30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Family Entertainment - Yes., February 22, 2007
I'm giving this trilogy 4 stars based on its viewability and enjoyability for the family to watch. However, being a fan of Mary O'Hara's books (I read these when I was about 7 or 8), I was very disappointed in the way the story line strays from the books. Perhaps I am being overly critical, if so, I apologize to those offended.
The scenery is beautiful. The cinematography is great. The story line in "Flicka" (disc 1) is a little closer to the book than the other two.
But what happened to the older brother? The competition between Ken and his brother Howard was very important. However, the story line stays relatively close, and the moral of the story is there. Ken learns a lesson about responsibility, but at the same time realizes the imprtance of believing in the decisions you have made.
In the seond dis, "Thunderhead", the panorama of the mountains and the cinematography are still great. Perhaps even better, and the story line doesn't wander too terribly far astray, but it does deviate. Again, the absence of the brother in this story completely ingnores the bortherly competition, and the maturing that goes with it. And disappointingly (and erroneously) the McLaughlin stallion Banner does not die. Hurts part of the story in the next book. Still, the maturing of Ken and the developing respect between father and son are quite evident.
In the third film "Green Grass", the original story line goes on vacation to far away places. Beaver Greeenway is an uncle, not a grandfather. The grandmother (who dominates Carey's life) is gone, and the brother is still missing. And what happened to Pete, the hobo Clydesdale? And where did all those trotters come from? They were supposed to be jumpers. All in all, a completely different story. Panoramic cinematography still great. Different actors still did a credible job.
After all of that, when I watched the movies, I still enjoyed them thoroughly just as I did as a youngster. If you are a real fan of the books, you may find yourself disappointed, so watch it for the sake of enjoyment, not as they relate to Mary O'Hara's novels.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My Friend Flicka, January 11, 2000
This is an all-time classic horse movie. Along with the others in the series which I am trying to get such as"Green Grass of Wyoming" and "Thunderbolt;Son of Flicka" but unfortunately not having much luck. They are all excellent movies not only do I expereince laughter but also a few tears to a not so emotional person. I think it is movies like this one that will never cease their popularity, it would just be nice if they were played more often then what they are. I am in my 20s and I love many of the new movies, but My Friend Flicka will always be a childhood fav.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Classic Flicka Trilogy, February 14, 2007
For those of you who only saw the new film last year (I bought it with this sight unseen because it looked interesting and it allowed me to get my favorite free shipping deal) here's your chance to see the Original stories of Flicka and her son Thunderhead. These 3 films which I am told are pretty faithful to Mary O'Hara's novels of the same titles (I have them too but never read them). The main difference between them and the 2006 remake is that is the central character is named "Ken (rather than Katy McLaughlin", well at least the kept the same name in the remake) and is played by a young Roddy McDowell in the first 2 films and Robert Arthur in the third. The reason he probably didn't do "Green Grass" is that the same year (1948) he was making the second big screen version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. The first film was released on VHS years ago, and both the first 2 had been previously released on DVD to celebrate their 60th anniversaries. Unfortunately those discs are out of print, albeit some Amazon sellers are still offering them separately or together. But the copies in this set are exactly the same discs, except for the pictures on the jackets and the labels on the discs. The text on the back of the boxes and list of chapter stops (on the lists and discs) are exactly the same as the previous releases. This is also the only way to get all 3 (if you don't count the old copies) as only the first film has been re-released as a separate item (it also marks the first appearance of "Green Grass" on video in any way, shape or form). By the way, it was also made into the a short lived tv series in 1956 which I doubt we will ever see again. If you like the books and movies of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and Walter Farley's Black Stallion and the 2006 remake interests (or interested you), get this set before they go out of print again.
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