
Cowboy Frank T. Hopkins, who has an Indian mother, was wounded and traumatized for life as US Cavalry scout at the Wounded Knee Massacre and joint Buffalo Bill's world travelling (Ringling Circus) Wild West show as horse stuntman as well as reputed horse racer. An Arabian sheikh comes dare him to defend the show billing as the world's greatest endurance rider, by entering -as first Westerner- the millennial great 'ocean of fire' race across the unforgiving Arab deserts, which... (Full plot summary below)
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Cowboy Frank T. Hopkins, who has an Indian mother, was wounded and traumatized for life as US Cavalry scout at the Wounded Knee Massacre and joint Buffalo Bill's world travelling (Ringling Circus) Wild West show as horse stuntman as well as reputed horse racer. An Arabian sheikh comes dare him to defend the show billing as the world's greatest endurance rider, by entering -as first Westerner- the millennial great 'ocean of fire' race across the unforgiving Arab deserts, which always eliminates most riders, often fatally. Hopkins enters with the first-ever non-thoroughbred, his trusted mustang Hidalgo. As if learning the harsh country in the act weren't hard enough, he must contend with contempt for infidels and impure horses, as well as competitors stopping at nothing, including the Enlish lady davenport who employs one, having wagered against the obvious favorite, the champions from the stable of Sheikh Riyadh, whose tomcat daughter sides with Hopkins, which proves both helpful and as a mortal a danger as a sand storm.
Leave your thoughts about Hidalgo.
| eFilmCritic.comDavid CorneliusThis is grand cowboy fun, a wild adventure with a glorious sense of excitement and wonder. |
| Boston HeraldJames VerniereIt's a widescreen Saturday matinee movie gloriously resurrected. |
| Greenwich Village GazetteEric LurioHad it not been PG-13, this would be classic Disney-brand entertainment. |
| Detroit NewsTom LongThis is a bigger-than-life, feel-good yarn with just enough dramatic charge to keep it from floating away. |
| Fantastica DailyStaci Layne WilsonLong on adventure and short on logic, but kudos must be given to the filmmakers for making a horse movie that really celebrates the horse. |
| Reeling ReviewsLaura Clifford"Lawrence of Arabia" locations, "The Mummy's" sandstorm, a rescue a la "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and a scrappy horse besting bigger thoroughbreds like "Seabiscuit." |
| Denver Rocky Mountain NewsRobert DenersteinTrue or supersized to legendary proportions, the story isn't especially well-told, and it's definitely void of nuance and depth. |
| Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldIt's mostly quite enjoyable. Director Joe Johnson's many action sequences are lively and engaging, the location photography (mostly Morocco) is breathtaking, and both the horse and Sharif (in his biggest Hollywood role in years) are adorable. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterThe beautifully photographed film is quite stylized at times...But it manages to steer clear of the stereotypes one might expect of a movie set in this time and place, thanks in part to the underlying and, mostly, underplayed themes of spirituality and the search for identity. |
| Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionEleanor Ringel GillespieCertainly has its problems, but they're outweighed by the simple pleasures of a picture that takes its cue equally from old-fashioned adventures like Gunga Din and newfangled ones like The Mummy. |