Review of War Horse (2011) by Reza P — 12 Dec 2013

Several million horses were killed in WW1. They were used by all sides, for everything from cavalry, to hauling artillery and supplies, to pulling ambulances - you name it. It was still a time when horses were more available than trucks.

Being a WW1 buff, I had wondered if anyone would make a film that tells the tragic story of the suffering and deaths of so many horses in the war. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Steven Spielberg had made a movie about them.

And for those of you who feel that the story is "mundane" etc., telling it through the eyes of a young man and his horse, makes for a movie that includes not just adults, watching a movie set in one of the bloodiest wars in human history, but one which includes the whole family, in a story that is accesible to young people as well.

And believe me, while the story may be magical in it's outcome, there were probably thousands of such stories that were true, and included many young men who had relationships with their horses that were perhaps just as magical in their own way.

The depth and breadth of World War 1 was too great for there not to have been.