Hidalgo (2004)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writer (WGA):

John Fusco (written by)

Release Date:

5 March 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Set in 1890, this is the story of a Pony Express courier who travels to Arabia to compete with his horse, Hidalgo, in a dangerous race for a massive contest prize, in an adventure that sends the pair around the world...

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Race | Cowboy | Massacre | Pony Express

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

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)

Also Known As:

Dash (Philippines: English title) (review title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and some mild innuendo.

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic | Sioux

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40252) | Sweden:11 | South Korea:12 | Norway:15 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Hong Kong:IIA | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | Germany:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

If you select the Spanish audio track on the DVD and Blu-ray Disc, you will hear Viggo Mortensen dubbing his own character's voice. He is fluent in the language.

Goofs:

Continuity: The blood on Hidalgo's nose as he approaches the finish line disappears for one shot.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in America's First Horse: Hidalgo and the Spanish Mustang (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Passing of the Red Man

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.