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The Silver Stallion (1993)

Compared to most of Russell Crowe's earlier films The Silver Stallion is actually somewhat of a change of pace for Russell.  For once Russell isn't playing a ladies man by wooing some other man's wife.  But in a sense he's still playing a character with a great desire in a film I honestly didn't know what to expect from.

The Silver Stallion is based on a book called The Silver Brumby.  The film follows Elyne Mitchell and her daughter throughout their daily life in Australia, interspersed with narration of the story she's writing about a wild stallion named Thowra.  Thowra is a rare breed of horse and highly sought after, the story follows the horse as he learns the way of the wild, learning to survive and defending himself from man.  Russell Crowe play "The Man", a horse tracker who discovers Thowra one day as a small colt, his attempt to capture him was thwarted by it's mother, but it's from that time on that Thowra becomes The Man's number one desire.

The Silver Stallion is really a film for the horse enthusiast, as a majority of the story is reminiscent of a fictional documentary on horses with the character of Elyne narrating the story.  While Russell plays a pivotal character, it's not a performance that's going to make you love the film if nothing else about it appeals to you.  Not being a big horse lover myself I can say I quickly found the story to be rather uninteresting and slow, although I did enjoy the beautiful Australian scenery and the little baby kangaroo that the family rescues.  Still while the story didn't appeal to me I can say it succeeds in it's emotional pull on the viewer, making you feel sorry for Thowra who is constantly hunted down my The Man.  Overall, if your a fan of films like Black Beauty, or simply horses in general, The Silver Stallion is worth checking out, aside from that it's a film I'd be hard pressed to say one would find that entertaining.

5/10

3 comments:

  1. i'm fairly sure that 'the silver brumby' is a much-beloved aussie children's story, especially among girls and young women, and the film follows the book quite closely. once again, russell went deep into his character, actually staying in the hut where he lived - on screen - for quite a while, roughing it while the rest of the cast and crew bunked in much cushier accommodations elsewhere. he grew so fond of the dog (i think her name was 'cooey' or something similar) who was his companion that he asked the trainer if he could keep her. he didn't get to, but he was given one of her pups a few years later. i don't know if chasen (renamed 'jason' once he hit russell's cattle station in oz) is still alive, but he talked about this dog rather sweetly when he appeared on 'oprah' or 'ellen degeneres', not long after his marriage seven years ago.
    once again, i can't fault your critique, but i enjoyed the mystical aspect of the film more than you did, and knowing a bit more of the backstory, i would probably have given it a slightly higher score.

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  2. @becks - I can see how this film (and the book) would appeal more to a female audience, I think horses are more widely loved by women in general are they not? This is another one that could possibly grow on me slightly.

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  3. @becks: I had no idea about Russell staying in that hut and about the pup...so cool! I enjoyed the movie too, although the plot was rather simplistic...<3

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