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When Steven Spielberg directs epic war dramas, Oscars tend to follow. He’s stunned audiences with his portrayal of combat in Saving Private Ryan and the moving drama of Schindler’s List. But in his latest war drama, War Horse, Spielberg sets out to make an equine connection instead of a human one.
War Horse tells the epic story of Joey, a beautiful thoroughbred who’s purchased by struggling farmer Ted Narracott (Peter Mullan). Though Ted needs a strong horse to plow his rocky fields, he can’t resist the horse’s beauty—and he ends up paying more than he can afford. With the family’s livelihood resting on the horse’s ability to plow, Ted allows his teenage son, Albert (Jeremy Irvine), to train the horse—and the two soon form a strong bond.
When catastrophe strikes the Narracott farm, Ted is forced to sell Joey to an army captain who’s heading out to battle the Germans in the First World War. Too young to enlist, Albert is forced to stay behind, but he promises Joey that they’ll be together again soon.
Though it begins as the story of a boy and his horse, the title says it all. War Horse isn’t Albert’s story; it’s Joey’s story. While Albert waits for Joey’s return, the film follows the horse to the front lines of battle, into hiding with a pair of young deserters, to the countryside with a young French girl, and eventually back into war. In the process, it also shows brief glimpses of human stories, offering an interesting look at war from various perspectives: of those who fight it, those who run from it, and those who’ve lost everything because of it.
Because the human stories are so brief and numerous, however, it’s difficult to feel a strong emotional connection to the film. Animal lovers will fall in love with Joey—and they’ll obviously want him to return home safely—but that attachment can go just so far. No matter how hard Spielberg tries to give him a strong and heroic personality, the horse can’t exactly give an emotional performance (though he does seem to give a lot of long, meaningful glances). And that lack of human connection—especially with Albert absent for most of the movie—makes the two and a half hours of war drama tend to drag.
The battle scenes, on the other hand—while astonishingly bloodless—are often stunning. Though audiences are used to gritty battle scenes depicting more recent wars, it’s less typical to see crowds of soldiers on horseback, their swords at the ready, as they advance on the enemy. It’s an up-close-and-personal kind of warfare that isn’t often seen—and the scenes are lovingly and carefully filmed to give viewers the full effect.
The story, meanwhile, is rather folksy and old-fashioned—almost like an extended episode of Little House on the Prairie. Perhaps that’s due, in part, to those naïvely bloodless battle scenes. But the film is also filled with sick little girls and scared young boys and awkward teenagers—and, after a while, it starts to feel manipulative and melodramatic, as if it’s trying to force an emotional connection when there really isn’t enough time to do so.
Of course, Joey’s twisting war story—and Spielberg’s often artistic interpretation of the battle scenes—makes War Horse a respectable (albeit underplayed) war drama. But, over-long and over-sweet, it doesn’t live up to the moving drama of Spielberg’s Oscar-winning epics.
Blu-ray Review:
The Blu-ray release of Steven Spielberg’s War Horse comes with two Blu-ray discs: one of which includes the main feature and a pair of extras and another one that’s just extras. And if you’re interested in the film—or in the filmmaking process of a legendary director—you won’t be disappointed by the abundance of special features.
On the feature disc, you’ll find An Extra’s Point of View, a brief feature following Martin Dew, one of the 100 core extras who played a number of roles in the film. There’s also War Horse: A Journey Home, which shows a roundtable discussion with cast and crew members, who discuss the experience and philosophize about the film and its meaning.
For more detailed making-of extras, however, you’ll want to check out the second disc. This includes the more than hour-long A Filmmaking Journey, which walks viewers through nearly every step of the process, taking it scene by scene. If that still doesn’t offer you enough behind-the-scenes footage, you can also check out Editing & Scoring or The Sounds of War Horse—or see the process through producer Kathleen Kennedy’s eyes (and lens) with Through the Producer’s Lens.
Most of the features included on the release are pretty lengthy—and definitely detailed. For that reason, casual viewers will most likely find them pretty overwhelming (and unnecessary). Aspiring filmmakers—and fans of Spielberg’s work—will be intrigued by the plethora of making-of features, since they offer a rather detailed look at what it’s like to work with the Oscar-winning director.
