Review of Unbranded (2015) by Joe C — 29 Dec 2015

Unbranded is an amazing movie that will make you want to leave everything you know behind to find out where you stand in relation to the men whose journey it follows.

The movie unlike many other documentaries actually features real men who succeed and also even fail, in particular the final moments in which one of the men makes a conscious decision not to complete the undertaking simply for the beauty inherent in an effort left unfinished or an imperfect expression of an effort or artwork as well as his inherent inability to explain it to the satisfaction of his friends is beautiful.

The only issue I can find even with effort to this undertaking by Ben and his friends is the fact that they repeatedly cite their journey as being 3000 miles when the maximum possible straight line distance is some 1700, even accounting for deviations there's no making up that 1300 miles. This inaccuracy continues to baffle me.

That one issue aside the greatest praise I can offer to this movie is that it inspired me, at every turn I found myself thinking "I want to test myself in this way" or "I want to find out more about and consider the issue of with regard to." I am not a particularly skilled horseman but by the time this movie concluded I had a second window open for the purpose of researching the possibility of undertaking just such a journey. That's how powerful and inspiring Masters and company's journey is.

More importantly the film does inform accurately as to the issue of land management, the need to balance the use of available property between indigenous and non-native species (it's worth noting that no matter how majestic you think them to be Horses are not native in any way shape or form to the Americas and thus any effort to allow them to exist on public land is laudable in and of itself since they are an invasive species.).

Regardless of what side of the issue of use of public land you "land" on the journey of Ben Masters and company as shown in Unbranded will certainly inspire you on any number of levels even if only to look more closely at the beauty of the world around you.