Return to Snowy River
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Movie Reviews of Return to Snowy River
Movie Review: RETURN TO SNOWY RIVER
Summary: 5 Stars
JUST WISH I WAS ABLE TO GET THE WHOLE SERIES. WAS VERY GOOD!Movie Review: A Wonderful Follow Up
Summary: 4 Stars
This is one of those soaring, melodramatic epics, set as a sequel to the classic film "The Man From Snowy River." It's a typical action-adventure love story, laden with turgid emotional scenes, where the hero gets plenty of triumphal moments and everybody gets what they deserve in the end.
The movie is set apart from most by its stunt work, cinematography, scoring, top notch actors and classy style of filming. This movie is also suitable as family entertainment, though this in no way takes away from its overall quality.
Plot wise, there are several engaging storylines, well knitted together and leading to a thrilling climax.
Fans of the first film should also be pleased to see the return of the prize colt, who Jim and Jessica trained in the first film, making his racing debut.
This film seems to be frequently overshadowed by its predecessor. But I think it's a more polished product; the actors look better, the editing is smoother, the stunts are more daring, the cinematography is more expansive. It come across as a more mature film overall, which is really what it's supposed to be.
The cinematography is notably fabulous, and the dramatically flighted score matches it perfectly. Many prefer Mr. Douglas in the first film, but I thought Brian Dennehy did the role a lot of justice.
The social commentary implicit in some of the storylines can get a bit heavy-handed. Some of the characters are saved from being too stereotypical only by the skin of their scripts and some good acting. There are times when the dialogue skates the edge of cheesiness or the plot line takes a turn into improbability. But the overall strength of the acting and filming always manages to pull it through.
This film is especially noted for its stunt work with horses. As a rider and horse lover myself, I've seen pretty much every horse movie out there and 99% of them just can't pull it off. The action in this one is just mind blowing, very realistic and filmed with incredible intensity. Even better, all the horses are gorgeous and the main actors are fabulous riders, who you actually get to see doing most of their own riding stunts. In my mind, it still sets the standard for horseriding action in film.
Overall, this is a great old fashioned drama, and a wonderful experience on film.
Notes:
The internet fosters some reaaallllly wild ideas.
The movie "The Man From Snowy River" is based on the famous poem of the same name, by Banjo Patterson, considered to be a national treasure in Australia.
Several other reviews have mentioned the idea that a horse died onset. The rumor is specifically concerned with one scene, where a horse named "Denny" (please note this is the name of the character's horse and not the real horse - you can confirm it with subtitles) is shown falling down the side of a mountain.
Being an avid horse lover, I spent some hard hours ferreting out the source and veracity of the rumor.
A check at the American Humane Association's online ratings site revealed a review for "Return to Snowy River," which rated the movie as "Unacceptable." But the review had several inconsistencies, which I contacted them about directly (they're very prompt in answering emails).
It stated only that they had received a report from Australia that a horse had died on set; no further contact was ever made and the report remains unconfirmed.
The problem is that AHA does not monitor films made in foreign countries, nor do they accept ratings from foreign animal welfare agencies. So the the film should be listed as "Not Monitored." In sum, the rating appears to have no legitimacy based on their own rules.
Further research yielded the fact that the Lovicks, who were responsible for supplying all the horses for the film, will confirm they owned the main horse actor who played "Denny" up until his death and that no horses died onset. They have a website you can contact them through.
Finally, there seems to be an underlying confusion as to how horses are actually used in film. The main animal "actor" in any film has multiple doubles for handling the work. I myself counted at least 3 different "Dennys," which an experienced eye can easily pick out. In movies, there are special stunt horses trained to "fall" for any scene where a horse goes down. A "fall" horse and rider did the controversial scene on the mountain, not the main horse who played "Denny." Nor, of course, was anybody falling down a mountain; the camera angles simply make it appear so. The stunt is common, and capable of being filmed safely.
Movie Review: Eccellent sequel to The Man From Snowy River
Summary: 4 Stars
Return To Snowy River is an eccellent sequel to The Man From Snowy River,which was based on Australian poet Banjo Patterson's poem of the same name.The reason that Brian Dennehy replaced Kirk Douglas was because Kirk wanted too much money for the sequel. Brian does an eccellent job and the film makers didn't have to put up with Kirk "advising" them on how to direct the film as he did in the original. I still remember the director quietly saying "patience lads" to the film crew as Kirk tried to explain how he thought they should shoot a scene at the stable with some horses. Kirk was very good in the original,he's just a bit of a character.
Return To Snowy River has some spectacular outdoor scenes and horseriding. Viewers might also be interested to know that Tom Burlinson years later provided the singing voice for the Frank Sinatra mini-series. Tom does a eccellent imitation of Frank Sinatra's voice and has sung at casinos.
At any rate,this DVD makes a good companion to the original. I would have liked some extras though.
Movie Review: My horse spooks at garbage bags, his knows good and evil.
Summary: 4 Stars
Does not match up to the magic of the first movie, but still enjoyable viewing. We get to see Burlinson all grown up ("Be a man, Jim! Be a man!") and plenty of scenes with him riding around looking like he was born glued to the saddle, which any reasonably warm blooded female can appreciate.
My only complaint with the movie: the Stallion develops the ability to tell "the good guys" from "the bad guys," and I much preferred Douglas over Dennehy.
Otherwise, more great riding, great scenery, great horses. Can't argue with that.
Also, no horses died in the making of the film. The buckskin, Denny, died Christmas Eve 1999 at age 29. :) This rumor and other movie rumors will soon be address in the FAQ @ www.tomburlinson.info
Movie Review: Great film, inexplicable presentation
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a terrific film, one of the rare sequels that's even better than the original. However, Disney's decision to present this film in cropped, full-frame format is inexplicable. With its magnificent scenary, this is a film that cries out for widescreen anamorphic presentation. You'll get some idea of what you're missing during the opening titles, which are horizontally compressed to fit the frame rather than cropped. (If you have a TV with 16:9 mode, you can flip to it at that point to see the credits in nearly-correct aspect ratio. Otherwise, you'll be watching a parade of very tall skinny horses through spectacular scenary.)
The lack of widescreen is the sole reason I don't give this DVD five stars.