Review of The Black Stallion (1979) by Yasmine L — 16 Oct 2009

Sumptuous, beautiful. As an avid equestrian, I am usually perturbed by most equestrian-themed movies because of their obvious stereotypes and lack of interest in the horses. The Black Stallion has been the only movie about horses I have loved, and will always love.

Hollywood will sometimes dish out a couple of horse movies every-now-and-then, but none really have that wow factor I feel should be put into the movie. There are way, WAY too many stereotypes surrounding equestrianism that need to be broken, yet no one dares to do so. The Horse Whisperer attempted to break the ice, but a diamond under the rocks IMO is the Black Stallion.

Where other equine movies fail (badly), the Black Stallion fills in for them. Here, we don't see a girl in angst, full of melodrama and crocodile tears trying to rescue her 'best friend', but a boy who truly bonds with his horse. The difference in this boy is that the actor actually rode horses, thank God.

And, there are no 'miracle' girls who automatically go from falling on the ground when their mount rears or bucks them off, to the next day galloping through a 'sunny' little wheat field. We see the gradual bonding, from the shy beginnings to the first rides (with the falls - hooray for that one, too! Because EVERY horse person knows - you gotta fall sometimes!).

So, my equestrian rantings aside, The Black Stallion is a good as chocolate.