Themes: Horses, Obsessive Quests, Race Against Time
Main Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif, Louise Lombard, Saïd Taghmaoui, Peter Mensah
Release Year: 2004
Country: US
Run Time: 135 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Actor Viggo Mortensen made his first starring appearance in a film after his breakthrough performance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with this period adventure. Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen) is a U.S. Cavalry officer who earned a reputation as one of the fastest and most daring riders in the West; however, after taking part in the bloody massacre at Wounded Knee, Hopkins becomes disenchanted with the Cavalry, and once his hitch is up, he takes a job as a rider with a seedy touring Wild West show. During an engagement in New York, Hopkins meets Aziz (Adam Alexi-Malle), an associate of wealthy Bedouin Sheikh Riyadh (Omar Sharif), who knows of Hopkins' talents and wants him to take part in "The Ocean of Fire," an annual 3,000-mile desert horse race running from Arabia to Iraq. Hopkins accepts the invitation and sails to the Middle East with his trusty mustang Hidalgo without knowing just what he's getting himself into. Once he arrives, Hopkins learns that the punishing race course claims the lives of nearly half its contestants, and that most of his competitors ride pure-bred Arabian stallions and do not regard Hidalgo and his master as worthy adversaries. Temporarily exiled to a land where freedom eludes the multitudes and class and wealth define one's fate, Hopkins finds himself riding for both honor and principle, with the support of Riyadh and his beautiful, headstrong daughter, Jazira (Zuleikha Robinson), though the Sheikh's nephew Katib (Silas Carson) is equally determined to see Hopkins go down in defeat. Hidalgo was directed by Joe Johnston, who previously worked with animals on the run in Jumanji and Jurassic Park III. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Its producers would love nothing more than for their film to be compared to Lawrence of Arabia (1962), but while it's got plenty of sand and Omar Sharif in a shora, this action-adventure is no Lawrence. It has neither the trademark scope nor bracingly flinty characterizations of David Lean, nor does it even have the cinematography of another similar film, The Black Stallion (1979). Despite this, Hidalgo (2004) is a surprisingly fun, brisk adventure. Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut, and sometimes even the Hollywood system gets one right. In this case, the lucky parties are the homogenized corporate culture of Disney, mixed with the former effects-guy milieu of Joe Johnston, blended with the faux-stirring histrionics of screenwriter John Fusco. (For an Italian guy from Connecticut, Fusco must be really into horses -- his last film was 2002's wretchedly titled Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron). Somehow, it all works out, probably in no small part to rapid-fire editing and a commendably go-for-broke performance from Viggo Mortensen, who must be a little saddle sore after this and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but persuasively plays a fairly dumb cowboy who nevertheless trumps a variety of goofy, central-casting baddies by employing his all-American horse sense. It's made to be rented, seen on cable, or caught on an in-flight feature, but Hidalgo fulfills its humble ambitions, and that's more than you can say for a lot of other movies that spill from the maw of the Hollywood machine. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Luigi Quintili - Art Director, Kevin Constant - Art Director, Aurelio Crugnola - Supervising Art Director, Troy Sizemore - Supervising Art Director, Industrial Light & Magic - Animator, Nate Bruckner - Associate Producer, Julie Hanks - Associate Producer, Chris Salvaterra - Associate Producer, Nancy Foy - Casting, Patricia Carr - Co-producer, Jeffrey Kurland - Costume Designer, William M. Elvin - First Assistant Director, Joe Johnston - Director, Alexander Witt - Second Unit Director, Robert Dalva - Editor, Don Zepfel - Executive Producer, James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Barry Robison - Production Designer, Shelly Johnson - Cinematographer, Casey Silver - Producer, Josh Lusby - Set Designer, Gregory Scott Hooper - Set Designer, Mary H. Ellis - Sound/Sound Designer, Pat Romano - Stunts Coordinator, John Fusco - Screenwriter, Kevin McKnight - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Tim Alexander - Visual Effects Supervisor, Howell Gibbens - Supervising Sound Editor, Ginger Theisen - Visual Effects Producer, Industrial Light & Magic - Visual Effects, Howard A. Anderson Company - Title Design
Held annually for centuries, the Ocean of Fire - a three thousand mile survival race across the Arabian desert - was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred of the purest and noblest lines and owned by the greatest royal families. In 1897, a wealthy sheikh, Sheikh Riyadh (Omar Sharif), invited an American, Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen), and his mustang horse to enter the race for the first time. During the course of his career, Hopkins had been a cowboy and dispatch rider for the United States of America (U.S.) government. In this capacity he had carried a message to the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment, authorizing what became known as the Wounded Knee Massacre. While working as a stunt rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows, Hopkins is advertised as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheikh puts this claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders, some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner - and especially an "impure" horse - from finishing the race. For Hopkins, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the supposedly near-impossible desert crossing.
Throughout the story, there are many who attempt to kill Hopkins and Hidalgo; some of these are working for the Sheikh's treacherous nephew, who wishes, contrary to his uncle's decree, to marry his cousin, the sheikh's daughter Jazirah (Zuleikha Robinson). A spirited girl and a horse-rider in her own right, who had been somewhat indulged by her father because his sons are deceased, she is rescued from raids by Hopkins and Hidalgo, whom she grows to trust. Eventually, Hopkins wins the race and travels home to America, later to buy many mustangs who had been sentenced to death by the Government. These he releases into the wild, allowing Hidalgo to go with them.
A recurring theme in the film is the fact that Hopkins' father was White American and his mother a member of the Native AmericanLakota tribe. The tribespeople refer to him as "Blue Child" or "Far Rider". As a half-breed, he feels sympathy and pity for his mother's people, who are being driven to extinction by the settlers. However, he does not generally reveal his heritage, especially after the Wounded Knee massacre for which he feels partly responsible. Jazirah, who has become his friend, compares her desire not to wear a veil with Hopkins' heritage; that he mustn't "go through life hiding what God made you.... like me." In the end, he casts in his lot with the tribal ways, singing a Lakota prayer to revive the injured and fatigued Hidalgo, and rides bareback for the final length of the race.
The movie received mixed reviews from the critics, garnering a 46% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes (46% also from the Cream of the Crop of that site) and a 54 from Metacritic.
The events on which the movie were based are disputed by some as nothing more than tall tales.[1] Others view them to be slightly exaggerated true stories.[2] In either case, Roger Ebert offers a positive review of the film, saying it's the kind of fun, rip-snorting adventure film Hollywood rarely makes anymore, adding, "please ignore any tiresome scolds who complain that the movie is not really based on fact. Duh."[3]
John Fusco won the Spur Award for Best Western Drama Script, notwithstanding the fact that the bulk of the film was not set in the West, nor even in North America.
Native American reviewers disparaged the film because they saw it as furthering white stereotypes of Indian culture and behavior. Pointing out that Hopkins himself lied continually about his experiences and background (possibly modeling some of his stories after real-life accounts of Kit Carson), they claim that Hopkins was among many white men to claim Indian ancestry for personal gain. Saudi reviewers state that there never was a race like the Ocean of Fire, and there exists no documentation that Hopkins was even there.[4]
