Customer Reviews

The Black Stallion [VHS]

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Growing up, I was a genuine horse-freak, and considered myself a connoisseur of all-things-horse, especially movies. The Black Stallion has always been one of my favorites.

Of course, it doesn't hurt any movie to be executive-produced by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather I,II,III). But what really shines through in this film is the stunning cinematography and camera work, and the acting by Cass Ole ("The Black"), Kelly Reno (Alec) and of course, Mickey Rooney, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

This film really captures the mood and feeling of the first "Black Stallion" book. There is virtually no dialogue for a good portion of the film, and it is not missed. The on-screen relationship between Alec and The Black is one that could not be expressed in words under any circumstances.

When I first received this DVD, I put it in to watch it with my father on Christmas night a few years ago. During the island scenes between Alec and The Black, I stifled tears; the scenes - the photography is that stunning.

I was enthralled by this movie as a 13-year-old girl with a passion for horses, and I feel the same way as a 36-year-old.

Buy this DVD for your children, or buy this DVD for you, but buy this DVD. It will quickly become a favorite!

It is with great pleasure I can tell you that I have sat through nearly every horse movie ever made - and that "The Black Stallion" is still the best one I have ever seen.

Every aspect of the film is superlative; the casting, the acting, the adaptation to screenplay, the music, the sounds, the editing, the characterization and most especially, the cinematography. But the real genius of the film lies in director Carroll Ballard's exquisite ability to render his main character, namely the black stallion himself, on the screen.

Since I have experience with horses I am obviously very aware of how films use their equine actors. Errors are immediately apparent. This film does not have any. Every time a horse is onscreen, characterization in action and expression is perfect.

Credit, of course, goes to trainer Corky Randall, and also to the decision to cast Kelly Reno and Mickey Rooney, horsemen themselves, into the human roles.

Tremendous credit also goes out to the filmmakers for making the effort to secure animals who would fit the role so well - actual black arabian stallions. Most would not have gone to the trouble, preferring to work with geldings, or with any breed of horse with the necessary color and training to make the role. Just look to other notable horse films, like Black Beauty, The Horse Whisperer and SeaBiscuit, to see how the horse is changed to fit the film.

One of the best examples of the film's genius with the horses is the scene in which Alec and "The Black" first become friends. The film shows the stallion who played that portion of the scene retreating each time the boy walks toward him, then advancing each time he walks away. By degrees of advance and retreat is Alec finally able to get close to the horse.

Such behavior mimics a horse's natural response perfectly. But it is not simply how it was it was choreographed; it is how the horse plays the part. The animal does not tamely walk forward and backwards - he displays a spirit and impatience of a gorgeously trained animal being put through a difficult series of steps; obedient but with powerful character. On film, this highly charged personality mimics perfectly the anxiety and anger of a wild stallion trying to cope with coming close to a being he regards with suspicion.

Trivia for those interested; Cass-Ole, the stallion to whom lead credit was given, actually had 4 white socks and the star. In the close shots, you can see the white under the makeup. It was Cass Ole and Kelly Reno who did most actual scenes, such as galloping without bridle and saddle down the beach. Most films use doubles for such scenes.

Fae-Jur, the main double, was also a black stallion; it is rumored he was not even a true black, but a grey who had to be dyed extensively to play the role. He is said to have done many of the "wild" scenes, when no rider was required.

The film gets my highest recommendation for both adults and children. Some may be frustrated by the artistic slant of the story - it rolls past like a dream, especially the island sequences. Children who have read the book may be disappointed by any changes they perceive in the story. But the film is a a masterpiece of storytelling - for children or otherwise.

As one reviewer said, this movie tells only what's relevant to the story, and oh what a story it is. I knew this movie could be truly great when Alec's father gave him a stallion figurine and a story. Looking back its easy to forget the importance of that moment. Before his death, Alecs dad provided the story that would analogize the entire movie. To ride the horse became Alecs drive, then when realized it became his gift, and finally it became our inspiration. The secret of the movie lies in everything unspoken, we don't need to be reminded, and assured of the great bond between boy and horse, we can see it, and then we can internalize it. The final scenes, the match race could have easily been distanced from the story line, after all the story was up to then not that Black was faster than other horses, but that the bond was strong between him and Alec. And so in the final turn, as the Black broke from the other two, we were taken back in time, on a beach with a boy and a stallion who simply rode. While the spectators were amazed at this horse, the viewer knew the story, we knew the bond between the two, and this is the greatness of the movie. As far as I'm concerned the give-and-take scene, as Alex and Black finally make there immortal bond, is one of the most beautiful, touching, innocent, and just plain entertaining moments ever filmed. A case could be made for the sucessful ride scene as well. Reno's performance was perfect, I don't know if I could ever "feel" an actor as well as he, as opposed to simply watch an actor. His body language and expressions were as powerfull as any dialogue. Rooney was very good, seamless in his role, but he was far less central to the movie than Alec himself. Movies are inherantly powerfull in showing, not telling. The imagery, the facial and body language, and the score of The Black Stallion take movie making to the highest level, of its most powerful level. Its one of my favorite movies, and surely one of the greatest movies the critics have largely ignored.

This is by far one of the greatest horse movies ever made! It starts off when a boy named Alec (played by Kelly Reno) sees a gorgeous black stallion boarding the ship he is traveling on. The boat then sinks, stranding him and the stallion on an island. There is a 45-minute sequence where the boy and the horse are existing on the island together, getting to know each other and form a bond. Eventually they get rescued and Alec takes the black stallion home with him. He befriends a horse trainer played amazingly well by Mickey Rooney. They begin training the black stallion to race and eventually it ends in a climactic racing scene (as all horse racing movies do!).

The cinematography is just amazing in this movie.. the scenes on the island are especially beautiful. One of my favorites is where Alec finally rides the Black and they race down the beach...its beautiful. The racing scene was extremely well done also - even though I've seen it a million times, my heart still pounds and I find myself cheering out loud for the Black. The acting is wonderful, the filming is wonderful, the story is wonderful... I can't think of anything I DON'T like about this movie!!

Beautiful photography and a nice story make this an attractive movie for everyone. It isn's just a "kids' story." It's a safe film for kids of all ages and a good adventure tale. It also was nice to see Mickey Rooney again and young Kelly Reno was a likeable kid.

Now the bad news..... Unfortunately, the DVD didn't do the colors justice, nor was it a sharp transfer. In all, very disappointing in that regard. The audio also is disappointing. You have make adjustments with the center speaker to make it sound balanced.

It's a nice film but a horrible job on the disc, so beware.

I have been completely enchanted with The Black Stallion since first seeing this movie in the theater at the age of 7 and then having the opportunity to meet Cass Ole in Washington, D.C. shortly thereafter. I remember being the first in line to have my picture taken with that horse!

I have never seen a movie more beautifully filmed. From start to finish you will be riveted during the trauma of the sinking freighter, the desert island scene (about 45 minutes with no speaking - you will be amazed at well they pull this off!), The Black's homecoming to New York and the final race.

I still watch this movie on occassion and my heart beats harder each time as Alec and The Black are rescued from the island and during the race. Still, my favorite scene is during the final credits where we return to the island and see Alec and The Black playing together and rolling in the sand on the beach as the most beautifully reminiscent music plays.

This is the stuff dreams are made of - I have always wanted to be Kelly Reno on that island!

This film would indeed by considered "slow" by contemporary viewers, and so much the worse for them. I saw it for the first time only a few weeks ago, knowing that Pauline Kael loved it, and hoping that my son would find it sufficiently engaging to give me a break from the Wiggles. I've seen it 5 times since then, and its beauty still startles me. There is no pandering in this film, either to parents or to children. There are no references to popular culture. Kelly Reno is a quiet, thoughtful boy who is never asked to play to the camera, and never does. No mood or action is unnecessarily underlined. The huge, spirited but dangerous stallion is never humanized or reduced to a toy; he remains a horse, and beautiful for that reason.

The interaction between the boy and the horse is superior to any I've seen on film. The animal wranglers belong in whatever hall of fame they have for that profession, and so do the director and cinematographer, for their brilliant framing of that interaction.

I was a huge fan of the Black Stallion series, and when the movie was first released in theatres, I begged, pleaded and nagged my mom into taking me to the only one in the DC area that was showing it. While viewing the beautiful island scenes on a TV will never have the impact they had that first time on the big screen, this is still a favorite movie of mine. The changes they made from the book were fairly minor. But all the magic is there...and the Black! Cass Ole was stunning as the Black, far superior to the horse they later used for the series on TV. While he may not be as large as I might have imagined, he was gorgeous and wonderful to watch, I could easily believe this was a wild horse straight out of the desert.

Mickey Rooney is of course perfect as Henry, and the match race was well done, very true to the original story. Overall, a wonderful, wonderful movie which you can watch time and again and enjoy no matter what age you are.

"The Black Stallion" is one of those films that you will stop and watch when you are flipping through channels. Of course this time around I was struck by the scene where young Alec (Kelly Reno) asks old Henry Dailey (Mickey Rooney) if there are any jockeys good enough to ride the Black (Cass-Ole), and he tells the boy about George Woolf, "The Ice Man." I am sure everybody who has seen "Seabiscuit," a strong possibility since we are talking about another great movie about a horse, made the same connection and looked at the match race that the Mystery Horse is added to at the end of this 1979 film in a different light. I was also struck by the irony that Mickey Rooney, who was always the perfect size for a jockey, is in two of the greatest horse movies of all time (the other being "National Velvet" if for some reason you need to be told that bit of cinematic history), and in both he watches some kids ride to glory. Rooney was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for this role and no doubt his performance jogged the memory of the Academy enough that three years later he was given his honorary Oscar for his lifetime achievement in films.

Alce is traveling on a ship with his father (Hoyt Axton) and the wide-eyed boy tacks in the exotic passengers, the high-stakes poker game his father spends all his time playing, and, most of all, the wild and beautiful black horse in the cargo hold. The boy has been sneaking the horse sugar cubes and when the ship is sunk by a storm, the horse rescues Alex and the two end up on lonely beach. There Alex, with all the time in the world, tames the horse and rides him up and down the shore, his arms flung wild in the joy of racing throw the sand and water. When the boy and his black stallion are rescued, they return home, and Alec meet Henry, a former trainer, who soon realizes what the boy already knows. This horse is something special and so is this movie.

Most every one agrees that this is a beautiful film, and a lot of the credit goes to director Carroll Ballard (who also made "Fly Away Home") and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (who, surprisingly, was not nominated for an Oscar for his work here but has been since then for "The Right Stuff," "The Natural," "Fly Away Home," and "The Patriot"). But I have to wonder how much of the credit also goes to Melissa Mathison & Jeanne Rosenberg and William D. Wittliff (I love how they do writing credits in films) who adapted Walter Farley's novel. Maybe they are not the ones who stripped a lot of the dialogue away, but whoever did contributed to the powerful effect this film has on viewers because there are so many key scenes where you do not have to listen to words and can just let your eyes feast on the images. The boy racing his horse along the shore, watching the starting point on the race track at night in the rain why waiting for the Black to complete a lap, and, of course, the big match race at the end, where thundering down the home stretch the boy, the horse, and the viewer are literally transported back to the beach where they became one.

My pet theory remains, that most people truly fall in love with one horse in their lifetime. For some it is a horse they actually own and get to ride, and for others it is a real racing horse. For me it has always been Secretariat, a love born watching Big Red blow away the field on the back stretch in winning the final leg of the Triple Crown. But for others that horse can appear on the silver screen and whether we are talking the Black Stallion or the Pie from "National Velvet," or even the latest entry in the field, Seabiscuit, there remains for each of us that one special horse.

Growing up, I was a genuine horse-freak, and considered myself a connoisseur of all-things-horse, especially movies. The Black Stallion has always been one of my favorites.

Of course, it doesn't hurt any movie to be executive-produced by Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather I,II,III). But what really shines through in this film is the stunning cinematography and camera work, and the acting by Cass Ole ("The Black"), Kelly Reno (Alec) and of course, Mickey Rooney, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

This film really captures the mood and feeling of the first "Black Stallion" book. There is virtually no dialogue for a good portion of the film, and it is not missed. The on-screen relationship between Alec and The Black is one that could not be expressed in words under any circumstances.

When I first received this DVD, I put it in to watch it with my father on Christmas night a few years ago. During the island scenes between Alec and The Black, I stifled tears; the scenes - the photography is that stunning.

I was enthralled by this movie as a 13-year-old girl with a passion for horses, and I feel the same way as a 36-year-old.

Buy this DVD for your children, or buy this DVD for you, but buy this DVD. It will quickly become a favorite!