Black Beauty
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Movie Reviews of Black Beauty
Movie Review: Loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's a classic you have to see it. Its the best movie I have ever seen.Movie Review: Must have for your litle horse lover
Summary: 5 Stars
My four year old LOVES this movie and it is bearable as an adult too...Movie Review: Gorgeous, poignant first-horse take on "Black Beauty" is a family classic
Summary: 4 Stars
This new (1994) cinematic take on Anna Sewell's classic novel sets the bar impossibly high for future remakes . . . this is a visually lush, textually faithful interpretation of Ms. Sewell's novel filled with understated, pitch-perfect performances by a large cast.
Ms. Sewell wrote "Black Beauty" as a semi-protest against the inhumane treatment of animals in Victorian England. Accordingly, she made a horse - the titular character - the narrator of the story. This film version, unlike prior efforts, retains this tactic, and thanks to Alan Cummings' wonderful voice-over, it works extremely well. BB is an eager, pleasant horse who just wants to frolic with his friends, give his humans a good ride, and eat his oats. Curmudgeons out there (and I'm looking at you, Roger Ebert) may smirk and say that real horses wouldn't talk this way. Well, they may be right, but until a real horse tells me otherwise, I choose to suspend my disbelief.
BB starts his life in a bucolic setting and quickly meets lifelong friends, his girlfriend Ginger, Merrylegs the pony, and the lad Joe. This idyllic setting cannot last, and BB is forced to join the harsh world of working England. Owners range from inconsiderate to malicious to tender (most notably a young David Thewlis as a cab driver), and the world has many harsh lessons to teach our young horse. Some of these messages can be frightening for smaller kiddies, but tykes also seem to be able to tap into the strong messages of love and friendship that underpin the story. The stirring sights of the horses at play will also lift the darkest spirits.
This is a rated 'G' movie that adults and children can enjoy together. Prepare to do some serious sniffling as the story progresses, and Danny Elfman's soundtrack is wonderful. At the end of the story, as BB reflects on his life, parents and children will feel a bit wiser and have a stronger affinity for their four-legged friends. Which is just as Ms. Sewell wanted it.
Movie Review: A horse tells his own story
Summary: 4 Stars
Though perhaps occasionally too intense for the youngest or most tender-hearted kids, this British version of the classic children's book Black Beauty (Unabridged Classics) follows the original closely and is beautifully filmed, with a handsome equine lead and an affecting storyline, and a good mastery of the "look" of Victorian England. It was to help ameliorate the sufferings of city horses like Beauty that the original ASPCA was founded in 1866 by Henry Bergh, and although there was a British version (the RSPCA) as early as 1824, enforcement was obviously weak until the 20th Century. Supported by friends Ginger (the spirited chestnut mare) and Merrylegs (the gallant pony), Beauty looks back in his old age upon the many owners, some kind, some cruel, and some simply thoughtless or neglectful, that he's had in his life: from colthood on a prosperous farm, to an idyllic period with Squire Gordon (Peter Davison) and his family, to the very grand estate of the Wexmires (Eleanor Bron, Peter Cook), to experience as a cart and a livery horse, to pulling Jerry Barker's (David Thewlis) cab in London, his ups and downs are affectingly told. A few incidents of the book are left out that could have been kept, but on the whole the adaptation is faithful, and the horses are both beautiful and splendidly trained.Movie Review: A Cry Fior Humane Treatment of Horses
Summary: 4 Stars
My favorite is still the mini series put out by NBC and so not available on either VHS or DVD. This movie is my favorite. It covers most of the book, though not all. It begins with Black Beauty's birth and training. His first home with the squire was a good one, and he developed a friendship with the mare Ginger and a little pony named Merrylegs. A good life where the horses were well treated. When he and Ginger were sold, their next home was not so pleasant. Still, his being tormented by a bearing rein was still better than other things he had to endure until his final home which was much as how it was described in the novel. You hope with mistreatment of various kinds brought to people's attention, as well as ignorance on what was going on, more people raised their voices to demand better treatment of these beautiful and willing servants. There are differences and omissions but that is to be expected. A voice-over for Beauty allows the viewer to understand things from a horse's point of view even though written by a screenwriter rather than a real horse. A very enjoyable movie, unsettling, disturbing, but also delightful and uplifting, and a wonderful ending.