Horses: The Story of Equus (2002) User Reviews

Awesome awesome awesome

[gfinnan · 9/10 · 5 September 2002]

This is an excellent achievement for the filmmakers. I was lucky enough to see this at a special preview at an IMAX theatre, and the cinematography is superb with the aerial shots from the chopper worth the price of admission alone. It tells the story from birth of 3 horses and the different paths their lives take - one escapes to the wild, one becomes a stunt horse for the movie industry and one becomes a racehorse. It shows how each of the "career" paths taken by each horse differ, as well as touching on a brief history of horses. You don't need to have an interest in horses to enjoy this film - the photography, direction and sound of this film will blow you away. This is meant to be seen on the big, big screen so see it while you can on an IMAX screen or any cinema with a larger than normal display to get more enjoyment of it.

Well done to the filmmakers and I hope this film succeeds to encourage you to make more films like this.

A wonderful movie but needs a caution

[joebolt · 25 October 2011]

A number of reviewers on Netflix criticized this because it wasn't "accurate", but it's not trying to be a documentary, it's trying to be a -- as it says in the title -- story. As such, there are actors (the horses), scripted lines ("Ne-ei-ei-gh!"), and it wasn't 'accurate' in the sense that, for one, horses won't run miles into unfamiliar territory away from the nearest herd.

The photography, though, was stupendous, and the three story lines were decent enough. The main quibble is that, at a paltry 45 minutes, it wasn't near long enough.

If you like horse-related documentaries and such, check out "Buck", the story of the guy who inspired the Robert Redford movie "The Horse Whisperer". Pretty amazing.

The most fake documentary there is

[parishkyle1-1 · 6 May 2018]

Even though the scenery is beautiful, the camera crew always know where the horses are going to run and have the cameras set up ahead of them. When the horse trailer comes loose and hits the tree, the people open the gate and let the horse run free when the horse is in no danger and they could easily get the horse out. The horse would have a halter on it too.

If it were a true documentary, the camera crews would have to use a helicopter to follow it the way they do wild horses.