Hidalgo (2004)

In 1890, a down-and-out cowboy and his horse travel to Arabia to compete in a deadly cross desert horse race.

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writer:

John Fusco

Stars:

Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif, Zuleikha Robinson

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Viggo Mortensen	...	Frank Hopkins
Zuleikha Robinson	...	Jazira
Omar Sharif	...	Sheikh Riyadh
Louise Lombard	...	Lady Anne Davenport
Adam Alexi-Malle	...	Aziz
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Prince Bin Al Reeh
Silas Carson	...	Katib
Harsh Nayyar	...	Yusef
J.K. Simmons	...	Buffalo Bill Cody
Adoni Maropis	...	Sakr
Victor Talmadge	...	Rau Rasmussen
Peter Mensah	...	Jaffa
Joshua Wolf Coleman	...	The Kurd
Franky Mwangi	...	Slave Boy
Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman	...	Chief Eagle Horn (as Floyd Red Crow Westerman)

Storyline

Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire--a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian desert--was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy sheik invited an American, Frank T. Hopkins, and his horse to enter the race for the first time. During the course of his career, Hopkins was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the U.S. cavalry--and had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheik puts his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders--some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the impossible.

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Plot Keywords:

glacier national park | horse movie | annie oakley character | animal character name as title | one word title | 

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Taglines:

Unbridled. Unbroken. Unbeaten.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | Sport | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and some mild innuendo

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Terra [Spain]

Country:

USA Morocco

Language:

English Arabic Sioux

Release Date:

5 March 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Océano de fuego

Filming Locations:

Sierra Railroad, Jamestown, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,829,435, 7 March 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$67,286,731, 18 July 2004

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,800,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Casey Silver Productions, Dune Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The horse who plays Al-Hattal is a black Arabian show champion named TC Bey Cedar. He is owned by Black Silver Arabians stables, located in Burson, California.

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Goofs

When Frank and Lady Anne are sitting having a conversation outside the tent halfway through the race, the clouds in the background, especially behind Frank, change between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Frank T. Hopkins: [to Hidalgo] C'mon little brother. Checkout time. Yeah.

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Crazy Credits

The film begins with a "Touchstone Pictures presents" credit, and the logo only appears at the end.

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Connections

Spoofed in Shrek 2 (2004)

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Soundtracks

Wyoming Days
Written by Karl King (uncredited)
Performed by The Americus Brass Band

User Reviews

Well made adventure yarn

A great action/adventure movie! I was surprised at just how good it was, as it has received so little attention. Viggo Mortensen of Lord of the Rings plays Frank Hopkins, a real-life cowboy, although probably much fictionalized in this movie. He is a half-breed, part Native American and part white. In the film's prologue, he works for the cavalry and witnesses the massacre of his people at Wounded Knee. The event scars him and he becomes a lush. For some easy money, he and his horse, Hidalgo, enter Buffalo Bill's roadshow. Hidalgo is so famous that a sheik has sent a servant to invite him to participate in a race across the Arabian desert, which he accepts, it being a better alternative to the humiliating performances. It's really a classical adventure movie, with princesses and scimitars and sandstorms and swarms of locusts. Omar Sharif co-stars as the sheik. Its nice to see a movie like this made with care. It never gets stupid, and, while it moves quickly, it isn't too fast, either. The director is Joe Johnston, whom I think is an undervalued filmmaker who specializes in these kinds of enjoyable yarns. His previous films include Jurassic Park 3, which is my favorite of that series, Jumanji, The Rocketeer, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, as well as episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which I loved in my tween years. He also made October Sky, which I haven't seen, but has been recommended. The film also features good performances from Zuleikha Robinson, soon to be a star, I'm sure, Louise Lombard, and Adam Alexi-Malle, one of my favorite character actors (he was the guy who wrote Chubby Rain in the movie Bowfinger). 8/10.