Wind Dancer (1993) User Reviews

A lovely film about horses.....and about overcoming odds

[inkblot11 · 6/10 · 13 December 2006]

Paige and her father, Jim (Matt McCoy) are quite close after the death of Paige's mother. Although they can not afford a horse, Jim sees that Paige gets to ride and compete in the competitions she loves. One day, Paige falls from her horse at a show and is paralysed from the waist down. More important, she is psychologically so affected that she can not speak or take care of herself. Enter Susan (Mel Harris). She is a no-nonsense therapist who is hired to bring Paige back, maybe even to the point of her being able to walk once more. But, Susan is a tough cookie who Jim describes as a "Ma Barker without the gun." Can Jim let Susan run the show to Paige's recovery? And, will moving Paige to a ranch with horses and animals help her? This is a good movie with outstanding messages. Certainly, horse lovers will embrace the movie as Wind Dancer, the horse, is a beautiful creature with fire and spirit. But, more importantly, this is a good look at the old adage of never give up. Paige is heart broken over her injuries, to the point of retreating from life, until Susan makes her look at things in a different way, with tough love. All of the actors here give fine performances and the ranch setting is also quite welcome to those who will never have the chance to visit one. In short, this is a good family film that has enough action and important messages to please both parents and children. Locating it at the video store or library will translate into an evening of most diverting fare for your loved ones.

Suitable kiddie fare; grownups will love Brian Keith

[mikemdp · 5/10 · 26 January 2013]

This message movie that plays like a "Very Special 'Blossom'" is suitable kiddie fare for parents who want to inspire some spunk in their Nintendo DS-obsessed kids, but grownups will really only appreciate it for the performance of Brian Keith, who plays the good-hearted curmudgeon role he built his career on.

To sum up, a remarkably Blossom-looking teen ends up in a wheelchair after taking a bad spill off her horse, so her dad brings her and a kid shrink to Keith's ranch, where she predictably becomes attached to a palomino named Wind Dancer.

While faux-Blossom's relationship with Wind Dancer helps her heal, some conniving horse thieves – played more broadly and terribly than Jason Alexander and Renee Russo did "Boris and Natasha" – have their own plans for the horse.

Faux-Blossom is a good little actress, and it's sad what happened to her later in life (Google it). It's also sad what happened to Brian Keith a couple years later (Google that, too), but his fans know that and are happy he left understated little performances like this in his legacy.

Regardless, "Wind Dancer" is cut from the same cloth as a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" flick, and those are always good for a Family Movie Night, for those of you who use DVDs to spark poignant family discussion instead of a tool to leave the kids drooling in front of SpongeBob while you do whatever it is you consider more important than spending time with your kids.

"Wind Dancer" is part of a 15-movie set from Echo Bridge that costs a fin at K-Mart, and it's a standout on a DVD that's not worth much more than that. I recommend buying it, especially because that set also includes the sweet Africa-set movie "Askari," which hearkens back to Disney's early 1970s live-action films, and is worth all five bucks on its own.

Don't go Netflixing "Wind Dancer" otherwise, unless you have kids for whom you're looking to teach a Very Valuable Lesson that you don't have the parenting skills to teach without a movie nobody's ever heard of.

But if you do decide to talk to your kids about "Wind Dancer," I recommend including the life story of the lead actress as a cautionary tale.

Beautiful Horse

[goatgirl-2 · 13 March 2000]

Now this movie was ok, considering it had a beautiful horse (Lacy) that played Wind Dancer. But I just have one complaint. They kept switching the horse's gender back and forth. First she was a filly, then it was "Good boy!" And I seem to recall at one time during the movie, a character said "She's been this way ever since she was a COLT." Well, anyway, it was a good movie except for that. The horses are beautiful!

This might as well be a TV movie.

[jared_orlando · 1/10 · 10 June 2000]

This movie is so bad. It has no acting what so ever. The story is about a girl who does rodeo tournaments and becomes sick then learns to teach and help children through working with animals. `Rain Man' without Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. That equals no story worth wasting time watching.

A good family horse film

[stableladyhawke-19141 · 7/10 · 6 September 2018]

This story is well written and well acted! It's a low budget production but well filmed. The plot is a using animals to heal story but realistically portrayed to a point. Riding at the end was a little unrealistic but feel good. No extreme violence except horse being whipped and dog getting hit by cougar. This is a story you can let kids watch unsupervised.

Just Okay

[kittykins · 2/10 · 19 September 2022]

It's an inspiring story, and the acting is good. However, it promotes bad stereotypes about people with disabilities that they aren't trying hard enough and that it's mostly emotional baggage. All the therapist in the story does to push the girl to do everything on her own and is mean about it. She then goes above the parent in all areas and seems to be some kind of child expert. Also, there are negative comments about being single and that it's automatically "lonely" even though the woman clearly has a calling to work with children who need help and finds it fulfilling. It IS good family entertainment.

Family

[maple-3 · 10/10 · 3 February 1999]

This is an excellent movie to watch, because it is about a family,the daughter gets hurt. They go to a ranch,where the girl gets help by learning to do things on her own,without help. She takes care of a horse,and they decided to help other kids to be independent.

Good

[escar_95 · 10/10 · 17 February 2006]

I like the movie " Wind Dancer " , The young girl Raeanin Simpson is very remarkable ! She play very good this role , probably not easy to play ! The story is original and moving, and particularly realistic ..... And the actor Matt McMacoy is talented !!! The end is pleasant , when the family decide to help other kids to be independent. Horses are beautiful ....

Please , someone know what is the sound who was diffuse on this movie ? This is a girl, with a child voice for the chorus .... thanks ! (I'm sorry , but my English is very very bad ! I hope that you understand me ! )