The Water Horse (2007)

A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.

Director:

Jay Russell

Writers:

Robert Nelson Jacobs (screenplay), Dick King-Smith (book)

Stars:

Emily Watson, David Morrissey, Alex Etel

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Allpress	...	Jock McGowan
Geraldine Brophy	...	Gracie
Eddie Campbell	...	Hughie (as Edward Campbell)
Ben Chaplin	...	Lewis Mowbray
Peter Corrigan	...	Jimmy's Buddy #1
Brian Cox	...	Old Angus
Carl Dixon	...	Gunner Corbin
Alex Etel	...	Angus MacMorrow
Nathan Christopher Haase	...	Male Tourist
Craig Hall	...	Charlie MacMorrow
Ian Harcourt	...	Jimmy McGarry
Rex Hurst	...	Jimmy's Buddy #2
William Johnson	...	Clyde
Megan Katherine	...	Female Tourist
Elliot Lawless	...	Beach Kid

Storyline

A boy finds an interesting egg. His curiosity leads him to protect it and want to figure out what will come out of it. He didn't realize that it would turn into something magical. The boy and the Water horse grow a strong relationship together in this wonderful story.

---

Plot Keywords:

scottish highlands | bathtub | war widow | single mother | scotland | 

---

Taglines:

How Do You Keep A Secret This Big?

---

Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some action/peril, mild language and brief smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

While the picture behind Brian Cox is of the Loch Ness Monster, the location of the film is actually Loch Morar. The monster there is less famous than Nessie and is called Morag. The Loch doesn't connect to the sea so German U Boats couldn't sail in to it but commando troops were trained in that area during World War II.

---

Goofs

Miss McMorrow stated to the captain that her man is in the war in the RAF. To Lewis Mowbray she stated that his ship is sunk for a year ago. Looking at the scenery the story take place at he end of spring or begin summer 194. If Lord McMorrow is in the RAF station on a ship the only aircraft carriers sunk in 1941 were the ark royal and the Audacity but only in late 1941, November and December, If he was on one of those ship she already had received message of his missing. The Ark Royal sank in tow to Alexandria so there should be a list of died and survived personal. The Audicety sank in December 1941 and could not be the ship he war placed on because the event was only 6 or 7 months for the story took place.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Female Tourist: What is that?
Male Tourist: It's a famous picture of the monster. But it's fake.
Female Tourist: How do you know it's fake? It looks real.
Old Angus: Oh, it's fake alright.
Male Tourist: Of course it's fake. Everyone knows that.
Old Angus: We'd know, son. There's more to that photo than meets the eye.
Male Tourist: Oh ho, really.
Old Angus: Well, if you'd like to know the real truth.
Female Tourist: Yeah, I wanna know. Come on, it'll be fun.
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

The logos of Revolution Studios, Walden Media and Beacon Pictures that financed the film are shown at the end of the movie, while the logo of distributor Columbia Pictures is shown at the beginning.

---

Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Bucket List/The Orphanage/The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep/There Will Be Blood/Honeydripper/Persepolis (2008)

---

Soundtracks

It's Only a Paper Moon
Written by E.Y. Harburg (as E.Y. "Yip" Harburg), Harold Arlen and Billy Rose
Performed by Benny Goodman
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

User Reviews

Just to See the Creature Itself Is Worth the Price of Admission Alone!

Oh man! Me and my five year old son saw this movie tonight and we had a rollicking good time..... it started off slow and surprisingly somber ( the kids dad is off at war; he's lonely, sad ).... however, once the water horse itself grows and is released into the loch, the movie turns into magic! Seeing the full-grown Cruscoe rise from the depths of the water had us both wildly cheering out loud, and the scene when the kid rode on his back and went for an underwater sea romp was pure celluloid gold -- beautifully filmed and an AMAZING RIDE!!!! Furthermore, while the "drama" at the beginning lagged, I actually find myself kind of into the anti-war drama towards the end. All in all, a most satisfying night out at the movies!

Details

Official Sites:

Sony [United States]

Country:

New Zealand UK Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Water Horse

Filming Locations:

Ardkinglas House, Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,186,054, 30 December 2007

Gross USA:

$40,946,255

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$103,967,384

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Walden Media, Beacon Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1