War Horse

A much more unbearable film than I could have ever expected. Technically speaking, it’s good, of course, but the dialogues are a pain to listen to, the main characters are unlikeable (all of them, and the main teenage redneck most of all), the story is driven by either chance or the stupidity of the characters, and the whole lot is so awfully pathetic and kitsch that it made my head spin. I think the world around us is full of better stories and I don’t understand why anyone should care whether one mare will be reunited with an unlikeable young guy or not. And, if the animal in this film intentionally and consciously (!!!) sacrifices itself in order to help its friend, and people actually believe it and are moved by it… something is bloody wrong in this world. It’s been long since something pissed me off so much. Two stars for the technical aspect, but unfortunately, Spielberg is no longer guarantee of quality mainstream entertainment. (01/13/2012)

A nostalgic look back to the heartiest, most melodramatic stage of cinematography. Film poetry for people who remember those times, maybe the last of its kind. Had it been twenty minutes shorter, it would have been one of Steven Spielberg’s best movies. That it’s one of his most personal films can be felt from every scene. (02/25/2012)

War Horse is a beautiful film, exactly what you’d expect from Spielberg. It captures the absurdity of war, especially the First World War, in all its intensity while telling a story that feels almost like a fairy tale—centered around a horse, who is, without a doubt, the main character here. All the human actors feel secondary to the journey of the horse. While that’s pretty unique, it doesn't quite hit the five-star mark for me. That said, the war atmosphere is incredible, and there are some trench scenes I’ll never forget. Spielberg knows how to handle war stories like no one else, and I’m glad he took on WWI and brought something fresh to it. (04/13/2012)

A film about love, goodness and horses, in which the Great War also looks many times more pathetic and moralistic than in all of the anti-war pamphlets of the 1920s and 1930s. Paradoxically, this is not a problem at all - the main drawback of this captivating spectacle is Spielberg's absolute fondness for the surface. Everything inner and psychological disappears from the shots - everything is taken over by a rich visual arrangement. People and horses are explicitly props in the creator's professorial exhibition. Moments of emotion always and again come across the same thing - it's not the human (horse) story that impresses us, it's rather the respectable audiovisual construction, under which (unlike Steven's famous films) there is nothing at all, just a genre vacuum. This is simply not enough for a fairy tale, which War Horse is more than anything else. (02/20/2012)

War Horse follows in the footsteps of The Red Baron and the Flyboys. A wave of renewed interest in WW1 would be a great thing, it would just have to be based on films that aren't such failures. The memory of Düsseldorf will be more eternal and colorful than a sunset in all shades of orange. (02/23/2012)