Hidalgo

[Mark]

Hidalgo. What do you know, have you heard, and when did you hear it?

 

[Henry]

http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/hidalgo.html

Synopsis:
Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire - a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian Desert - was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy Sheik invited an American and his horse to enter the race for the first time. Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the US cavalry who had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheik (Omar Sharif) would put this claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders - some of whom were determined to prevent the foreigner from finishing the race.


Also, the "Hopkins was a charlatan" article that makes the tale even more interesting to watch...

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/movieNews/view.bg?articleid=322

 

[diaglo]

Arts Briefing
By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

Published: March 4, 2004


IGHLIGHTS

FILM: 'HIDALGO' vs. THE NAYSAYERS Disney's Touchstone Pictures says its $80 million action-adventure film "Hidalgo," opening tomorrow, is based on a true story. But some experts say the film, about an American named Frank T. Hopkins riding his mustang, Hidalgo, in a 3,000-mile endurance race against 100 Bedouin horsemen and their Arab steeds across the Arabian desert in 1890, is pure fiction. "Hidalgo," directed by Joe Johnston ("Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," "Jumanji," "Jurassic Park III") and written by John Fusco ("Crossroads," "Young Guns"), stars Viggo Mortensen, above, as Hopkins and Omar Sharif as Sheik Riyadh, who invites him to compete in the race, called the Ocean of Fire. Discussing Hopkins's book "Hidalgo and Other Stories," horsetravelbooks.com, the Web site of HorseTravelBooks, a division of the Long Riders Guild Press, refers to research by more than 70 experts in 5 countries, "ranging from the curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum to the former Sultan of Yemen."It"revealed that Hopkins had maintained a spirited disregard for the truth, plagiarized material from famous authors, slandered genuine American heroes and perpetrated a massive fraud for nearly 100 years." An article in The Arab News, the Saudi Arabian English-language Middle East daily that lays claim to being the first newspaper to question the historical basis of "Hidalgo," quotes Dr. Awad Al-Badi, an authority on Western travelers to Arabia, as saying, "The idea of a trans-Arabian horse race ever having been run is pure nonsense." The article says that a 3,000-mile race beginning in Aden and run in a straight line would end somewhere in Romania, and a route around the coast of Arabia would put the finish line north of Armenia. Discussing the criticism of "Hidalgo," Dennis Rice, senior vice president for publicity of the Walt Disney Studios, who called the movie "factually based," said yesterday: "We want to make sure that everybody knows we haven't made a documentary. It's very much a Hollywood `popcorn' movie." He continued, "We believe that we made a movie based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins, and we stand behind the screenwriter."

from the New York Times this morning.

 

[Henry]

Frankly, true or not, it makes an awesome story, I think. And really, just because something isn’t true, that’s no reason you can’t believe in it!

I've been watching Secondhand Lions.

 

[CCamfield]

It did strike me that a race across the Sahara desert on horses would be kind of suicidal to the horses... but it'll probably be a fun film.

 

[diaglo]

It did strike me that a race across the Sahara desert on horses would be kind of suicidal to the horses... but it'll probably be a fun film.

at least as good as Viggo's G I Jane work.

 

[CCamfield]

Oddly enough I had no idea he was in GI Jane as I skipped that movie...

I apologize for the long link, but the Globe & Mail (a Toronto newspaper) gave it 3 stars in a review today.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv....wxhidalgo-playing0304/BNStory/Entertainment/

 

[Daniel Knight]

Saw it about a week ago - I don't think I've ever had so much fun watching a film before. It's a good solid adventure film, without resorting to being cheap and tacky. I loved it.

 

[Mark]

I'm looking forward to seeing this, true or not. The History channel has been running a special on whether this is indeed a true story, and they pick it apart, bit by bit.

 

[Dark Jezter]

I'm going to see it tomorrow, and from what I've heard from people who have seen it, it's an incredibly fun action/adventure flick.

Even if it is more fiction than fact, I'm still looking forward to it.