War Horse (2011)

Young Albert enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry. Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England and to the front lines as the war rages on.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writers:

Lee Hall (screenplay), Richard Curtis (screenplay),

Stars:

Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 43 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Irvine	...	Albert Narracott
Peter Mullan	...	Ted Narracott
Emily Watson	...	Rose Narracott
Niels Arestrup	...	Grandfather
David Thewlis	...	Lyons
Tom Hiddleston	...	Capt. Nicholls
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Maj. Jamie Stewart
Celine Buckens	...	Emilie
Toby Kebbell	...	Geordie Soldier
Patrick Kennedy	...	Lt. Charlie Waverly
Leonard Carow	...	Pvt. Michael Schröder
David Kross	...	Pvt. Günther Schröder
Matt Milne	...	Andrew Easton
Robert Emms	...	David Lyons
Eddie Marsan	...	Sgt. Fry

Storyline

Dartmoor,1914: To his wife's dismay farmer Narracott buys a thoroughbred horse rather than a plough animal, but when his teenaged son Albert trains the horse and calls him Joey, the two becoming inseparable. When his harvest fails, the farmer has to sell Joey to the British cavalry and he is shipped to France where, after a disastrous offensive he is captured by the Germans and changes hands twice more before he is found, caught in the barbed wire in No Man's Land four years later and freed. He is returned behind British lines where Albert, now a private, has been temporarily blinded by gas, but still recognizes his beloved Joey. However, as the Armistice is declared Joey is set to be auctioned off. After all they have been through will Albert and Joey return home together?

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Plot Keywords:

horse | cavalry | british | england | france | 

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Taglines:

Separated by war. Tested by battle. Bound by friendship.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of war violence

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [us] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

25 December 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caballo de guerra

Filming Locations:

Holwell Farm, Bonehill Rocks, Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon

Box Office

Budget:

$66,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,512,000 (USA) (23 December 2011)

Gross:

$79,883,359 (USA) (27 April 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Reliance Entertainment, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eddie Redmayne was rumored to be cast in the lead role of Albert Narracott that went to Jeremy Irvine.

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Goofs

When Albert is trying to befriend Joey with an apple which he is holding out at arm's length, the apple is whole. There is a short cut as Joey looks back at his mother and when we see the apple again, it has a big bite taken out of it. But Albert has not moved.

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Quotes

Michael: The food in Italy is good, yeah?
Gunther: [nods] Yes, very good.
Michael: And the women?
Gunther: Not as good as the food...
Michael: From eating too much of the food?

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Connections

Referenced in How It Should Have Ended: Harry Potter and the Best Picture Summary (2012)

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Soundtracks

"The Scarlet and the Blue"
By John Tams and Adrian Sutton

User Reviews

A Stunning and Enthralling Epic

Steven Spielberg has assembled many fantastic movies, like Schindler's List, Jaws, E.T, Saving Private Ryan, etc. His new creation, War Horse is a stunning achievement. The film was professionally made, it looked amazing, sounded great. Legendary composer, John Williams crafted an amazing and beautiful score. It was one of the best, I've heard in years.

Jeremy Irvine delivers a very heartfelt and convincing performance, he's just great. The rest of the cast, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, etc were all great, as well. However the star of the film, The Horse was simply amazing, the facial expressions were all spot on. Its just great, how you see the movie, from a horse perspective. Steven Spielberg deserves a lot of praise for that, and I hoper he gets it.

The cinematography is as good as it gets, its simply astounding. The film's cinematographer, Janusz Kamiński deserves all the praise he gets, an Oscar surely awaits him. The movie deserves all the technical praise, it gets. The editing is well done, the art direction is spectacular, the look of the film is quite breathtaking, at times.

The film is uncompromisingly sentimental, and I wasn't annoyed by it. Because it worked so well, it made me care about the story, the characters, the horses. A good old fashion studio epic, I miss them and I'm happy Spielberg delivered one. There are a lot of powerful scenes in the movie, from which I cried. It was just so moving, it showed the true consequences of war. Some of the battle sequences were simply fantastic and astonishing.

I am happy to see, Steven Spielberg in his top form. He showed, that he's still one of the best in the business and I hope to see more of him in the future. It may not be his best film, but it certainly a wonderful film to watch. I'd recommend anyone to see the film, it will appeal to everyone.