About The Black Stallion
A stirring, riveting, courageous adventure tale of "a ship-wrecked boy, the horse that rescues him and the victory that awaits them both."
Considered by many to be the best children and family film since the Wizard of Oz, "The Black Stallion," through its marvelous cinematography, music, direction, terrific script, talented cast, wonderful editing, and glorious production values, brings to life in an entertaining fashion, powerful statements about the relationship between trust and friendship and personal strength. It is about the powerful bond between friends; a boy and his horse, man and boy, a wild horse and human beings. The resulting trust and faith in one another becomes instilled beyond words and definitions, which empowers all the lonely characters in the script, helping them to find the personal courage to conquer personal fears and problems through each other and through courses of action that are hard to do.
This story starts off with 10 year old Alec Ramsey (Kelly Reno) and his father (Hoyt Axton) who have a close, father-son relationship, vacationing on a cruise ship off the coast of Africa, in the time period of the late forties. While his father is busy playing poker, Alec makes friends with a wild, Arabian stallion, whom he calls "The Black." This powerful stallion is the property of a rather nasty master (Dogmi Lardi) who catches Alec giving the horse sugar cubes, scaring him away. Then, in the middle of the night, the ship catches fire, while in the middle of a storm, and Alec finds himself overboard in the cold water and in big trouble. While the horse swims by him and he was able to grab hold of the rope, his beloved father and the rest of the passengers all die when the ship sinks suddenly. Thus, begins the beautifully filmed, well done first half of the movie, that shows the adventures of Alex and The Black, and their developing bond of trust and friendship on the island, which heart broken Alex needs after losing his father, and which the horse needs and enjoys, after finally finding a supportive bond to a trustworthy, loving human being.
The film's messages about the importance of trust and friendship, which empowers us with strength and courage in our lives, are further developed when Alec and The Black return to civilization. After Alec and the stallion are rescued from the island by fishermen, they both come back to civilization with new challenges to overcome.
The Black, who was at first kept in Alex's backyard, is startled by the garbage men one morning, who have the misfortune of looking too much like his nasty old master. The Black consequently escapes the backyard, and winds up on the large farm of an ex-horse trainer, Henry Dailey (Mickey Rooney). Daily, at one time, was a successful horse trainer, but now lives by himself out on his farm alone, without any prospects of future success, becoming a lonely, old has-been.
The Black and Alec offer Henry a chance to change his life. When the boy finds The Black, he becomes friends with Henry, and the two of them not only provide each other with much needed company and support, but unite to hatch a secret plan to first of all train Alec to be a jockey, cajole The Black to wear a bridle and saddle, and then somehow get the horse into a legitimate race. Henry must put his belief in the horse and the boy on the line, muster up his courage to try again his hand at training, and get the horse into a race, trying to use old connections one more time.
If the plan develops as planned, and he succeeds in becoming a jockey good enough to ride in a race, then Alex must muster up his personal courage and try to convince his mother to let him race the horse, which is no small problem. Alec's newly widowed mother,(Teri Garr) while overjoyed at getting her son back, grieves for her husband, and is afraid of losing Alec once again.
Caleb Deschanel's cinematography is "simply breathtaking, visual banquet" a crowning achievement in his career, which rivals such classics as "2001, A Space Odyssey." It is one of the greatest examples of what can be done using 35 mm film. For nearly the first hour, not more than a few pages of dialogue are spoken. Yet the camera is able, from the beginning of the film, to tell a complicated story as well as evoke powerful emotions with nothing but pure visuals, that are enhanced by Carmine Coppola's musical score that really reflects every "change in mood and feeling in every filmed scene" as their island adventure progresses. Many feel that the first half of the film could stand alone as a complete work.
This highest quality of camera work, enhanced by a great musical score, continues into the second half of the film, working with the rest of the elements that make up a great film; a talented cast, screenplay, direction, pacing, editing and production values.
The entire cast, under the fine direction of Carroll Ballard, did a great job in both their ensemble work and individual parts. The inspiring screenplay, by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, and William D. Wittliff, based on the novel by Walter Farley, gives everyone involved in this production great material to work with.
Kelly Reno, does an absolutely marvelous job playing Alec, and performs some incredible stunt work with the horse. He more than carries the movie, as he is in every scene.
Mickey Rooney is at his best as Henry, and gives a heart-felt performance, that earned him a best supporting actor nomination.
Terry Garr is great as Alec's Mom, a woman dealing with not only the loss of her husband, but with her changed son's behavior, his love and devotion for a wild, black stallion, and his attachment to Henry, his sort of father substitute.
Favorite, specific scenes include the emergency situation on the ship, and the boy's rescue by the horse, the island adventure scenes, the horse training montage, and the final horse race, beginning when a rather wild Black is paraded into the arena before the race, on his way to the gates.
Directed by: Carroll Ballard Based on the novel by Walter Farley - Screenplay by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, and William D. Wittliff. Director of Photography: Caleb Deschanel. Executive Producer: Francis Coppola - Zoetrope Studios.
"The Black Stallion" is highly recommended for everyone.
Based on the novel by Walter Farley - Screenplay by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, and William D. Wittliff.
Amazing movie.
I was so afraid to see this movie. The Black Stallion books defined my life until I was about 14 years old, if not longer (they have always continued in my memory). I read every single book that Mr. Farley wrote, most of them many times over, and I knew every character intimately - how they looked, how they talked, everything about them. And The Black - I know exactly how The Black looked and acted. So - when this movie was announced, 23 years ago, I refused to see it. I could not risk having all of my childhood memories shattered in the course of a 2 hour movie. But recently, in a discussion of favorite movies, a friend mentioned this movie as her favorite. Immediately, I was interested. So, nervously, I rented the movie, and settled in to watch it. My heart started pounding as the opening credits rolled - I was almost breathless waiting for it to start. All I can say is, now that I have seen it, I hate myself for waiting so long. Every detail of the book is captured perfectly, as if Mr. Copolla, Ms. Mathason, et al managed to film all of the images in my head and pour them onto the screen. The cinematography is astonishing, the score is beyond compare as to how well it fits with what is happening on screen. These are the technical details of the film - what is impossible to describe is just how closely this work captures the original book. There is no whiz-bang gadgetry, or special effects, although some young ones may find the shipwreck sequence to be frightening. It is a beautiful story, told masterfully.
A stunning visual banquet. Should be on everyone's must-see list.
For nearly the first hour, not more than a few pages of dialogue are spoken. Yet the camera is able to tell a complicated narrative as well as evoke powerful emotions with nothing but pure visuals. The scenes that establish the emotional relationship between the 10 year old protagonist and his equestrian soul-mate not only move the story along, but provide us with some of the most stunning visuals I have ever seen on film. It recalls the powerful visuals of films like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and NANOOK OF THE NORTH.
Then there is the mind-boggling riding stunts, if they are stunts that leaves one staring in wonder at what the young actor is doing right before our eyes. As far as I could tell, and it was the consensus of everyone who saw this film with me, there were no trick shots and no stunt doubles. The camera is too close and it is obvious that what we are seeing is real. Without giving much more than that away (because these sequences really need to unfold before you with no foreknowledge), it is enough to say that the first half of the film could stand alone as a complete work. Coupled with Carmine Coppola's exquisite score that matches every subtle turn of feeling with every scene, the picture is a joy to behold. A sequence with choreographed movement underwater is nothing short of an incredible ballet. How this film did not wind up on every one of those silly "top 100 films of all time" lists, I cannot fathom. How it did not win a multitude of Academy Awards is a mystery. Caleb Deschanel's cinematography is simply breathtaking.
The second half is no less a pleasure, but as the studios are wont to dictate, a story in the age of MTV and LETHAL WEAPON 16 cannot remain subtle and esoteric -- it can't be simply about the powerful bond between friends, boy and horse, man and boy....trust between creatures beyond words and definitions. So there is conflict, action and a race; the tension that makes for exciting storytelling, yet the rich emotional texture that is achieved even without these more mundane fixtures still dominate the work. And I must add, those more spiritual qualities surprisingly are not diminished by the action sequences but remain the dominant elements of the film's power-of-the-whole. And where there is dialogue, much to director Ballard's credit, it is kept sparse, it's not strained but is quite believable. Mikey Rooney, turns out a touching performance.
This is a film that marries every element perfectly -- from the music to the photography to the precision editing to an improbable performance from such a young actor. The loudest kudos must go to the young Kelly Reno who turns out a performance that rivets you from the first scene to the last with its power and simplicity.
This is not just a good film -- this is a masterpiece; it's what cinema is all about. And of course the only way to see it is in a theatre on a large theatre screen, NOT on a 19in TV set. Even DVD is more like a xerox copy compared to the definition that a 35mm print provides. If there is an art cinema near you, go to the director and plead with him/her to book this gem. Bring your kids or your nieces and nephews -- the younger generation needs to see what real film-making is all about. And powerful statements about trust and friendship and personal strength wouldn't hurt them either.
A beautiful film about solitude, interdependence, survival, and achievement.
The first thing that strikes you when you see "The Black Stallion" is its cinematography. However the vivid colours are only the doorway into the film. It is important to remember that the title is not "The Stallion" but "The Black Stallion". It is the title's first announcement of bold colour and the connotations of power in "Stallion" that introduce a richness of dichotomies. There is the black horse and the white boy (would the film really have been the same with the ubiquitous white horse?). There is the contrast between the horse's power and the boy's frailty. The scenes on the island and the scenes in the city. Indeed, the film's running time is almost split down the middle between this last contrast. There is also the contrast between the boy and the old man he befriends, and many others. But most importantly, there is the contrast between solitude and companionship. There are a lot of lonely characters in this film. Everyone from the horse to the boy, to the trainer to the boy's mother seem to be trying to struggle through life on their own. It is this quest to deal with loneliness that is the film's most profound achievement. It is not so much a condemnation of solitude as an analysis between its benefits compared to the benefits of companionship. Whether or not "The Black Stallion" answers these questions is something the viewer will have to decide for themselves. I believe the film asks more questions than it answers. Although some may find the film's ending a bit too predictable and sacharine tasting, the overall effect of the film's beauty and its questions concerning solitude and survival, erase any minor faults the movie may contain. Part "Androcles and the Lion" and part "National Velvet", "The Black Stallion" is more than a childrens' movie. It brings together the "blackness" (as in the black void of space) of loneliness with the stallion's individual power to show how all of us are alone in a fundamental way but that we also have an ability within us to not only survive but draw great things from it. We can fulfill through our particular skills and abilities the necessary requirement of helping each other without losing the strength we receive from our individual independence and uniqueness.
One of the best, EVER!
I watch this film often, and consider it one of the best I've ever seen.
The story is riveting, the acting is superb, and each frame is smashingly, achingly, beautiful. And the sound! Ah, the sound, from the throb of the ship's engine, to the whine of the wind on the sea. Listen for The Black's breath as he snuffles at the sugar, the tap of the first raindrops falling during the night run, and again, The Black's breath during that magnificent, thrilling, spellbinding, race. No film has ever come close to such audio-visual perfection.
The first half of the story shows how the bonds of trust and love assuage the fear and loneliness suffered by a little boy and a horse, and the second half shows how these, and other, newer bonds, propel the boy to maturity, and the stallion to greatness.
I can't write as eloquently as some of the others on this site who also obviously love this movie, but I hope I'm conveying the beauty and timelessness of this film. It was well worth making 25 years ago, and I will still be enjoying it 25 years from now.
Beautiful!
I watched this movie tonight for the first time in 15 years and was surprised to realize it could bring tears to my eyes after such a long time - grown up, adult tears. The TV copy was bad with a noisy soundtrack and cloudy images but the beauty of its cinematography seems to be stronger than time, amazingly new and powerful. The island scenes are pure poetry... so delicate is Carroll Ballard's way of catching the rising love between boy and horse - love shining out from innocence. Music is sublime, touching like the most poignant and fragile themes from Erik Satie's.
Many interpretations can be given to "The Black Stallion". To me -who saw it again after losing a friend in tragic circumstances- it is a beautiful and hopeful tale about death. Alec meets the Black -figure of death, wild and unpredictable- the night of his father's passing away and the world falls apart -the boat sinks into flames and cold water. The Black saves Alec, waking up then on a pale morning, alone on a lonely island made of black stone, translucent waters and white, dry sand. Then begins mutual taming between wild animal and young boy. How long will they observe each other, how long does it take for the Black to run gently besides Alec and for Alec to stand by the Black's tall silhouette? It feels like a few hours in this timeless land, but it could be a lifetime.
Then fear is gone, so are individuals - are they not one, running in suspended waters between sky and dust? Desire exists no longer... what do they want, but each other? If the horse is Death then Death is a friend, Death is peace and love and the abolition of time. And dreams are real just like the Black is real against Alec's hands, while in Alec's hands is clutched the unmoving and lifeless figure of a black horse given by his father on the night of his death.
Suddenly comes back the world of men, and horse and boy return to Life, witch is limits and rules and time. Yet when death has been tamed and accepted, frontiers don't matter anymore, and Alec makes peacefully his way into the world, growing along with the beautiful friendship connecting him to his horse. Together, horse and boy, they will prove that boundaries can be broken between man and animal, between dreams and reality.
Moving.
Simply a masterpiece.
Author: pleazuresmine2000 from USA
I think that this film is probably the most visually beautiful film I have ever seen. It was shot over a two year period, (so I have been told) and it is a lesson on cinematography. If anyone out there ever wants to watch a film for composition and beauty, this is it! There is not a bad frame in this film.
One of the few films that I adored as a kid that I still cherish today.
This is the first movie that I can remember watching. I was probably 4 or 5, but I was spellbound. Even now, a good 10 years later, I still love "The Black Stallion". This is because it is NOT strictly a children's film; it is a beautifully made(aw, that photography!!), almost mystically riveting motion picture. To those who have read the book- it is different, but not in any way destructively so. And for the record, don't bother with the sequel- it's not even a pale shadow of this poetical masterpiece. In conclusion, I wholeheartedly recommend TBS for the young, and young at heart(please pardon the cliche)
Stunning!
This is a rarity: a film adaptation that is miles better than the book. This film takes a story that was your average boy-and-horse book (and to give credit where it's due, *The Black Stallion* was written while Walter Farley was in high school) and transforms it into a brilliant visually and emotionally stunning work of art. So many scenes in this movie are almost painfully beautiful. My two favorites are the island scenes where Alec learns to ride the stallion, and the race scene with its flashbacks to the island.
The music is perfect and adds to the film rather than distracting from it; Kelly Reno's acting is natural, and Mickey Rooney is a delight in his return to a horse-trainer role, 35 years after *National Velvet*. The real stars of this film are the horse, the scenery on the "island" (which wasn't one), and the interaction between the boy and the stallion, which is pure magic. I love this movie.
Walter Farley is a great writer and this movie is a wonderful family film, and is definitly one of my favorites.
The Black Stallion is an excellent movie. Even though there is not much dialogue at all, it really doesn't need it. I think that they picked out all the right actors and actresses for this movie and they played a great part in it. The race at the end makes me stand up out of my seat... it's not really a thriller but just very exciting. The filming is absolutely fantastic... they get wonderful views of Alec riding him on the beach and riding him in the match race. This is a movie that I tend to watch at least once a week. My best friend thinks the same thing ( which is why I gave it to her as a birthday present). I would most definitly recommend this movie to anyone who likes horses. Even if they didn't, I still think they would like this movie. I know I loved it!
The most beautiful love story...
Anyone who's ever fallen in love with an animal will find this one one of the most beautiful love stories ever filmed. I read (and loved) the book when I was a kid (while my classmates were reading about Dick, Jane, and a dog named Spot). I saw (and loved) the movie two decades ago. THE BLACK STALLION happens to be one of those rare, timeless love stories that should be brought back to theaters every few years that new generations might experience it as it was meant to be experienced. Powerful and positive on an emotional level, the sheer beauty of this movie can move one to tears. Without a doubt, one of the top fifty movies ever made.
THE BIGGEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL BLACK STALLION!
What a fantastic movie! Magic and reality at the same time. But done so well that it's totally believable and lovable. My first clear word was 'horsey' and I've loved them all my life! Girls and horses-a great match. When I see horses treated only as transportation in some Westerns I want to tie the director responsible to a chair and make them watch the remarkable bond between this still-abused animal and the deep loyalty it can share with a human. The scenery,great musical score along with the island scenes as the stallion (always the protector in a wild herd) bonds with a very bright,normal (unactor-like) boy and finds they need each other and it grows to love... Kelly Reno is just wonderful as a boy who lost his father and amidst his grief,found a friend. Mickey Rooney stands out as Henry-the once Jockey and greatly-admired trainer-now long forgotten. It took a plucky boy and a beautiful Arabian horse to bring back his life and reputation. Everyone is so believable in this movie including Clarence Muse and his horse Napolean. How he wonderfully understands that some horses should be free. The Black does everything way beyond the world he grew up in for the love of a boy. The next time you take a ride (or the first time) remember to be gentle with this lovely creature-you never know what it has been through. Kelly,it's obvious,understands horses, Which is likely why he was chosen to play Alex. They save each other,give all they can,trust and love. If it had been a broken-down horse I feel he would have done the same...Thank you to all involved. Especially Francis Ford Coppala for bringing to the screen Walter Farley's masterpiece of a book and making it a masterpiece of a movie...
Having trained and ridden horses in my adult life, I introduced my 4 year old granddaughter to "The Black Stallion" this weekend...hoping that she would love it as much as I have in the past. She did, of course, right up to the point that she finally had to give in and fall asleep! This movie has so many excellent points about it! The photography is suberb and the theme of a young boy overcomin
DON'T BE A HORSE'S PATOOT - SEE THIS MOVIE!
You don't want to miss out on this wonderful family film about a boy and his dog. The fact that Caleb Deschanel was not even nominated - huh? - a horse? Oh, yes, of course! A horse. A wonderful family film about a boy and his horse.
The fact that Caleb Deschanel was not even nominated for an Oscar for his extraordinary cinematography in THE BLACK STALLION goes to prove what a dog and pony show the Academy Award presentations really are. (Dang! How'd that little dog sneak back in here again?) Deschanel's poetic work in this film belongs in an elite class which also includes KOYAANISQATSI and ONE FROM THE HEART.
Kelly Reno's work also belongs in an elite class of highly developed performances by child actors, which also includes Bobs Watson in ON BORROWED TIME, and Haley Joel Osment in THE SIXTH SENSE.
But what I really want to focus on with this review is something that only my fellow reviewer Candace Scott seemed to fully appreciate and noted in her July 3, 2003 assessment: I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to do a little (VERY little) professional acting in the late l970s and early '80s. It was a craft that I took very seriously and studied for many years. Having learned a bit about it, I wish to say that MICKEY ROONEY's naturalistic performance in this movie is one of the finest ever filmed! I watch THE BLACK STALLION every couple of years and end up slack-jawed every time!
In acting there is something known as "False Notes", and these occur when a performer falls out of character and/or plays to the camera or audience. Even the greatest of thespians are guilty of committing False Notes in every performance. MICKEY's performance as horse trainer Henry Dailey may be the only PERFECT performance I have ever seen. Does it seem like he just isn't doing much? Does it seem like he's hardly even acting? EXACTLY!!! The viewer simply can't catch him "acting", and that's the whole point! His actions, his reactions, and his speech patterns are so organic to the character he's playing that he really ISN'T acting - he's BEING! He's Henry Dailey IN THE MOMENT! He may have played a False Note for a brief moment in the scene where he reassures Alec who sits on the car bumper in the rain-soaked night. Maybe. MAYBE! It's arguable. I've seen many an extraordinary performance in my (nearly) 45 years, but this one is really something special. There are many excellent reasons to see this film, but Mickey is the best of them. At least for me.
I suppose I should mention the movie's one notable flaw even though it is of such little consequence: The editing in the horse race always disturbs me a little. As they cut from the long establishing shot to the thundering hooves, and then back to the long shot, it leaves the false impression that The Black's position changes in the field of horses a few times. (As if he's closed on the leader, and then fallen back again.) But c'mon, are we gonna let a little detail like that spoil such an overall artistic success for us? No way! The bottom line is: THE BLACK STALLION is a real winner; you can bet on it!
One word will do: magnificent.
What a beautiful motion picture this is. Not only it is gorgeously photographed, it is quite simply breathtaking in many respects. Though many people will feel the film is too slowly paced, it's never plodding, just leisurely. The opening boat sequence is directed and photographed so perfectly that it boggles the mind. Those who think that James Cameron's special effects during the sinking of "Titanic" are anything special need to see the boat sink in this piece. There's no comparison.
There is a 45 minute sequence on the island with Kelly Reno and the stallion. This is only portion of the film which does lag just a trifle. There's no dialogue and the tender love that grows between boy and horse is very deliberately filmed. It does seem improbable that the boy could survive alone on the island with only a pocket knife, but you have to just accept the dubious and revel in the lush photography and understated elegance.
Ther performances are uniformly superb. Kelly Reno is excellent as the boy, but the film ultimately belongs to Mickey Rooney, a naturally charasmatic and gifted actor who never appears to be acting. He steals the film because he's always brilliant and his character is enigmatic and made interesting because Rooney is playing him. Terri Garr, as the boy's mother, is not especially memorable or interesting. Imagine Meryl Streep in this role instead.
The climactic race scene at the conclusion always leaves me in tears. This is a cinematic jewel, a truly beautiful and outstanding movie. People of all ages should love this film, it bridges the generation gap perfectly.
Dream a little Dream.
Black Stallion holds this magical spot in my heart, because it is the movie that made me realize what true beauty on film could look like. I was 6 years old when this came out , and I remember my heart beating so hard when the ship was sinking and when he finally got onto the horse and they were just going at high speed on the beach, I will always think of Mickey Rooney in this roll because it's the first I remember him being in. I wasn't a horse girl growing up, I liked them, but it was my sister who took lessons and had hundreds of the plastic ones in her room, I was the one into Pegasus and Unicorns, but this movie appealed to me because it was pure childhood magic. It's a timeless film, and I cannot wait to show it to my kids one day.
Proof that you do not need alot of dialogue to tell a story!
I first saw this movie in the theatre when I was in the 8th grade and have just viewed at again with my 7 year old daughter. I loved it then and I love it even more now.
The direction of this film is wonderful. The story is told more by what is not said than what is said. Dialogue is used only when needed.
Kelly Reno as Alec and Mickey Rooney as Henry are superb. The Black is the most magnifecent horse I have ever seen.
The island scenes are breathtaking. I especially like when The Black and Alec are in the water and it appears that they are dancing.
Your heart will beat with excitement when you witness "The race of the century" at the end of the film. You will feel like you are riding with Alec and The Black.
A wonderful film for all.
Still magical, for kids of all ages.
I first saw this movie over twenty years ago, on the big screen at one of the local theatres. It reminded me then of the kinds of movies I loved as a child, full of adventure, but also full of emotions that haunt the world of childhood--loneliness, wonder, hope, admiration. All of these are in this movie, especially in the brilliant first half, depicting a boy who has the cruelest adventure imaginable, but also an awakening to a new world of natural beauty and another kind of adventure. The first hour of this movie, with a shipwreck, a young boy, the only survivor, other than a fierce and wild horse who somehow bonds with him, is beautiful and moving almost beyond belief.
The second half is a more traditional thriller, as the horse becomes a champion race horse, is almost formulaic, but it is done so well that what might be called "manipulation" is not heavy-handed or noticeable in the way that it is in most movies made in the last decade. And having Mickey Rooney in a starring role as the horse trainer is a special treat for those of us who remember him in the movies of the '50s.
This is a movie that you can watch with your kids, or with your parents, and everyone will enjoy it.
I bought the DVD version for some friends' kids who I knew had never seen this movie--they have seen everything from the last ten years, mostly a lot of junk. They loved this movie, and so did their parents. Don't miss it!
A stunning classic in children's movies.
I was a huge fan of the Black Stallion series, and when the movie was first released in theatres, I begged, pleaded and nagged my mom into taking me to the only one in the DC area that was showing it. While viewing the beautiful island scenes on a TV will never have the impact they had that first time on the big screen, this is still a favorite movie of mine. The changes they made from the book were fairly minor. But all the magic is there...and the Black! Cass Ole was stunning as the Black, far superior to the horse they later used for the series on TV. While he may not be as large as I might have imagined, he was gorgeous and wonderful to watch, I could easily believe this was a wild horse straight out of the desert.
Mickey Rooney is of course perfect as Henry, and the match race was well done, very true to the original story. Overall, a wonderful, wonderful movie which you can watch time and again and enjoy no matter what age you are.
