War Horse

Name: War Horse
Genre: War
Released: December 25, 2011
Duration: 146 min
Rating: 72

2011

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 400 Ratings

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6.8

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6.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 400 Ratings

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War Horse

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Movie Details & Credits

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2011 | PG-13

Summary: Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war,Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. War Horse is one of the great stories of friendship and war—a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is arriving on Broadway next year. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history. (DreamWorks Pictures)

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Director: Steven Spielberg

Genre(s): War

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 146 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

David Edelstein

Dec 26, 2011

Spielberg has been ridiculed for shooting his actors from below against impossibly Spielbergian skies and a denouement that lays the love on copiously. But there's nothing simpleminded about how he uses movie magic, as a spell to dispel nihilism, to save us from the worst of ourselves by summoning up the best. Read full review

100

Rex Reed

Dec 20, 2011

War Horse is a don't-miss Spielberg classic that reaches true perfection. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Dec 21, 2011

War Horse is bold, not afraid of sentiment and lets out all the stops in magnificently staged action sequences. Its characters are clearly defined and strongly played by charismatic actors. Its message is a universal one. Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

Dec 19, 2011

For certain movies, the adjectives "formulaic" and "predictable" are complimentary. War Horse is one of them. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Dec 22, 2011

There are extraordinary and beautiful things in War Horse, enough of them to make the movie a pleasure and a worthwhile experience, though not enough to trick the eye or get you believing this movie hangs together. Read full review

Betsy Sharkey

Dec 26, 2011

Has the sweep of a classic John Ford movie, the sentiment of Frank Capra and a spirited steed named Joey who will steal your heart. The film itself is more difficult to love. Read full review

Boxoffice Magazine Amy Nicholson

Dec 16, 2011

Director Steven Spielberg doesn't have a steady grip on War Horse's careening tone, but he'll be damned if there's not 15 minutes in there for everyone. Read full review

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User Reviews

CINEFILO

Dec 25, 2011

It is an emotional journey in full gallop. The project is tailored for Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan', a specialist in military history and also for Spielberg's 'ET', the chronicler of infantile wishes and desires family.

5 of 11 users found this helpful56

TiberSeptim

Dec 27, 2011

An absolutely beautiful emotional rollercoaster. I cannot praise this movie enough on grounds of cinematography, music, and a dozen other things. I know I hugged my cat the second I got home.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Absalom

Dec 28, 2011

I was surprised at the reviews here at first, but reading them carefully I realize that the lower ratings are from people who do not understand the genre, have not managed their biases, display idiosyncrasies beyond the normal, or fix on a mote while the redwood stands before them. IgnoreI was surprised at the reviews here at first, but reading them carefully I realize that the lower ratings are from people who do not understand the genre, have not managed their biases, display idiosyncrasies beyond the normal, or fix on a mote while the redwood stands before them. Ignore them.

The film, taken on its own terms, is nearly perfect. As a child's fable of the costs of war and the necessity of the cardinal virtues of faith, hope and charity - wrapped in the iron of courage - to endure them, Spielberg achieves a fit balance between realistic depiction and human heartedness. Technically, the film is superb. While I chafe at his films for their lack of intellect, over-directed manipulation of sentiment (John Williams needs to retire - he and Spielberg together have reached the point where we must have a musical stick rapping us to tell us what every gesture intends), and an inability to understand subtlety, in WAR HORSE everything comes together. His decision to use film stock lends a richness and depth to his painterly compositions. What could seem like over-planning (another tendency) works here because of the fable involved - we expect and need to see the pictures he presents. HIs care in details (horses' heads coming up together at a crucial moment, movement through a field of grain, a scene of a war's suspension beginning with an uncannily true horse calling episode) expressed through exquisite cinematography and editing tell the tale visually. The entire design of the film - from rural domestic and farm settings to village to French farmhouse to bivouacs to trenches to the engines of war - presented a real world that held the fable perfectly.

Excellent casting and performances throughout by all players, including extreme good fortune in the horses, and a judiciously compressed screenplay allowed the scope of the story to play through while keeping the crucial human scale intact. Characters were instantaneously established without seeming like stock figures. Also, the Spielberg juvenile - that dreaded commodity - did not appear. The young leads and were, in all regards, ennobled and uncloyingly endearing. No villains appeared; all characters were presented as humans caught in something terrible, whether a prewar economic circumstances or war's hangman's clutch. As for realism, again, some reviewers here mistake the genre and sputter over details that are beside the point in this sort of film. One must judge a film on its own terms, or accept being seen as a propagandist, polemicist, or philistine. Or, as can be seen in one review here especially, merely peevish.

I recommend WAR HORSE to anyone interested in a master filmmaker making the most of his great skills, suppressing his lesser tendencies or turning them to advantage, and presenting a simple fable about simple love enduring despite the forces of hate. The entire film, until its last minute, conveys an authenticity and rightness of tone that will delight most moviegoers and not leave them feeling embarrassed afterwards for being moved. They will have been moved, in this case, as children are, for all the right reasons.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

CineAutoctono

Dec 17, 2015

" War Horse " is a very good movie very inspiring , and with the stamp of Steven Spielberg , for what training a horse , very good, but sent aa war because I think that is not trained for nothing.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

OnAnarchy

Aug 24, 2012

A beautifully made movie that is above average from the standard fare, but only just. The horse acts amazingly throughout the film, which is empathetic and moving at times. Most of the film trots along at a slow pace, with a few speedier patches. The battle scenes are unrealistic and willA beautifully made movie that is above average from the standard fare, but only just. The horse acts amazingly throughout the film, which is empathetic and moving at times. Most of the film trots along at a slow pace, with a few speedier patches. The battle scenes are unrealistic and will leave anyone with military knowledge feeling cheated. Overall, it's a decent animal movie, but don't expect it to be a best picture like the nomination it undeservedly got.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Shoki

Dec 29, 2011

They really should have called the "Bore Horse"... How long was it? It seemed like 3 long hours. There were 3 or four good scenes but the rest of the movie dragged on and on. I hate to beat a dead horse but how did this movie review so well?

4 of 6 users found this helpful42

Broyax

Nov 10, 2019

Ce n'est pas un film sur la Première Guerre Mondiale, c'est un film sur un putain de bourrin ! plus de deux heures vingt sur le bourrin qui de toute façon finira en lasagnes (meeerde,alerte spoileuur...) en compagnie ou plutôt en con--pagnie du jeune baltringue qui le suit partout, le perd,Ce n'est pas un film sur la Première Guerre Mondiale, c'est un film sur un putain de bourrin ! plus de deux heures vingt sur le bourrin qui de toute façon finira en lasagnes (meeerde,alerte spoileuur...) en compagnie ou plutôt en con--pagnie du jeune baltringue qui le suit partout, le perd, le retrouve, le récupère...

Même qu'il s'emmêle les sabots dans les barbelés ce con de canasson mais ne vous en faites pas, il s'en sort sans une égratignure... sinon Spielberg aurait eu 30 millions d'amis sur le cul et une Brigitte Bardot en colère.

Dommage qu'il ne parle pas le cheval, car sur un malentendu, ça aurait pu marcher. Pour le reste, ce n'est de toute façon que du remplissage mièvre qui se fatigue à nous faire comprendre que le bourrin a gagné la guerre, parce que les casques à pointe n'avaient pas parié sur le bon cheval. En fait. Pauvre Spielberg, il a dû se cogner la tête très fort au fond de son cul pour nous pondre un truc pareil ! pauvre vieux...… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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32	#32 Most Discussed Movie of 2011
76	#76 Most Shared Movie of 2011