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Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis, Niels Arestrup ... see more see more... , Tom Hiddleston , Benedict Cumberbatch , Toby Kebbell , Celine Buckens , Patrick Kennedy , David Kross , Matt Milne , Robert Emms , Eddie Marsan , Nicolas Bro , Rainer Bock , Hinnerk Schonemann , Gary Lydon , Geoff Bell , Liam Cunningham , Sebastian Hülk , Gerard McSorley , Tony Pitts , Ifran Hussain , Philippe Nahon , Jean-Claude Lecas , Justin Brett , Seamus O'Neill , Pat Laffan , Michael Ryan , Peter McNeil O'Connor , Gunnar Atli Cauthery , Julian Wadham , Anian Zollner , Michael Kranz , Hannes Wegener , David Dencik , Edward Bennett , Johnny Harris , Philip Hill-Pearson , Tam Dean Burn , Alan Williams , Thomas Arnold , Maximiilian Brueckner , Markus Tomczyk , Peter Benedict , Callum Armstrong , Roy Holder , Paul Alexander , Maggie Ollerenshaw , Beth Ogden , Martin D. Dew , Stephen Graham

Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tame... read more read more...s and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets-British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter-before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse-an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. --(C) Dreamworks

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74% liked it

51,261 ratings

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77% liked it

202 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 26 min.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Release Date: December 25, 2011

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DVD Release Date: April 3, 2012

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Celine Bucken Jeremy Irvine War Horse Official Poster Emily Watson and Jeremy Irvine
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Flixster Reviews (5,183)

  • bhobbs1985
    May 27, 2012
    bhobbs1985
    What I really loved about 'War Horse' was the entire different angle on warfare. For once, we didn't focus on a single being or a single 'side' but yet we seen the horrors of war from both perspectives and not only from the different soldiers perspective but from the civilian per... read morespectives. Furthermore, the movie showed a ton of different angles within the war (not stuck on a single foot soldier, air unit, etc).

    I was totally skeptical about a 2 and a half hour movie that done nothing but follow a horse around the war but the insight in which it gave us to the war and numerous viewpoints while also keeping us intrigued from the perspective of an animal's role in the war, it presented its piece well, and I truly enjoyed it. It was a beautiful film that I would without a doubt recommend to anyone interested in this historical period or just in horses in general.

    The only way I'd recommend not seeing this movie is if you cannot stomach the ill treatment of animals (not a fault of the movie however; simply reality) or you just don't like long movies. As I said, I felt it did a pretty great job at holding someone's attention, all the same it was quite long and I don't know if it's a movie I could sit through numerous times at that length but it without a doubt is worth a watch.
  • allan913
    April 26, 2012
    allan913
    An extroadinary masterpiece of a film. Director, Steven Spielberg has crafted another film classic. A spectacular and breathtaking adventure of friendship and loyalty. It`s brilliant, heart-pounding, deeply moving and flat-out exhilerating. A heart-warming and gripping movie that... read more just takes hold of you and wont let go. One of the most inspiring and uplifting films i`ve seen in a long time. The all-star cast is amazing. From newcomer, Jeremy Irvine in his heart-wrenching role, to Peter Mullen and Emily Watson, to Tom Hiddleston, and to Toby Kebbell and Liam Cunningham, all theses performances are magnificent. This movie is a real gem
  • fb100002384654145
    April 13, 2012
    fb100002384654145
    Spielberg does a great job in skillfully executing scenes, both in the battles and the verbal drama. I liked the episodic nature of the film as the the story follows the horse's journeys across the landscape of World War 1 in order to get home. All the while the horse encounter... read mores multiple sides of the war and the effects it has on the lives of the people experiencing it. There are plenty of great scenes in the film that I won't spoil because they have to be seen to fully be appreciated. Yeah, I will admit it can get heavy-handedly sentimental at times, but the film presents itself in such a proud and confident manner that it becomes hard to not be effected by it. During the film I found myself caring for the horse and hoping he would get home, which is an achievement within itself. I cannot forget the wonderful score by John Williams, which lends a good hand in bringing out the raw emotion of the film's drama. Despite the film's slightly contrived feel-good ending, "War Horse" still comes out strong as one of the better "2000's" Spielberg productions.
  • flixsterman
    April 12, 2012
    flixsterman
    Lassie Come Home with spurs. Decent family entertainment but it's so polished and contrived that, at times, it's unintentionally funny.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    April 10, 2012
    TheDudeLebowski65
    War Horse is a stunning looking but is heavily flawed, and tries far too hard at delivering sentimental moments. I liked the film, but I think that films on horses are getting tiring and cliché. Though a good film, War Horse tends to navigate the same familiar territory as Hidalg... read moreo and Seabiscuit. Set during the first World War, and telling the story of how horses were an integral part of the war effort; at the center of the film is a boy named Albert and his horse named Joey. Joey gets taken away from Albert and becomes a cavalry horse. Albert enlists to find Joey. War Horse is a good film, but I just thought it had too many moments that Spielberg tried to include to make the film more emotional. I think they should have stuck with facts. War Horse tends to be too sentimental. The fact that the film waters down the real effect of doesn't seem genuine. I really think that the filmmakers could have blended the terror of war with sentimental issues. War Horse omits key elements to really make this a stand out war epic. The film tries way too hard at delivering tear jerking moments while minimizing the real story of horses in combat during the First World War. Spielberg aimed for a family film, and this is what it is, if you're a history buff like me, and want authenticity then you might be slightly disappointed. There's some good battle scenes in the film, but the films script is peppered with feel good clichés that cheapen the film a bit. If they would have balanced out the material to include a lot more war elements. War Horse a war film that is more family friendly than anything. If you want a straight up war film, you won't find it here. By the films end, there's just so emphasis on a feel good ending that it just isn't interesting. I felt the film could have been shorter, and honestly I was expecting something more from this one. The film could have toned down the feel good elements and focused more on the chaos of war, which is something that was very much missing. We saw a bit of the chaos of war, but Spielberg peppered the film with too many feel good clichés that in the end make this film not as good as what everyone has claimed it to be.
  • DreamExtractor
    April 8, 2012
    DreamExtractor
    War Horse is an incredible war drama in almost every way, it's almost hard to describe the beauty and near perfection in this film that is another example that Spielberg still has the film making skills that he has always had and still is able to make us feel like we spent our mo... read moreney and time on a masterpiece. It is one of the few World War 1 films I have seen so I was very excited to learn more about this horrible era of time. It is also a very dramatic film, as I expected I felt emotion for what was going on and I felt a happy kind of sadness at the conclusion that Spielberg does in many of his drama films.

    The story follows a horse named Joey, who is raised by a teen named Albert (Jeremy Irvine) who both grow to be best friends and after a few years he is sold to the army for World War I, and the film then follows the Joeys journey as he meets many different people and hopes to return to Albert one day. Along Joeys journey he meets many new people and experiences which forms him to be a very brave and heroic horse that will do anything to return to his owner and best friend.

    The plot is just as incredible and great for a Spielberg film as I anticipated. The story makes us care about these two best friends and then shows us the horrors of the first World War. As we anticipate Joeys unknown fate we are given many different characters who some we dislike but I found myself caring about most of the characters in this film, no matter what side of the war they were on most of them were just good hearted people serving their country or trying to outlast the war. But the truly best character was the horse Joey as you probably already could tell from the title of the film is the star. It's hard to make you care for an animal this much but all I wanted was for the horse to end up safe and so I can honestly say this is a character driven story that I really loved.

    The cast is hard to say whether they were good or bad, because truly the star of the film is the horse who I can honestly say plays the best performance from an animal I have ever seen, and as for Jeremy Irvine, I would consider him the main human actor and he did not play an incredible performance but then I remembered that he is younger and just starting out in acting so for a newer actor I think he did a very nice performance but I still don't think he was ready for a role like this. As for the rest of the cast they all played good parts and all contributed to the greatness of the character they were playing, so overall a good cast I think, but I said it before and I will say it again, the horse is the star and the hero.

    The war scenes of the movie were one of the best highlights. There is one war scene showing trench warfare and Albert fighting his way across the battlefield and I was fully engaged with what was going on. Spielberg can truly make a great war film, anyone who disagrees needs to get a second opinion.

    The film score is as incredible as I expected a Spielberg film to be. I always say that the music is one of the main things that give a movie its feel and that is the case with War Horse as well. I truly felt emotion with the film whenever the music was playing because it shows us the mood of what was happening in the story.

    This movie is another Spielberg work of genius as he ends 2011 with an incredible and dramatic war film that is driven by a horse character and the way Spielberg was able to make an entire film on a horse is beyond me but it works greatly, and although my main problem was I would have picked someone else for the role of Albert because I don't think Jeremy Irvine was ready for a role like this, but this is a small problem compared to the genius of everything else in the movie. War Horse was criticized by some critics that Spielberg was only trying to make a film that would win some Oscars, well you know what I say to them, their is nothing wrong with trying to make a great film, and if that is what Spielberg was going for he succeeded, he has made a great film.
  • spielberg00
    April 3, 2012
    spielberg00
    Despite the grandeur it may appear to possess, WAR HORSE is merely a mixed bag. If the Academy had ever optioned an award for the Best Achievement in Cinematic Beauty (fat chance), this would have been an automatic win. The fashion in which plains, prairies, fields, and even hors... read morees are depicted is downright beautiful. There's also John Williams's typical effort in a musical score here. He's worked on every feature-length Spielberg picture except 1985's THE COLOR PURPLE, and his music kept me barely awake There should have been no reason, though, for WAR HORSE to have been nominated for Best Picture. It's great in every technical aspect, but it fails at an even plot. The film starts out as a wholesome, sweet animal picture, and it takes little time when it eventually chooses to elevate drastically into a violent, intense war movie. After that, it continues to meander almost mindlessly between the two.

    http://themoviefreakblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/review-war-horse/
  • Alireza64ir
    March 9, 2012
    Alireza64ir
    Dull, gay and embarrassing. The worst thing Spielberg has ever done.A movie like this, can easily ruin Spielberg's long time reputation.
  • aquateen2
    March 1, 2012
    aquateen2
    War Horse is a brilliantly executed nostalgic anti war film. Not only does it contain some of the best footage Spielberg has ever directed (this includes both action sequences and times of verbal drama) but presented from a completely non biased approach, it's still jam packed wi... read moreth thrills, laughs, drama and remarkable emotional depth. That's not to say that it's not a bit too schmultsy.
  • ironclad1609
    February 29, 2012
    ironclad1609
    You have to admit, at a first superficial glance this seems to be a film for girls who pin horse posters on their walls and take riding lessons twice a week. And the first twenty minutes stick to that romantic stereotype of the young boy admiring the young horse and raising it a... read moregainst everyone's expectations in a beautiful landscape. That's rather cheesy, but gorgeously filmed and rather charming at the same time. Then World War 1 starts and the two friends are separated. We now follow the horse, or rather its different owners, through the horrors of war. While Spielberg tries not to top the first twenty minutes of his "Saving Private Ryan" D-day sequence, he's obviously in his element when filming exciting cavalrymen attacks or gloomy trench battles, images everyone connects with WW1 but have never been filmed as impressively as here. Spielberg's camera man Janusz Kaminski once again delivers images that stay with you for a long time. Of course the plot works because it is smarter than sticking to a rather tongue-tied horse as protagonist, instead we get glimpses at the lives of the people who encounter it. With only few scenes the film makes us care for them and pity their downfall, without ever going overboard with drama. The highlight of the film, the barb wire scene, is as unexpected as sweet and moving. The acting, especially in the minor roles, is top notch. Geeks could also have fun finding Tom "Loki" Hiddleston and Benedict "Sherlock" Cumberbatch here. To top it all, Composer John Williams wrote one of his most memorable scores of the last ten years
    Many directors would have failed making a compelling film from this material, but Spielberg knows exactly which buttons to push and against your better judgement everyone with a heart will get watery eyes at some point throughout this film. Impressive.

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Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
March 23, 2012
Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

It is a vividly detailed depiction of a time, a place and a conflict. Full Review

Liam Lacey
January 6, 2012
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

The trouble here is not so much that Spielberg's film staunchly insists on finding a happy ending even in the calamity of the First World War, but that he slathers it on so thick and leaves so soft an... Full Review

Rafer Guzman
January 5, 2012
Rafer Guzman, Newsday

The material sometimes feels oversugared, though it's also guaranteed to raise a lump in your throat. Full Review

Dana Stevens
December 31, 2011
Dana Stevens, Slate

Tthe images have what I can only describe as a wonderful texture. They also have intense color: deep gemlike greens and reds, with black shadows out of an old master painting. Full Review

David Denby
December 30, 2011
David Denby, New Yorker

We never ask why the production is devoted to an animal while ten million men are dying, but when Spielberg does the story realistically, it seems trivial, even a little daft. Full Review

David Edelstein
December 30, 2011
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

Amid the incomprehensible slaughter, it's a horse that reminds these warriors of their humanity. Full Review

Joe Morgenstern
December 30, 2011
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

A film that may stay in the mind's eye longer than it lingers in the heart. Full Review

Kathleen Murphy
December 26, 2011
Kathleen Murphy, MSN Movies

Tonally jarring and structurally disjointed, it's a punishingly long and bumpy ride. Full Review

Andrew O'Hehir
December 26, 2011
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

It's almost a great war movie in one direction, and almost a piece of irredeemable cheese in the other, and there you have it. Full Review

Ian Buckwalter
December 23, 2011
Ian Buckwalter, NPR

It's not that a film can't be lighthearted family fare, a gritty war epic and a weepie all at once; the problem is that here, those elements feel strictly compartmentalized -- and calculated. Full Review

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    • Albert Narracott: Wherever you are, I will find you and I will bring you home.
    • Rosie Narracott: I might hate you more, but i'll never love you less.
    • Albert Narracott: Wherever you are, I will find you and I will bring you home.
    • Albert Narracott: Wherever you are, I will find you and I will bring you home.
    • Albert Narracott: Not a dollop of ordinary sense but that thick stubbornness, that will lead him to believe in the impossible.
    • Rosie Narracott: [to Ted] I might hate you more, but I'll never love you less.
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War Horse Trivia

  • Seabiscuit, in the movie of the same name, competes in a match race against a horse that's widely regarded as the greatest race horse to ever live. Name the horse Seabiscuit races against in that famous match race.  Answer »
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  • What do the following movies all have in common? *John Ford's 'The Horse Soldiers' *John Huston's 'The Red Badge of Courage' *Sergio Leone's 'The Good the Bad the Ugly' *Buster Keaton's & Clyde Bruckman's 'The General' *D.W. Griffith's 'The Birth of a Nation'  Answer »
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