much praised 1994 filmization.

It is a fair movie with nice horses, but some of the scenes get kind of weird and it isn't at ALL like the book. The photography is good and the story is heartwarming but it gets very dull and strange. BTW, It was a great movie I thought!!!!!!!!!!!!!, June 30, 2002--is a verry long review somebody should take it off its as bad as the miovie.

About all that survives of Anna Sewell's original Black Beauty (Unabridged Classics) in this third film adaptation is its Victorian-England setting, the name of the equine hero, and that of his mother Duchess. Beauty is foaled on the Evans farm with Joe (Mark Lester), the farmer's young son, standing by, and is given to Joe to be his own; as the young stallion grows, it's Joe who takes the primary role in training him. But Evans is an independent farmer, not a tenant, and when he gets in trouble with the bank, there's no one to insure that he keeps his land or his stock; Beauty is sold for the debt along with everyone else. Joe swears to get him back one day, but the road to that goal is hard. Beauty falls into the hands of a young wastrel who is killed in a fall from his dogcart, is stolen by an Irish tinker who rides him in a stake race, then abandoned, picked up by horse traders, and taken to the Continent to be sold to a small circus. From there he goes on to become a cavalry horse in India (not very likely: Rudyard Kipling tells us that most of the horses in that service came from Australia) and a coal-merchant's drudge. Despite his changes in fortune, there's very little sense of engagement--I didn't feel a lot of sympathy for his situation--and nothing of the horsy friendships Sewell gives him (no Ginger or Merrylegs, for example). Even the owners who don't treat him right seem less malicious than merely uncaring. The sense of place is good--costumes and props do give an authentic picture of Victorian England--but if you want a film adaptation of the novel, you'll be much better off with the one that was made 23 years later Black Beauty. This one I can't recommend.

This version of Black Beauty is nothing like the book. It is terribly boring, the situations are unbelievable, and none of the characters are sympathetic. For most of the movie, I just kept hoping it would end. Try a different version.

As a young girl, I was truly struck by this film; the music, the texture of the lighting, and the tall, dark, and handsome leading man leant it an uncannily romantic feel. However, when I tried shared the movie with the little girls I babysit for, the sophisticated narrative and general lack of explosions bored them to distraction. This particular telling of BLACK BEAUTY no longer serves its function as a children's story, but is nonetheless compelling for adults.

I was really disappointed with this movie. I love horses and was really excited to watch it, because it was rated G and therefore, I thought, less scary than the book, which I love. Well, I was watching it with my little sis, age 6, an she 1)couldn't understand the dialogue- I couldn't!-you need to be good with British accents- and 2) didn't understand what was happening. She went to bed and I watched the rest, telling her I would re-watch the rest with her in the morning. I'm glad I saw it first! They show dead horses, and there is upsetting animal abuse in it. Beauty goes to war, where a bunch of guys get stabbed-what the heck- and they throw in a slobbery romance. They did not focus on the horse at all, it was not very well made, and the only reason I give it two stars is because the horse was pretty, and the little boy and his horse theme in the beginning was cute.Should be rated PG-12, if that existed.

The story of Black Beauty has been told many times, but none as well as this version. The photography is outstandingly beautiful from start to finish. The filming was done in Ireland and Spain, both providing beautiful backdrops. The musical score is superb, composed by Lionel Bart, who wrote the music for Oliver!. The acting is very well done by a cast of mostly unknown actors, with the exceptions of Mark Lester as Joe Evans, Black Beauty's original owner, and Walter Slezak, owner of the circus where Black Beauty resides for awhile. This is the sort of film that makes the viewer want to start it again as soon as it finishes. This film is completely suitable for family viewing, for people of all ages. I highly recommend it.