I was extremely wary of watching this film due to the fact that I had read the book to my children when they were younger, and had also been to see the stage production at the National Theatre - both of which were superb. Reading a few negative reviews from the critics, I decided not to go and see War Horse when it went on general release, because I feared that it would be transformed into the usual Hollywood sap and the essence of the original story would somehow be lost.
So it is only now on my monthly film subscription channel that I decided to watch it and I am so glad I did. It was much, much better than I was expecting. I honestly think some of the reviewers are missing the point entirely. Yes the story is rather corny and 'unbelievable' - but it is based on a children's book. It's not meant to be a historical account of the first World War, or some intense documentary account for adults. Michael Morpurgo writes books for children as a means of both entertaining and educating at the same time and in my opinion Spielberg has stayed absolutely true to that. So it's 'far fetched'. So what? Aren't a lot of children's stories, and that's what this is. To tell a story of war from the perspective of a horse obviously requires a suspension of belief - whether you are reading the book, watching the stage production or going to see the film, but once you get past that then you begin to see the many excellent things about this film - the wonderful cast, incredible cinematography, a sublime musical score and so on - movie making of the highest calibre.
I can only a wonder why I waited so long to see it.
So it is only now on my monthly film subscription channel that I decided to watch it and I am so glad I did. It was much, much better than I was expecting. I honestly think some of the reviewers are missing the point entirely. Yes the story is rather corny and 'unbelievable' - but it is based on a children's book. It's not meant to be a historical account of the first World War, or some intense documentary account for adults. Michael Morpurgo writes books for children as a means of both entertaining and educating at the same time and in my opinion Spielberg has stayed absolutely true to that. So it's 'far fetched'. So what? Aren't a lot of children's stories, and that's what this is. To tell a story of war from the perspective of a horse obviously requires a suspension of belief - whether you are reading the book, watching the stage production or going to see the film, but once you get past that then you begin to see the many excellent things about this film - the wonderful cast, incredible cinematography, a sublime musical score and so on - movie making of the highest calibre.
I can only a wonder why I waited so long to see it.