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:

The True Story Of A Man Who Went Halfway Around The World To Find Himself.

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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

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

Gross USA:

$67,303,450

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$108,040,622

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

Screenwriter John Fusco got the idea for the film when doing research for Thunderheart (1992). He was told stories about Hidalgo by an elderly chief, while living on the Pine Ridge reservation.

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Goofs

While the train is pulling out prior to Hopkins getting off it shows the rail cars using a knuckle coupler. The coupler was not accepted by the US until 1893, 3 years after the movie takes place.

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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

Buffalo Bill's Equestrian March
Written by William Paris Chambers (uncredited)
Performed by The Americus Brass Band

User Reviews

Enjoy this one!

I've read some pretty disparaging comments about this movie that make me wonder what on earth was so bad? Let's see, there were objections over the predictability of the plot, the stereotyping, the music and on and on. People need to relax and enjoy this movie as entertainment only. I personally thought it was one of the nicest new releases I'd seen.

I know this was another movie about the underdog winning against all odds but I like this kind of movie. I thought the screenplay was admirable in it's restraint not having the main character even kiss the two women involved. The music was very moving and beautiful.

Perhaps some people have become so jaded that a movie simply isn't complete unless there's a helicopter chase, an exploding car or two (or in this case, a wagon), a trip to the nearby strip club with the flashing lights(where all characters in search of answers seem to end up at), gratuitous sex scenes, oh yeah, don't forget to use the 'F' word and while we're at it: let take God's name in vain a few times for the sake of 'realism'.

Hollywood needs to make more movies like this.