Steven Spielberg's War Horse - The Review

[Uncle Spielberg]

That written, War Horse LOOKS AMAZING. Beautifully, technically constructed. no soul, no heart, pushing fake buttons to illicit a cheap emotional response. shame

Thats is exactly NOT what he set out to to. Listen to Kermode's review which I agree with and the Spielberg interview. I find it incredible you have decided that and NOT EVEN SEEN IT. Quite incredible. Although ML said it was shit, at least he has seen it. By the way what exactly is Spielberg meant to do when making a film about a boy and a horse which is based on sentimental souce material ?

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Spielberg did not direct Super 8, not sure if he knew that.

J J Abrams can be Spielbergesque at times.

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

If anybody else could give a quick impartial review I would be grateful - probably seeing it tomorrow.

 

[looney]

US: There are 2 reasons I am dodging it. 1. I dont want to watch a spielburg movie where he gets to endulge in sentimentality, or over indulge, I liked some of his earlier films but he has't cut the mustard for a while. 2. A friend of mine who always seems to like films I like and visa versa saw it and said it was shit. So mainly 1 but 2 seals it, I may go and watch the darkest hour tomorrow.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

If anybody else could give a quick impartial review I would be grateful - probably seeing it tomorrow.

see post number 1 , if you disagree send Uncle a PM.

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

see post number 1 , if you disagree send Uncle a PM.

Impartial

 

[looney]

Impartial

Just ask yourself is it the sort of film you would like? A horse in a war, childrens tail, flashy and sentimental. Dont worry about the rest, if that ticks the boxes you are half way there.

 

[Kenhead]

I've already read the book and I really want to see the play. As you can imagine its pretty hard to get tickets for that at the moment.

In terms of the film I thought it gave the book justice, I do think the narravtive of the book is better as firstly its told from the horses point of view and the relationship with him and the girl is explained better. But I think when comparing a book to a film then the book is clearly going to have the better narrative.
The film does make great family viewing and would recomend it to most people. 8/10 for me.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I've already read the book and I really want to see the play. As you can imagine its pretty hard to get tickets for that at the moment.

In terms of the film I thought it gave the book justice, I do think the narravtive of the book is better as firstly its told from the horses point of view and the relationship with him and the girl is explained better. But I think when comparing a book to a film then the book is clearly going to have the better narrative.
The film does make great family viewing and would recomend it to most people. 8/10 for me.

I think the term shit for a film is banded about too much. Do people really think it is shit ?, mmmm, not as good as Alvin Chipwrecked ? or The Hottie and the Nottie ? really ? I can accept people saying " not my cup of tea " but shit ? A master film maker even when " not at his best " still makes a film that is better than 95% of directors could do with the source material. I guess it is a pretty tough ask to do the film through the Horse as , well a Horse can't actually speak can he ?, so it has to be based around characters and events around him. I don't think I have ever seen a film and thought shit, in my life. I can take some parts of even poor films and see some good or entertainment from them as I go into watching a film, wanting to like it. So to the people that say it is shit, when there are at least 6 stand out scenes of utter brilliance I take it with a pinch of salt.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

US: There are 2 reasons I am dodging it. 1. I dont want to watch a spielburg movie where he gets to endulge in sentimentality, or over indulge, I liked some of his earlier films but he has't cut the mustard for a while. 2. A friend of mine who always seems to like films I like and visa versa saw it and said it was shit. So mainly 1 but 2 seals it, I may go and watch the darkest hour tomorrow.

Or, just a thought you could go and see it and decide for yourself instead of living your life through another person's views, just an idea.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

J J Abrams can be Spielbergesque at times.

The film was an Homage to Spielberg.

 

[looney]

Or, just a thought you could go and see it and decide for yourself instead of living your life through another person's views, just an idea.

Its not my type of film really but will chat to my mate who works at the cinema anyway.

 

[LamieRobertson]

off tonight to c for myself

 

[Kenhead]

I guess it is a pretty tough ask to do the film through the Horse as , well a Horse can't actually speak can he ?

I think in terms of story then the horses point of view works best for War Horse, its hes thoughts and feelings and he doesn't talk in the book. It help makes the end more powerful with the relationship with him and the girl, but as you say it would have been hard to achive that for a film. Going into the cinema I wasn't quite sure how they were going to tell the story but in my view they couldn't have done it any better.
The book is deffiently worth picking up and is quite cheap in places say ASDA, its a nice easy read as its a kids book.

We do plan to order the Blu-ray of the film once its avalible for pre-order as both myself and my girlfriend really enjoyed it and can easily watch it over and over again.

 

[Pevenseagull]

Thats is exactly NOT what he set out to to. Listen to Kermode's review which I agree with and the Spielberg interview. I find it incredible you have decided that and NOT EVEN SEEN IT. Quite incredible. Although ML said it was shit, at least he has seen it. By the way what exactly is Spielberg meant to do when making a film about a boy and a horse which is based on sentimental souce material ?

whoah! (image of skinny orphan wiping tear from eye to John Williams soundtrack)

 

[Pevenseagull]

PS US, I voted 'Jaws' as the best Spielberg film because it is

 

[Pevenseagull]

and I have seen War Horse and it's SHIT

 

[Pevenseagull]

I think he might have been a friend of someone involved with "Batteries Not Included" .... much better film

 

[Meade's Ball]

Upon reading an interview with Spielberg - the filmmaker and not the avuncular aficionado - he said something about his sequels not being as good as his originals and that he is yet to get his Godfather 2. I doubt he was comparing his work all that much with Ford Coppola's, but him even mentioning any sort of similarity made me want to punch him two-fistedly straight in the beard.
I am indeed one of those cynics, as you know, Uncle, so i shan't be sitting through 2.5 hours of childish twaddle.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Upon reading an interview with Spielberg - the filmmaker and not the avuncular aficionado - he said something about his sequels not being as good as his originals and that he is yet to get his Godfather 2. I doubt he was comparing his work all that much with Ford Coppola's, but him even mentioning any sort of similarity made me want to punch him two-fistedly straight in the beard.
I am indeed one of those cynics, as you know, Uncle, so i shan't be sitting through 2.5 hours of childish twaddle.

Nothing like having an open mind. No disrespect but I have less time for people who say it is shit when NOT EVEN SEEING it , those those who say it is shit but have actually watched it. And your comment above shows Spielberg in a good light and is a tribute to Coppola not they other way around. Extraordinary way to interpret it.