Who else went to see War Horse today?!

I was really disappointed in it - stupid things like: any animal struggling in barbed wire like that would be a lot more of a mess and would be cut to pieces in all wired areas - not 4 scratches!

I think it was hyped up too much by the media and definitely wouldn't buy it on DVD which I think is disappointing :/
 
Sorry to say I was disappointed. Didn't live up to expectations (even of it's own trailer) for me. Characters too shallow and not fully explored & the loss of the first person narrative made it hard to empathise.

Much of what Morpurgo wrote about Joey’s connections with others was lost entirely in the film. The way the Narracott's old farm horse Zoey mothered him, his rivalry and later friendship with Topthorn and his admiration for the poor, hardworking haflingers who gave their all pulling the artillery guns (Zoey and haflingers were written out entirely). Each of these connections not only told us more about the main character, but in turn described the dreadful tale of their existence.

Although I found some of the stunts impressive, I found it difficult to really care much about any of the horses I saw on screen – the magic just wasn’t there.

I was also irritated by the German dialogue being spoken in English with German accents (made me think of 1980's TV comedy 'Allo,Allo), the forced comedy (wire cutters scene - which although it caused a ripple of laughter made me cringe in my seat) and the sensationalism (with Joey even being pinned to the floor with that much barbed wire but then walking off with two small cuts to shoulder and forearm) - just nonsense.

That said, my favourite part of the whole film was where the cavalry mount-up in the cornfield which was beautifully crafted & memorable.
 
I was disappointed with the immense difference to the book. I mean, where was Zoey?! And I thought that Joey would have been narrating or something.

I did cry and couldn't look when he ran into the barbed wire but that was it I had control in the other tear jerker parts of the film! It's great film if you've never read the book, very dramatic but I liked it in it's own right.
But I wouldn't compare the book and the film as they are really very different :confused:
 
me!! and i bawled my eyes out through the whole thing!!! i found most of it sad, when joey got taken from albert, when the two young german boys got shot, when joey and top form got taken from the young french girl, all of it!!! and i cried with happiness at the end!
 
to be fair, I see why they did/didn't do certain things, ie the barbed wire scene - there are very, very strict regulations on injuries/blood/wounds and if they show too much too graphically it'll alter the classification and cut out a whole audience - of course they could have added more injuries but they couldn't have made it much more graphic than it already was

the German's speaking English is almost always due to the audience again. It being a 12a means it's also made for very young kids. As much as I'd have preferred subtitles I understand why they didn't

making a movie from an animals pov is a big risk, purely because although we might not, the general consensus amongst the movie world is that such a movie wouldn't be taken seriously as a devastating war tale and would be almost totally written out for any Oscars, although some of the emotions were lost by changing the narrative, I see why they did and I'm actually glad for it

however, I really missed Zoey and the halflingers. I also didn't feel as devastated about Topthorns downfall as I did in the book
 
Saw it last night. Good film and I did enjoy it, but was disappointed with the storyline as they blatently just stole the story for Black Beauty and set in in World War 1!! Far far far too many simialarities.
 
I went and Im in love with Joey and his star marking LOL and I want the DVD! :p Different story to the book here and there but suppose they had to switch and change it around to some extent but loved it nevertheless even my totally non-horsey dad enjoyed it! :D
 
zipzap said:
Sorry to say I was disappointed. Didn't live up to expectations (even of it's own trailer) for me. Characters too shallow and not fully explored & the loss of the first person narrative made it hard to empathise.

Much of what Morpurgo wrote about Joey’s connections with others was lost entirely in the film. The way the Narracott's old farm horse Zoey mothered him, his rivalry and later friendship with Topthorn and his admiration for the poor, hardworking haflingers who gave their all pulling the artillery guns (Zoey and haflingers were written out entirely). Each of these connections not only told us more about the main character, but in turn described the dreadful tale of their existence.

Although I found some of the stunts impressive, I found it difficult to really care much about any of the horses I saw on screen – the magic just wasn’t there.

I was also irritated by the German dialogue being spoken in English with German accents (made me think of 1980's TV comedy 'Allo,Allo), the forced comedy (wire cutters scene - which although it caused a ripple of laughter made me cringe in my seat) and the sensationalism (with Joey even being pinned to the floor with that much barbed wire but then walking off with two small cuts to shoulder and forearm) - just nonsense.

That said, my favourite part of the whole film was where the cavalry mount-up in the cornfield which was beautifully crafted & memorable.
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I totally agree with all of this. I found the whole thing too mawkish and having seen how much damage can be done to a horse by one strand of barbed wire, I found that Joey's lack of wounds took all the emotion and reality away from the scene.

Such a shame as I really wanted to love it. :(
 
zipzap said:
Sorry to say I was disappointed. Didn't live up to expectations (even of it's own trailer) for me. Characters too shallow and not fully explored & the loss of the first person narrative made it hard to empathise.

Much of what Morpurgo wrote about Joey’s connections with others was lost entirely in the film. The way the Narracott's old farm horse Zoey mothered him, his rivalry and later friendship with Topthorn and his admiration for the poor, hardworking haflingers who gave their all pulling the artillery guns (Zoey and haflingers were written out entirely). Each of these connections not only told us more about the main character, but in turn described the dreadful tale of their existence.

Although I found some of the stunts impressive, I found it difficult to really care much about any of the horses I saw on screen – the magic just wasn’t there.

I was also irritated by the German dialogue being spoken in English with German accents (made me think of 1980's TV comedy 'Allo,Allo), the forced comedy (wire cutters scene - which although it caused a ripple of laughter made me cringe in my seat) and the sensationalism (with Joey even being pinned to the floor with that much barbed wire but then walking off with two small cuts to shoulder and forearm) - just nonsense.

That said, my favourite part of the whole film was where the cavalry mount-up in the cornfield which was beautifully crafted & memorable.
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This is exactly what I thought about it. I was actually quite worried about going to see it as I am cry very easily at anything remotely sad and was convinced I would cry all the way through it and end up with a splitting headache. I took a great wad of tissues and didn't even have a tiny tear!

I thought the ploughing bit was ridiculous, amazing what a difference a bit of rain can make to rock hard ground!

The wire cutters was ludicrous and quite out of keeping with the rest of the film IMO.

To me it came over as too Disney-ish with the chocolate box cottage, evil landlord etc.

Was I the only one who thought that Albert came over as a simpleton at the beginning?

I thought the saddest (and possibly unneccessary bit) was when the german brothers were shot.

Would still love to see the stage play though.
 
thought the saddest (and possibly unneccessary bit) was when the german brothers were shot.
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I disagree, this scene wasn't unneccessary. Alot of soldiers were shot for desertion and cowardace by their own side.

Was I the only one who thought that Albert came over as a simpleton at the beginning?
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I agree with this. I cringed whenever he was on screen, the character was not portrayed very well, instead of innocence we got idiocy.
 
The bit with the two brothers before they were shot annoyed me, one minute one of them was saying don't stop me from going and the next after his brother had pulled him out he was apparently ok about it?!?
 
I had thought that the author of War Horse was inspired by this book, rather than aiming to rehash Black Beauty.

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There was a real life war horse in my village! My mum is currently trying to find info on him to write a small article for our local paper :) He had the army brand and everything, very very lucky to come home!

I'll update with another thread, if we can find anything on him.

The only bits I didn't like, were the horses pulling the guns, they didn't look thin or ghostly enough...however...not sure how they would have done that, without starving real horses...and we do NOT want that!
And that the Germans, didn't speak much German :P I rather enjoy reading subtitles, so that may just be me!
 
maisie06 said:
That's exactly what I thought.
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glad it wasn't just me!

Faracat said:
I had thought that the author of War Horse was inspired by this book, rather than aiming to rehash Black Beauty.


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Maybe... but if you were to write the main storylines down quickly in a dozen or so bullet points and compare, I bet they'd be pretty much identical!! Coincidence?? hmmm.....
 
i went to see it this morning. i hadnt read the book, but saw a documentary about the making of the stage play.

i would LOVE to see it at the theatre- looks amazing!!

i liked the film, but agree that it was a bit slow to get started, and a bit "black beauty" none the less it was a good film... i shed a good few tears (mostly at the no mans land scene), and if i was at home then i'd have been howling!
 
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